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  SERMONS ON THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM
  by G. Van Reenen
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Van Reenen's sermon series expounding the Ten Commandments as presented in the
Heidelberg Catechism, addressing the consequences of disobedience and explaining
each commandment through Old Testament narratives and biblical principles.

  Chapters: 10

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 01 - "THE LAW OF GOD AND ITS FIRST COMMANDMENT"
    2. 02 - "THE SECOND COMMANDMENT"
    3. 03 - THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
    4. 04 - "THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT"
    5. 05 - "THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT"
    6. 06 - THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
    7. 07 - "THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT"
    8. 08 - "THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT"
    9. 09 - "THE NINTH COMMANDMENT"
   10. 10 - THE TENTH COMMANDMENT

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  CHAPTER 1: 01 - "THE LAW OF GOD AND ITS FIRST COMMANDMENT"
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Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE LAW OF GOD AND ITS FIRST COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.40 St. 3,4,5. Read Heb 12:1-29. Psalter No.435 st. 1, Psalter No.222
St. 5. Psalter No.333 St. 1, 2,3,4.

XXXIV. LORD’S DAY.

Beloved hearers! It was an eternally memorable event which took place in the
desert of Arabia on the fiftieth day after the exodus of the children of Israel
out of Egypt. For at that time the Lord, amid thunders and lightnings as symbols
of His awful majesty, proclaimed His holy law as the constitution of His house.

What an awesome event it was is evident from the careful preparations made. That
people which the Lord in His sovereignty had chosen as His own peculiar people,
were wrought upon in a special manner to be a people in which He would manifest
all His glory. The Lord had promised them that they would be a kingdom of
priests, and a holy people to whom He would show all His goodness and grace if
they would obey His voice unconditionally. At the Lord’s command Moses had set
bounds about the mount. He had called to the people that they should sanctify
themselves and be ready on the third day. He had solemnly charged them that they
should not go up to the Lord, nor even touch the mountain, lest they be put to
death. Then the third day has dawned. Since early morning Sinai shows itself in
an entirely different light, the whole mountain has changed its appearance.
Amidst thunders and lightnings the King of kings, descends as the Highest
Lawgiver. Is it any wonder that the mountain quaked and trembled since feet of
the Creator and Judge of heaven and earth stand upon its summit? Is it any
wonder that Sinai sent up smoke as a furnace, and flames of fire proclaim the
fearful majesty of Jehovah of hosts to the thousands of Israel? And then
suddenly the voice of God resounds in the ears of that living and listening
people: "I am the Lord, thy God which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Dreadful was the effect. All Israel quaked
and trembled. Yea, they prayed that God would no more speak to them, for they
could not endure it; so that they even wanted to flee from the sound of God’s
voice. And Moses, that great man of God, said, "I exceedingly fear and quake."
And now we are called to tarry a few weeks at that ever memorable place, to
meditate upon the ten commandments of God. Nay, people of God, in discussing the
law of the Lord we shall not put a yoke upon you which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear. But we hope to present the Law to you as an amiable rule
of life. You will find our text in Exo 20:1 - - Exo 20:3. "And God spake all
these words saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before
Me."

Upon these words our catechetical instruction is based as you will find recorded
in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XXXIV. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 92. What is the law of God?

A. God spake all these words, Exo 20:1-26, Deu 5:1-33, saying: I am the Lord thy
God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage.

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. II. Thou shalt not make unto thyself
any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in
the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love me, and keep my commandments. III. Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his
name in vain. IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days shalt thou
labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God; In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that in them Is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day, and hallowed It. V. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days
may be long In the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. VI. Thou shalt not
kill. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VIII. Thou shalt not steal. IX. Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. X. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man servant,
nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that Is thy
neighbor’s.

Q. 93. How are these commandments divided?

A. Into two tables; the first of which teaches us how we must behave towards
God; the second, what duties we owe to our neighbor.

Q. 94. What doth God enjoin In the first commandment?

A. That I, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee
from all idolatry, sorcery, soothsaying, superstition, Invocation of saints, or
any other creatures; and learn rightly to know the only true God; trust In him
alone, with humility and patience submit to him; expect all good things from him
only; love, fear and glorify him with my whole heart; so that I renounce and
forsake all creatures, rather than commit even the least thing contrary to his
will.

Q. 95. What is idolatry?

A. Idolatry is, instead of, or besides that one true God, who has manifested
himself in his word, to contrive, or have any other object, in which men place
their trust.

Dear hearers!

Upon the question "What are good works," the Instructor answers, "Only those
which proceed from a true faith, are performed according to the law of God, and
to His glory." Because the law of God is our rule for good works, and because it
teaches us how God wants us to serve and thank Him, therefore it is discussed at
this time in detail.

You know that God gave to the people of Israel, a three fold law: the civil law,
the ceremonial law and the moral law, that is the Ten Commandments, It is well
to keep this ever in mind. If then you read in God’s Word, "Christ is the end of
the law" and "I am not come to destroy the law," you will understand that these
statements do not contradict each other. Christ is the end of the ceremonial
law, that is of those sacrifices and cleansings and bathings performed in the
temple. Of these Christ the true sacrifice, the true Priest, is the end. But the
law which Christ does not destroy are the ten commandments, which are an
everlasting law. In the second Lord’s Day the Instructor has already explained
the law’s demand, and now he comes back to it. Does he wish to bring us again
into bondage to Moses?

Nay, beloved, that the Instructor will not and shall not do. The traveler to
heaven also faces the law twice. After God has led His people out of bondage to
sin, He brings them to Sinai, so that they may learn to know their sins and
misery. The law then becomes for them a schoolmaster to Christ. From Sinai the
Holy Spirit goes with them to Calvary. But then He leads us back again to Sinai.
But what a difference! The first time we stood there as a slave before his stern
master. Then we trembled as did Israel of old. Then we cried with Isaiah, "Woe
is me, for I am undone!" Then we wanted to flee from Him Who is a devouring fire
and an everlasting burning to the guilty sinner. But as we come there the second
time, we stand as a child before his father, as a beloved disciple before his
beloved master. Then we sing, "The Lord’s commands which I have loved, shall
still new joy impart." People of God, it is pure goodness that the dear Lord was
willing to proclaim that law again. God had written His law in Adam’s heart, so
that he knew instinctively what was well pleasing to God, and he was also able
to live accordingly. But because of sin that knowledge is lost, although some of
it has remained in the conscience, so that the Gentiles do by nature the things
contained in the law. But conscience is not dependable. However, God Who is
good, gave the law again. What a precious gift the law is! Those ten
commandments are for the child of God what the compass is for the mariner. It is
for us what a guide is for a stranger. Therefore David prayed, "I am a stranger
in the earth, hide not Thy commandments from me." It guides all our actions. In
the original the law has two significant names: thora which means instruction
and nomos which means law or custom. And, the Lord willing, we shall hear how
the law instructs us, both to our shame and to our comfort, and that it gives to
everyone his portion. Allow me to remark first that the Law not only sees and
judges our external actions but also is a discerner of the attitude of our
heart. It judges not only the actual sin but also the occasion to sin. And when
it forbids a sin, it commands the opposing virtue.

Let us then in accordance with the 93rd Question and Answer notice the
remarkable division of the law.

It cannot surprise us that before the Catechism Instructor begins to explain the
spiritual meaning of the law, he first inquires into the division of the law and
its ramifications, so that we would thoroughly understand its coherence and
contents and the purpose of the Lord in giving His law to man, especially to His
people. From the word of God we know that God Himself inscribed that law upon
two tables of stone, of which the first contained four and the second contained
six of the ten commandments. The Roman Catholics and the Lutherans have made the
first and second commandments into one, while they made two commandments out of
the tenth one. This was done to legalize their image worship. I think it
unnecessary to show the foolishness of this attempt. For, in the first and
second commandment two distinct sins are named, while the tenth commandment
mentions but one sin, covetousness, as we shall hear later. The demand of the
first table is love to God.

God loves Himself before and above all else. You must not think this is the same
as our sinful self-love. God is the Most high, and as such He loves above all
that which is perfect and highest, that is: Himself. Therefore God will that man
shall love Him first of all. That was the purpose of creation; that is also the
purpose of re-creation. That is also the demand of the first table of the law.
And when the Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner, it also becomes his desire, his
prayer and his aim that above all else God may be known, loved, honored and
praised by himself, by all those dear and precious to him, yea, by all people,
by all creatures. And then the Lord Himself tells how that must be done. As the
only God He wants to be served and glorified, and that not in a material way, by
image worship, but in Spirit and truth. He wants His Name to be honored and His
day to be hallowed. The demand of the second table is: love to thy neighbor.

God created all mankind of one blood, and therefore it is all one large family.
This is especially true of God’s people, who have all come forth from one womb,
the womb of God’s good pleasure. And now notice what tender care the Lord has
for man as His creature, and especially for His children: In the fifth
commandment He guards the honor of our parents and other authorities. By the
sixth commandment He protects our life, by the seventh our marriage bonds. By
the eighth commandment He protects our possessions. In the ninth commandment He
cares for our good name, and in the tenth commandment, He takes care of our
contentment. The purpose of the entire law is a world of love! an ocean of
blessedness! a holy peace! "Great peace has he who loves Thy law." Yea, the
purpose is a paradise here below and hereafter. Just imagine that everyone kept
that law, what a pleasure life would be.

Oh! were all people wise; And then also did well! The world were then a
paradise, Now it is oft a hell.

Let us now speak about its impressive introduction.

"I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage." I ask you: is that not an impressive introduction. The
dear Lord according to His great goodness wished to place the gospel of grace
above His law. We said it was impressive, in the first place because of the
Person who is here speaking. For it is the Lord; the Creator of the ends of the
earth who speaks, "I am the Lord." The purpose of His speaking thus is to awaken
immediately in His people a deep reverence and holy fear, so that with holy awe
and child-like fear they shall hear what the God of the oath and of the covenant
speaks to them. "I am the Lord, the Jehovah!" With these words the Lord says, "I
am the All-sufficient covenant God. I am sufficient for you for all eternity.
Who will and can and shall fill you with all blessedness eternally. I am that
God Who shall not repent of that which I once have spoken, Who in My
threatenings as well as in My promises am unchangeable, Who shall always be and
remain the same." What a terrible threat this introduction contains for all
wicked men, for all hypocrites who are yet without God and Christ. For them the
all-sufficiency of God is a dreadful condemnation, for it declares to them that
all their works are an abomination to God, that He has no need of their fleshly
sacrifice. At the same time it declares that God is also unchangeable in all the
threatenings He has proclaimed over the wicked and the hypocrites. But also,
what a comfort it contains for all God’s concerned people, when the Lord says,
"I am the All-sufficient Covenant God. You need bring me nothing. No, indeed. Do
you find yourself empty of blessedness and full of sin? Hear, O complaining
people: I will fill the treasures of thy empty soul with durable goods and
righteousness out of My All-sufficiency and out of the fulness which is in
Christ Jesus." But that introduction also contains much assurance for the child
of God. For when it says, "I am the Lord! I am the Jehovah!" it declares to
God’s people that God will never change, that their salvation lies eternally
firm in the God Who declares "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of
Jacob are not consumed."

We also call this impressive because it expresses the relationship of God to his
people. The Lawgiver here declares, "I am thy God! I am thy possession! I am
thine in life and death, in trouble and distress! I am thy God, always and
forever." And now we ask: may we not cry out at this point, "Happy is that
people, whose God is the Lord"? For notice it is that people to whom we may say,
nay, to whom God Himself says, "Thou art become the people of My possession!
Thou art My people by eternal election. Thou art the rod of my inheritance. Thou
art become the people of My possession by purchase! For you, in your stead, I
sacrificed Mine only One, in Him I made you Mine own, and I have blotted out thy
guilt and sin as a thick cloud and as a morning cloud! Yea, thou art My people
and I am thy God. I have called thee effectually and arrested thee in thy sinful
way! I have called thee out of thy life of sin, out of thy sleep of death. I
drew thee with cords of a man, with bands of love! I bound thee to Me and to My
service by the Spirit of faith! I have laid upon you, as upon My people, all My
promises! Yea, I am the Lord, thy God. Thou hast chosen Me as thy covenant God.
After I drew thee with almighty power and bound thee to Me, thou hast also
chosen Me to be thy God!" For all whom God has truly quickened will say: "That
God is my God." One expresses it as his desire, and as the issue of his heart,
and another in consciousness of faith and in actual appropriation. But they all
say, "That God is my God, even though I perish thereby." That people see so much
in the dear Lord that they cry out, "He is worthy to receive all my love." The
introduction to the law is impressive especially for the deliverance which it
calls to mind. For the Lord says, "I have brought thee out of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage." What a reminder this is for Israel to whom these words apply
in the first place, but also for each of God’s children, because of the yoke
broken by God. He delivered His people from the whip of the driver; He delivered
them from Pharaoh; for their sakes He slew all the first-born of the enemy; for
them He made a path through the sea, so that they passed through the deep freely
and safely; and He destroyed their enemies. "I did that!" says the Lord. "I am
the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage." But also God’s people are here reminded of their spiritual
deliverance. Oh, child of God, how He delivered you from the hard yoke and
terrible bondage of the hellish Pharaoh! How graciously He broke the yoke of our
sins and by regenerating grace, led us out of the house of bondage, out of the
world and sin. Yea, once again, what a reminder for Israel and for each of God’s
children, and that of the way in which God led them. With Israel it was, and
with all God’s people it still is, a way of miracles. How sweetly He drew them!
How ready they were to follow Him! And how after that He led them into the
wilderness! They were brought to material and we to spiritual poverty. "We went
through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy
place." Then the Lord provided an Elim of rest, prepared a table in the
wilderness, and gave us water out of the rock Jesus Christ! Yea, truly, it was
an impressive reminder which the Lord placed above the law. It was impressive
because of the purpose for which the Lord intended it. That purpose for Israel
was the Canaan of rest, the land flowing with milk and honey. And that purpose
for each of God’s children is none other than to lead them into the better, the
heavenly Canaan, where they shall sing:

"The lot to me that fell Is beautiful and fair; The heritage in which I dwell Is
good beyond compare."

What do you think, beloved, had we no reason to call the introduction to the law
impressive? Do you also not marvel at the incomprehensible goodness and wisdom
of God that He, before proclaiming the ten commandments of His holy covenant
law, first reminded us of His covenant love and faithfulness and of the great
blessing bestowed on us and the intimate covenant relationship in which He
stands to us and we to Him, since He declares that He is our God? Do not think
this is superfluous. Rather consider this introduction a balm which you will
need for the soul piercing words you are to hear, and the wounds you will
thereby receive, especially then, when the Lord proclaims His holy law in your
soul with power. Already the first commandment, which we now in accordance with
Questions 94 and 95 will discuss, will cause us, if we may receive discovering
light, to cry out, "Have mercy upon me, O God, and enter not into judgment with
Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified."

Come, beloved, let us notice concerning the first commandment:

I. What it demands; II. What it forbids; III. Whither it drives us.

Let us then first hear what it demands. To that end let us listen with attention
to the answer our Instructor gives to the 94th question. That answer speaks of a
soul-saving knowledge, "that I learn rightly to know the only true God." Yea,
that is a blessed knowledge. The Lord Jesus Himself says of this knowledge that
it is life eternal. "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent." (John 17:3) My hearers, God
demands that we shall know Him as a God Who is strictly righteous and spotlessly
holy, as a God Who will not tolerate sin and will not be mocked. "Be not
deceived. God is not mocked." But God also demands that we shall know Him as the
God so rich in mercy and so abundant in grace; a Lord, so good and kind, so
eternally faithful and so unutterably beneficent, Who did not spare His only Son
but delivered Him up to death, yea to the death of the cross, and that to save
the world of His elect. But then He also demands to be known as the Jehovah Who
is worthy to be honored and served, Who must be served and feared for His own
sake. The answer of the Instructor to Question 94 also speaks of a confident
trust. "That I trust in Him alone." God demands that we learn to depend on Him
alone for body and soul, for time and eternity. And what a blessed rest that
gives to our soul, if we may give our lot and our way in His hand with holy
reliance.

"My soul, in silence wait for God He is my help approved, He only is my rock and
tower, And I shall not be moved."

How worthy the Lord is to be trusted in all things and in all circumstances. The
poet had experienced that so blessedly, and therefore he calls on all God’s
people to thus trust Him, saying, "On Him, ye people, evermore Rely with
confidence;

Before Him pour ye out your heart, For God is our defense."

Nay, people of the Lord, your God is in a covenant with you. He will not put you
to shame in days of distress and of death, but He will give you His help when
you need it and save you from all dangers. But then He also demands that you
trust Him. The first commandment also demands a childlike submission. "That I
with humility and patience submit to Him only." And what is sweeter than that
childlike submission of which David sings, "With childlike trust, O Lord, In
Thee I calmly rest, Contented as a little child Upon its mother’s breast."

O how sweet and blessed it is to bow before the Lord, yea under God! And what is
more fitting than humility before Him Who is the Most High, our Creator and
Maker, our God and King? Truly no garment is more suitable for us than the
garment of humility. And naught else does He demand. Hear what Micha says "He
hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" And is
that not your choice and the heart’s desire of everyone that is born of God? A
happy expectation is the fourth virtue the Lord demands of us in the first
commandment. "That I expect all good things from Him only."

We must expect from Him all things necessary for the body. And from whom else
could we expect it but from Him? We must expect from Him a blessing in our
business, in our labor, etc. And who can give us a blessing, who can bless our
field with dew and rain, and warm our field with the sun? Is it not the
benevolent Lord? From Him we must expect the life of our spirit, the salvation
of our soul and sustenance on the way to heaven. He possesses this all in large
measure and He bestows it so very gladly on those who have forfeited all things,
even to His rebellious children, for He gives it out of grace for Christ’s sake.
Therefore faith can never expect too much. "O God Jehovah, good and kind, Thou
art our sun and shield forever. Thou givest glory, truth and grace." The first
commandment also demands that we love, fear and glorify Him with our whole
heart. And what do you say, beloved, is the Lord not fully worthy of this? May,
yea must the Lord not demand this of His creature? Who has ever loved as God Who
as it were tore His only Son from His heart? Is He then not worthy to be feared
and glorified?

Truly, God demands in the first commandment that in which the blessedness of His
people consists. But then He also demands that we do it so steadfastly and so
seriously "that I renounce and forsake all creatures rather than commit even the
least thing contrary to His will."

After we have thus briefly and concisely, heard what God demands in the first
commandment, let us now hear what He forbids.

Idolatry is forbidden. "Idolatry is (see Answer 95) instead of, or besides that
one true God Who has manifested Himself in His word, to contrive or have any
other object in which men place their trust." Idolatry! What a foolish sin it
is! There is but one God. There can be only one Almighty and Omnipresent God.
Oh, certainly many gods are spoken of, even in Scripture, but they are called
gods because of their office or ministry, not because they are gods. And what is
an idol? "We know that an idol is nothing, says the Apostle, and that there is
none other God but one, namely the Lord." How did man get idols? Alas, beloved
hearers, when man turned his back to God, he lost the key of knowledge. He does
not know who the true God is. Still man feels that there is a Supreme Being, and
he feels that there is a God who must be served. But who is He? The most honest
ones admit "I do not know." Thus we read, for example, of the altar "to the
unknown God." Others began to worship all kinds of creatures. Scripture says,
"God is a sun." Blind mankind said "The sun is God." While it seems that before
the flood godlessness was predominant, after the flood idolatry broke out in a
dreadful manner. Men devised a thousand gods. And even the people of Israel
cleaved to idols. Yea, it became their principal sin, for which God punished
them by exiling them to Babylon. God forbids in the first commandment: sorcery.
That is imitating God’s omnipotence; that is, in fellowship with Satan men
perform acts which are like miracles and at which people marvel. Take, for
instance the Egyptian magicians. God forbids: all soothsaying. That is imitating
God’s omniscience. But soothsayers are not omniscient and can not predict the
future, They are crafty people, advanced in the skills of calculating and
guessing. God forbids: all superstition. That is the sin so common in the Roman
Catholic Church, which ascribes an influence for good or for evil to crosses,
relics, etc. God also forbids all invocation of saints or any other creatures.
That is forsaking the God of heaven. All these abominable sins I must flee from
and avoid, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my soul, says the
Catechism.

Let us now sing Psalter No.222 st. 5.

Finally let us ask concerning the first commandment where it drives us.

It drives us to Golgotha, to the blood of the Crucified One. Certainly we must
all testify also of this commandment that it is holy and good. Nothing could be
more fitting than that which is commanded and forbidden here. Yea, if the Lord
would give us our choice as to keeping or discarding this commandment, we would
have to say, "Lord, please keep it for our sake; we cannot spare that dear
commandment which Thou didst set at the head of Thy law." But are we not guilty
in this? Have we not terribly transgressed this commandment? My unconverted
fellow-traveler to eternity, are you not, in respect to this commandment black
as an Ethiopian? The first commandment demands that we learn rightly to know the
only true God, trust in Him, with childlike humility, submit to Him; love, fear,
and glorify Him, and expect all good things from Him only. And how is it with
you in all these matters? But, of course, you do not know Him. The Lord is a
stranger to you. And you much rather trust and expect all good things from a
generous person. Do you fear Him? You are afraid of Him. You wished He were not
there. You do not love Him, you hate Him. You have other gods. You commit
idolatry with everything: with your sinful body by adorning it, with your wife
or husband and children by esteeming them more than your soul’s salvation. God
wants to be the first and have the highest place, and what do you do? You
consider God last and give Him the lowest place, or you do as thousands of
apostates do in our days, who do not consider God at all, who give Him no place
at all, who say they have finished with God and with religion. But be not
deceived! God has not yet finished with you. That must still take place. That
will happen soon. Then you will stand before Him as one who has served idols,
who has cast God and His law behind your back. How then will you justify
yourself? You can not answer Him one of a thousand. And then that God who
engraved the first commandment in stone with His finger, shall have the last
word and that will be: "Depart from Me into outer darkness." Therefore we still
call to you: Repent ye, repent ye, before it is too late. Flee with your guilt
and sin to Golgotha, to Him Who can and will save idolators. The Lord grant you
thereto His grace and Spirit! And we, children of grace, where shall we hide our
guilty head, except at the cross of Calvary? For do you not also acknowledge
yourself guilty of transgressing this commandment, even after having received
grace?

How little do we know the one true God, Who has manifested Himself in His Word,
and in principle in our heart! And do you know that our ignorance of the Lord is
already a transgression of the first commandment? And how is it with that
"confident trust"? Do we not trust much more in our own strength and wisdom for
time and eternity than in the Lord? Alas, on how many reeds we lean and rest!
And how is it with our childlike submission? How often we would be master and
dictate to the Lord what to do and what not to do. Is it not so with you, to
your bitter sorrow? "Expect all good things from Him only." And we often expect
more good from our soul from a tear and a sigh than from God’s grace and rich
mercy. We must love, fear and glorify Him, but how often our love and childlike
fear is as the smoking flax and the bruised reed! Thus we could go on to
enumerate a long list of sins of omission. And the sins of commission must also
be added. For we would not worship idols, but we commit idolatry with our gifts,
experience and prayers, with our friends and pastors, yea with what do we not
commit idolatry? Do we not also, like the foolish Galatians, allow ourselves in
a spiritual sense to be bewitched? Soothsaying, how gladly we do it, although we
are but of yesterday and know nothing. And how proud we are when our predictions
come true, when we have guessed right. Superstition and idolizing creatures we
are guilty of those sins constantly. Attend the meetings of God’s people and you
will often find more idolizing of the creatures and invocation of saints than
praising and glorifying Christ and God. Alas, dear children of the Lord, we are
born as idolators, and therefore we constantly transgress the first commandment.
And our idolatrous existence is dishonoring to the Lord, but also causes sorrow
to our soul. David says (Psa 16:4) "Their sorrows shall be multiplied that
hasten after another god." And oh, if we love an idol whether it be man or
woman, money or possessions or whatever it may be, we experience the truth of
these words. We are punished with our idols, by our idols and for our idols.
Child of God, our idolatrous nature cannot be changed. That old man, that
idolator must die or else he causes our death. And there is but one cure. That
cure you will find at Golgotha. The blood of the Crucified One, that precious,
priceless divine blood of Christ is a covering for our sins, that is the comfort
for our heart, that is the medicine for our ailment, that is the balm for our
wounds, but it is also poison for our idolatrous existence, for our old man. But
what a rich comfort it is to know that what God demands in the first commandment
is also a promise for all God’s people. In that dear covenant law the dear
covenant God comes to His dear covenant child, and says, "I know that you have
sincerely chosen Me to be your God. I know that it is the inmost desire of your
heart and soul to love, fear and glorify Me. I know you have broken with your
idols, and that you loathe both your idols and your idolatrous existence." I
heard you say, "Get thee hence, what have I to do with idols any more?" I know
that you pray and plead against it, and strive and wrestle with it, but that you
cannot rid yourself of it. Now hearken diligently unto Me: I am the Lord, thy
God. I have brought thee out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other
gods before Me. I, thy God, shall bring that to pass. I shall cause thee rightly
to know Me, the only true God and to love, honor and glorify Me always, and
never to worship other gods any more. I, thy God, shall do it. Well, people of
God, what a precious, comforting promise this is! Oh, when the Lord whispers it
to us personally, and we may believe Him on His word, then our heart melts, and
we yield ourselves to Him and we solemnly promise that if the Lord will thus
take care of it, then He alone and always shall be our God, Whom we shall love,
fear and glorify. What a lovable Lord our God is! Must we not love such a God
with all our heart? How easy is His yoke and how light is His burden! You will
understand that on this side of the grave, we shall not attain such heights. But
it shall be so hereafter. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Amen!

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. When he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946. Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the
common people. In all these sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and
self-denial. Throughout all these sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing
by experience these three important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as
he himself was not a stranger thereof. Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his
Catechism sermons and others have been translated into the English language. He
confessed in his life not to be worthy of any honor or praise; that we may then
by grace give all honor and praise to Israel’s God and King, saying with the
Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for
Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa 115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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  CHAPTER 2: 02 - "THE SECOND COMMANDMENT"
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Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE SECOND COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.260 st. 1,2. Read Isa 44:1-28. Psalter No.308 St. 3,4. Psalter No.260
St. 3, 4, 5. Psalter No.337 St. 1, 2,3.

XXXV. LORD’S DAY

Dear Hearers! It is a dreadful and soul-stirring event which is recorded for us
in Lev 10:1-20. In that chapter we read of two men, even sons of the High Priest
of Israel, two priests of the Lord, who were consumed by fire that went out from
the Lord and thus they died before the Lord.

What a dreadful judgment! One moment they are healthy and the next moment they
fall down dead as if struck by lightning! Such an event can overcome the dearest
child of God. Sometimes the Lord takes His child home with an Elijah’s wagon as
it is called. Then it is no judgment, but rather a great favor, a goodness of
the Lord, by which He would spare that child the death struggle. But for Nadab
and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, it was indeed a judgment. They were stricken and
consumed by the fire of God’s wrath. And why? What gruesome sin had they
committed? Had they forsaken the God of heaven and served other gods? Oh no!
They had each taken their censors and gone into the tabernacle to offer incense.
They took incense prepared according to the instructions of the Lord and laid
that in their censors. They did that all in the right way. But they took strange
fire, that is fire that was not taken from the holy fire of the Tabernacle. That
aroused God’s wrath and they had to pay for their sin with their lives. Our
heart is troubled when we consider how many in our days do as Nadab and Abihu,
Oh no, they are no great sinners, no atheists, no idolators; they serve the
Lord, the true God, they approach unto Him, they pray to Him and thank Him, they
draw near to Him, but with strange fire. They draw near to Him with the fire of
their self-loving, selfish, prayers, with their carnal tears, with the strange
fire of a self-willed religion. With such the churches are filled. And how sad
will their end be. Oh, sinner, God can only be approached in the perfect
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God wants to be served, but only in that way which He
himself prescribes in His Word. He wants to be served, but in spirit and truth,
not in a material and sensual way. Thus the Lord Jesus said to the Samaritan
woman, "The hour cometh, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth." Our corrupt understanding thinks otherwise. It wants to
serve God, but in a visible and sensual manner. But how good the Lord is! It has
pleased Him to erect a dam against such worshiping, which is an affront upon His
Majesty. He did so in the second commandment that now requires our attention.
You will find our text in Exo 20:4-6 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that
love me and keep my commandments." Upon these words is based the subject of our
Catechetical instructions as you will find recorded in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XXXV. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 96. What doth God require in the second commandment?

A. That we in no wise represent God by images, nor worship him in any other way
than he has commanded in his word.

Q. 97. Are images then not at all to be made?

A. God neither can, nor may be represented by any means: but as to creatures;
though they may be represented, yet God forbids to make, or have any resemblance
of them, either in order to worship them or to serve God by them.

Q. 98. But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity?

A. No: for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people
taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his word.

Dear Hearers! Again we return in thought to Mount Horeb, the same place where we
tarried last week.

Then we witnessed how the Lord our Lawgiver, amidst fearful signs of His Majesty
descended to proclaim the constitution of His house. We have considered the
impressive introduction, which says, "I am the Lord, thy God which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage." We called this
introduction impressive because of the illustrious person speaking, Namely,
Israel’s Jehovah, the Lord our God. In the second place we called it impressive
because of the relationship of God to His people of which it attests "I am thy
God." That majestic Lawgiver is our God. Can you think of anything more
precious? Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom He
hath chosen for His own inheritance." But we also called the introduction
impressive because of the deliverance it calls to mind. For the Lord reminds His
people that He has brought them out of the house of bondage. What a heavy yoke
did the Lord break for His people. By what a way of miracles did He lead them.
And into what a glorious rest did He bring them. Certainly, literally this
applied to God’s covenant people of old, but in a spiritual sense, in a more
glorious and exalted sense, this applies to all God’s people, the spiritual
Israel. Then we heard concerning the first commandment: what it demands, what it
forbids, and whither it drives us.

Now we request your attention as we wish to present in accordance with the
Thirty-fifth Lord’s Day the second commandment.

1. The priceless contents, 2. The powerful argument, and 3. The excellent
defence now require our attention. The Lord grant us His Spirit both in speaking
and hearing for His own sake.

Let us then first consider the priceless contents of the second commandment, and
that in accordance with Question and Answer 96. What doth God require in the
second commandment? It was not without great cause, my hearers, that in the
midst of His awful majesty God spoke on Mount Sinai, "Thou shalt not make unto
thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing." Of what priceless
content this word is becomes evident when we consider the tendency of our deeply
fallen nature. That tendency is to serve and glorify the Lord in a carnal,
visible and sensual manner. Take, for example, the heathens. The apostle Paul
says (Rom 1:19) "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for
God hath showed it unto them." "But they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was
darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the
glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and
to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." And now you must not
think that all the heathens thought those images were God Himself. Some simple
ones did, but there were others among the heathens who knew God is spiritual,
and who testified "In Him we live, and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28).
And still their darkened heart was led to make images of the Lord in various
forms. Hence that was doing what God forbids. Someone may say, "Yes, but those
were heathens, of them you can expect nothing else." Then give your attention to
the people of Israel. What did they do at Horeb, a few days after the Lord had
proclaimed His law? They made a golden calf and cried the one to the other, "Lo,
this is your God, who has brought you up out of Egypt." Do not suppose that they
thought that calf had actually delivered them. Oh, no, but they made an image, a
graven image of God, of Him who had delivered them. And now we surely need not
look further into the history of Israel to convince you of the fact that they
were hardened image worshipers; at least until the Babylonian exile. Some one
may say, "Yes, but those were the Jews." But do you not also find that
worshiping of images in the Roman Catholic Church? Not all at once, but
gradually image worship crept into the church. First they had the images of the
martyrs, then of mother Mary, then the image of the cross and of the crucified
Christ, of the Holy Spirit, and of the Father, and all this they say to glorify
and serve God. At a Synod in 842 that abominable image worship was legalized. Is
this the proof of the tendency of fallen man to serve God in a sensual and
visible manner?

"Yes, you say, "but those were heretics." But what do Protestants do? Is there
no image-worship among them? Happily you do not find among us the idolatory of
the papacy, but there is also a more refined image worship. What carnal
conceptions do we often have of God. What self-willed service do we offer that
dear Being, Who would be served only in Spirit and truth. And all self-willed
religion is nothing but image-worship. One person imagines a God Who is only
love, Who threatens, but does not punish, Who is too good to strike. Another
thinks of God as being solely stern justice, Who cannot be approached. Alas!
even with God’s people do we find image worship. How much image-worship there is
in our home, our heart, and our prayer. What hard thoughts we have of God, what
disobedience, etc. And that is all image-worship. Hear what Samuel says:
"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry." (1Sa 15:22, 1Sa 15:23.) Oh people of God, by nature our heart is a
breeding place of idolatry. They who learn to know their heart are not surprised
at the foolishness of Israel. Alas, our heart is as a temple of images. Do you
know how it became so? It is because of our fall. Our deep fall was the first
transgression of the second commandment. Hence we also called the contents of
the second commandment priceless, because of the bulwark God erects in it. My
hearers, God will not be served thus. He will not be served by pictures and
images. He will not be glorified in a carnal manner. The Lord has a loathing, an
abhorrence of all self-willed religion. He alone can say how he shall be served.
God cannot be served by such sensuous images or conceptions. That God Who fills
heaven and earth, Who is All-sufficient and Omnipresent, can not be portrayed by
anything material or visible. "To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be
equal?" saith the Holy One in Isa 40:25. Yea, to whom then will ye liken God or
what likeness will ye compare unto Him? For no one hath seen God at any time;
the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father He hath declared Him
(John 1:18). To try to make an image of God and to serve Him in a sensuous and
visible manner is an insult to the Highest Majesty. It does not enhance, but
rather obscures His glory. How will God be served? Go in the thought to the
temple at Jerusalem. There you see, according to Jesus’ parable, (Luk 18:10) two
men going up to pray. The one is a self-righteous, conceited Pharisee and the
other a publican. He stands afar off. He dares not even lift up so much as his
eyes to heaven, but, smiting upon his breast, he prays, "God, be merciful to me,
a sinner." Lo, thus God wants to be served, as the publican did. He then went
down to his house justified. How would God be served? As that woman of which we
read ’(Luk 7:1-50) who standing at Jesus’ feet wept, washing His feet with tears
and drying them with the hair of her head. My dear hearers, have you ever wept
over your guilt and sin at Jesus’ feet? That is the religion which Jesus
commends. Do you still ask how the Lord would be served? Go then upon the way to
Jericho. There you see two blind men sitting by the wayside. They heard that
Jesus was passing by. Then they begin to cry out, "Have mercy on us, 0 Lord,
thou son of David." The multitude rebuked them, that they should hold their
peace. But they cried the more and the more earnestly, "Have mercy on us, O
Lord, thou son of David." They cried thus until Jesus stood still and asked,
"What will ye that I shall do unto you? Then they had but to tell of their need
and the Lord gave them their desire. Lo, that is true religion. Do you still ask
how you must serve God? Do it as the spouse did in the Song of Solomon when she
cried out as she embraced Jesus in faith, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His."
Once more, do as the psalmist did in Psa 116:1-19 when he was overwhelmed with
God’s benefits, saying, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits
toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the
Lord." Do you still ask how God would be served? Do as Paul did when, running
the race of sanctification, he cried out, "I follow after, if that I may
apprehend it." Serve God as Jacob did when upon his deathbed he spoke, "I have
waited for thy salvation, O Lord." Thus the Lord teaches His people, by faith.
To that end He regenerates them through the Holy Spirit. Then instead of carnal
they become spiritual. He reveals to them God’s holiness and glory, then they
see that He cannot be served in a material way. Then they learn to abhor the
sensuous religion of themselves and others. That Spirit teaches them how God
would be served and glorified, and teaches them how they must walk. On this side
of the grave it will be full of defects, but one day they shall serve God
perfectly. Then He shall be served as the second commandment prescribes, and
that not only by the angels, but also by just men made perfect. Released from
all carnal thoughts and sensual religion, they shall serve Him in Spirit and in
truth. Ah, child, then we shall never make or set up graven images, nor bow down
to them. But let us in the second place notice the powerful argument. To
safeguard men, and especially His people from sensuous religion, the Lord added
to this commandment a powerful argument derived from His Holy nature. "I am the
Lord, Jehovah, the high exalted One. "My glory will I not give to another,
neither my praise to graven images." I am thy God. I have created and recreated
thee. I have delivered and entered into a covenant with thee. I am thine and
thou art mine. Thou hast freely chosen Me to be thy God and Lord. Then do not
become an apostate by serving Me by a manner I do not wish. I am a jealous God.
People of the Lord, remember the moment when you made the choice of Ruth, when
you gave heart and hand to the Lord, when you entered into a covenant with Him,
when you subscribed with your hand unto the Lord. Thus thy Maker is thine
Husband, the Lord of hosts is His Name. And now He does not want you to go a
whoring from Him with wood and stone, with gold and silver. He does not want you
to seek to please Him with graven images or likenesses. He wants your heart,
your spirit, your soul and your mind. That powerful argument is also derived
from His stern righteousness. Attempting to make something like Him, or serving
Him in a sensual manner, the Lord calls a hating of Him. And those who hate Him
He will punish, and that to the third and fourth generation. And the Lord has
abundantly shown that this is no empty threat. Take for example, Korah, Dathan
and Abiram, who sank alive into the pit, with all their possessions. And how
terribly did the Lord punish Ahab for his image worship by destroying his entire
posterity. And was not idolatry and image worship the reason why the Lord sent
the people of Israel to Babylon? And do we not see even today that the Lord
visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the fourth generation of them that hate
Him? This caused the enemies among Israel who misinterpreted this truth to
exclaim, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set
on edge." But the Lord says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." We must
remember there are different kinds of sins: there are personal sins, family
sins, church sins, national sins and there is a sin of the whole world, that is
the sin committed by Adam and imputed to all people. Thus God visits the sins of
a country and a nation to the entire nation. But if the children break away from
the sins of their parents, the Lord spares them. Thus the children of the wicked
Korah, who would have no fellowship with the sins of their father, but had
separated themselves from him, were not sent alive into hell with their father,
but were appointed as singers in the Temple, and that of the sweetest and
tenderest psalms, such as Psa 42:1-11; Psa 44:1-26; Psa 49:1-20; Psa 84:1-12;
Psa 85:1-13 which were all for the sons of Korah. Thus the Lord also dealt with
the son of the wicked Jeroboam, in whom was found some good thing toward the
Lord God of Israel, and the Lord took him into His glorious heaven. Again, that
powerful argument to safeguard men and especially His people from image-worship
is derived from His rich mercy. His mercy extends to thousand generations. But:
For them that love Him -Who are they? They are those who are regenerated in
whose heart love is shed abroad. They are those who can say with John, "We love
him, because he first loved us." They are those who keep His commandments, who
consecrate themselves to the Lord, who as Abraham do not withhold their only son
from Him. To such then He shows His rich mercy. The Lord Jesus says: (John
14:21) He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me:
and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My father, and I will love him and
manifest Myself to him." Such, then, are blessed of the Lord, to them He shows
His mercy for many generations. How richly was Abraham’s family blessed! And
there still are richly blest families to whom God shows His rich mercy for their
father’s sake.

Let us in the third place observe the excellent defense. "Are images then not at
all to be made?" so ask the papists and also Luther. Question 97. The Roman
Catholic and the Lutheran churches persistently transgress this commandment of
the Lord. A severe struggle was waged in the Christian Church, especially in the
East concerning the honoring of images. At first image worship was condemned. At
the Council of Constantinople in the year 754, the image worship was condemned
because it robs God of His honor, for He alone is worthy to receive the honor of
being worshiped. Still the church of Rome insisted on having its way. The
Council of Trent, held in 1545 to 1563, has confirmed the having and worshiping
of images. Their purpose is to glorify God and to attract people, because those
images are as books for the laity, (We prefer calling them members.) The
Romanists say they differentiate between honoring and worshiping; but the
ignorant crowd does not differentiate; in practice they certainly do worship the
images. The Instructor gives an excellent answer. "God neither can nor may be
represented by any means," says the Instructor very truly. As we have already
said, God cannot be represented. God is a Spirit, no man has ever seen Him. Also
at Mount Sinai Israel saw no similitude and in neither the tabernacle nor the
temple was any image of God to be found. The Infinite God cannot be represented.
What the Roman Catholic church makes of it is a caricature, an insult to God.
Neither may it be done. God will not permit insignificant mortals to make an
image of Him. But nor is it necessary. God has revealed Himself in the Son of
His love. My dear hearers, our precious Lord Jesus is the image of the invisible
God. He is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. He
that hath seen Him hath seen the Father. God grant that we often, yea, always
look upon Him as He lay in Bethlehem’s manger as He crept in Gethsemane, as He
stood before Pontius Pilate, as He hung on Golgotha’s cross, as He arose in
Joseph’s garden, as He ascended from the mount of Olives, as He sits at His
Father’s right hand. He who has seen Him, thus with an eye of faith for his own
soul, that privileged one has seen God so precious and so glorious that a whole
gallery of Papist images are unnecessary, yea, loathsome to him. Are images then
not at all to be made? All creatures may be represented, because they are
finite. Thus many likenesses were found in the tabernacle and temple even on the
mercy-seat. Were not the likenesses of two cherubim placed on it? But those
likenesses may not be honored, much less may we serve God by them. No, the Lord
is not opposed to art and science. Could we but say that art and science are not
opposed to God! But so very often they are. As a result of sin art and science
are at the service of Satan, of the world and of sin. See the products of
literature, sculpture, painting and drawing! What filthy, lying, vulgar books,
paintings and images there are. They are loathsome. It is no wonder that the
arts and sciences are discredited by God’s people, with what is truly good and
beautiful there is so much that is filthy and destructive. But Rome does not yet
yield. Hear Question 98: "But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as
books to the laity?" The papacy holds that the people, — called the laity in
distinction to the clergy-need, in addition to the preaching, visual instruction
by means of images. Therefore they call those images "books to the laity." The
Instructor again gives an excellent answer: "We must not pretend to be wiser
than God." And that is precisely what man wants. He has fallen so low, he is so
stupid and foolish, that he wants to be wiser than God. Man wants to tell God
what to do and what not to do and how to do it. Nevertheless, not the church,
but God Himself chooses the means to be used for bringing up the people that He
has sovereignly chosen, and that He wishes to save, to the true knowledge of God
which is indispensable to their salvation. While in Old Testament times it
pleased Him to instruct His people by means of sacrifices and shadows, according
to His wisdom and sovereignty He gave the church of the new covenant other means
to teach them to salvation. Certainly, the Lord could have used images, but it
pleased Him to use only a crucified Christ, in Whom by faith He gives them to
see everything they need to meet in peace Him against Whom they have sinned. No,
indeed, not by dumb images will He teach His people. They are lying teachers.
Look at the images in the churches and homes of the Roman Catholic people, do
they teach you saving knowledge of self, of Christ and of God? If you speak to
those people who always are kneeling before those images, you will find not
one-tenth of the knowledge of the truth that you will find with an only mediocre
catechumen. "I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." Dear hearers! God gave
us His Word, that dear Bible, that precious book of comfort. That is our book of
instruction. That glorious book we have received from our God. And is not this
clear evidence of the foolishness and enmity of Rome? Those poor people, who
also have a soul for eternity, may, yea must stare at those dead images, but may
not read in the Bible, the book that could make them wise unto salvation, You
see, then they would become too wise. For in that dear word of God, that is
written by the Holy Ghost with His own hand, as it were, that is a living and
everlasting word, He has revealed to us all that is necessary for us to know for
our salvation and our peace with God. In that Word the Lord has clearly recorded
the life history of us all. As a memorandum of our baseness and wickedness the
Lord has recorded therein the entire history of our forsaking of God in our
heart and our life. But in that same Word He also unfolds to us the blessed
secret, namely, how the Lord Who cannot let any sin go unpunished, can, and will
become the God of a guilty sinner. Yea, that same Word in which almost every
page declares, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," also
teaches us to testify with humility of heart, "But there is forgiveness with
Thee, that Thou hast be feared." Nay, people of God, the Lord did not give you
dumb images, but He wrote for us a living Word, a Word, in which He disclosed.
to us the council of peace, the covenant of redemption, a Word in which He
disclosed the blessed secret of His Father heart. The Lord instructs us by His
Word, a Word that gives us counsel when we are in despair, comfort when we are
comfortless; a Word that is a light for our path and a lamp for our feet when we
walk in darkness; a Word in which He calls to sinners, "Come now and let us
reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, though they be red like
crimson, I will make them white as snow, and pure as wool. In that Word the Lord
instructs us; from what principle, according to what rule, and to what purpose
we must know and serve God. And He gives Interpreters with it! He sends and
qualifies people to explain that Word. Here also we see the goodness of Him Who
has no need of us, but Whom we need so much. And even this would not be
sufficient, but the dear Lord adds His power to the Word. See, for example the
first great Christian Pentecost. Three thousand people from all tongues and
nations, bow before God and cry out, "What must we do to be saved?" This was the
fruit of the simple preaching of Peter, but made effectual by the Holy Spirit.
So it was also with Lydia, whose heart was. opened at the preaching of Paul, and
also with the jailer. But what further need have we of witnesses? You yourself,
child of God, and we, are living witnesses to the truth of the answer of the
Instructor: "God will have His people taught, not by dumb images, but by the
lively preaching of His Word.

Come, let us sing Psalter No.260 st. 3, 4, 5.

Dear Hearers! What thankfulness do we owe the Lord for delivering us from the
image worship of the Romanists. That deliverance cost blood and tears, yea,
precious lives.

Oh, how happy our forefathers were when God Almighty intervened to deliver His
church from image worship. They say it was not right of our forefathers, and
perhaps that is so, I am not certain about it, but I can understand very well,
that when the Romish fetters fell from their hands, that their free hands took
the mallet to crush the images by which they had so long angered and provoked
God. It is surprising that the images were crushed every time God gave a
reformation. What did Moses do with the golden calf? What did Gideon do with the
altar of Baal? What did Hezekiah do with the brazen serpent? And it is still
thus. I have read that the Spirit of God is converting people in Russia. And the
first of all they take the images and relics out of the churches and, sometimes
walking in procession, cast them into the river. And what should our fathers
have done with those images? Surely, they could not let them remain in God’s
house of prayer. Where then should they have kept them? Frankly, I think those
iconoclasts (image brakers) did a good deed. Of course, there were also bad
elements among them, for, alas, there is always chaff among the wheat. And what
did the papacy do? It crushed no images, but living people, by the thousands,
and that solely because they wanted to serve God according to the second
commandment and according to their conscience. "Not by dumb images, but by the
lively preaching of His Word." Yea, to hear the preaching of that Word our
fathers went through fire and water, for that they gave their money and
possessions, for that they jeoparded their lives. There are still people, also
in our country, who travel miles to heard the lively preaching of the Word of
God, to whom that is worth everything. Wherever God’s servants preach the Word
of God in simplicity, they find interested hearers. There is much complaint, and
that there is much reason to complain of the neglect of the public ministry of
the Word is a sad fact, but we must also say that often the preaching
contributes to that neglect. What good does it do a poor, simple, uneducated,
hungry soul to listen to a learned discourse, a discourse full of beautiful
metaphors and learned terminology? Give those people bread, bread for their
souls, bread to satisfy their hunger after God. The minister’s worship for his
images is nothing to them. They need the "lively preaching of the Word." "The
lively preaching" need not be a preaching with much commotion. No, but it is a
preaching in which the way of God is plainly and clearly portrayed, and the life
of a child of God is sketched according to the Word of God. The sermon can never
be too simple, and a calm preacher is very desirable. Dear child of God, how
sweet and good it is when your soul may be lively under the lively preaching of
His Word. That is medicine for your soul. Such a sermon is balm for your wounds;
it is food and drink for your spiritual life, it is sustenance upon your way.
Then God is to you as they that take off the yoke on your jaws and laid good
meat unto you. Then you sing with David, "The habitation of Thy house is ever my
delight." Then you sing, "Sweeter are Thy words to me than all other good can
he." Then you are as a watered garden. Then instructed in His holy law to praise
His Word you lift your voice. Now a person who honors or worships images never
feels thus. Oh, it is such a poor god whom the Roman Catholics serve. And they
also have a soul just like ours, and they also are going to their long home, but
not to the Father’s house. Oh, that there might still be a prayer and a sigh in
our heart for those poor, deceived people. Lord, open their blind eyes for the
abominable deception of their teachers of lies. But it shall be terrible for
those people who are dead, and remain so under the lively preaching of His Word.
Alas, poor sinner, as dead wood, as a fire-brand, you will soon be cast into the
unquenchable fire. Oh, that God would still have mercy on you for Jesus’ sake.
Become like unto an image yourself, like unto the image of God. Then you will
for ever be satisfied with God’s likeness

Amen.

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. When he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946. Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the
common people. In all these sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and
self-denial. Throughout all these sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing
by experience these three important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as
he himself was not a stranger thereof. Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his
Catechism sermons and others have been translated into the English language. He
confessed in his life not to be worthy of any honor or praise; that we may then
by grace give all honor and praise to Israel’s God and King, saying with the
Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for
Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa 115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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  CHAPTER 3: 03 - THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
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Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE THIRD COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.179 St 1,2,3,4. Read Jas 3:1-18. Psalter No.435 St. 4 Psalter No.304
St. 1,6, 7. Psalter No.236 St. 1, 2.

XXXVI. LORD’S DAY

Dear Hearers! When the Lord gave His servant Moses those laws which were
intended to develop Israel into a holy nation, something happened that was more
dreadful than anything that had as yet taken place among them. The son of an
Israelitish woman, born of a mixed marriage with an Egyptian, hence one of the
mixed multitude which left Egypt with Israel and dwelt among God’s people as if
he belonged with them, strove with a man of Israel in the camp. And then
something happened that greatly perturbed the entire nation. The boy, born of
that mixed marriage, in the heat of his anger blasphemed the Name of the Lord
and cursed; therefore those who heard it brought him to Moses. At the command of
Moses they put him in ward that the mind of the Lord might be showed them. For
such a thing had never been done in Israel before. Even Moses the man of God did
not know what to do with such a wicked person, with such a blasphemer. In this
unprecedented case the Lord Himself must give judgment. And the Lord spoke to
Moses to give him the desired answer: Bring forth him that hath cursed without
the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head and after
that let all the congregation stone him.

You see, beloved, by a sin such as this one the entire community to which the
sinner was externally bound, became guilty with him. It is true, they had but
received this guilt, this guilt had forcibly been laid upon them, but it would
have become their own personal sin if they had not returned it to the one from
whom they had received it. The return of this guilt was accomplished by the
destruction of the sinner by the entire congregation after they who had heard
the blasphemy and cursing had laid their hands upon the head of the blasphemer,
by which action they symbolically laid upon him the sin by which they had been
polluted. The procedure prescribed by the law here and everywhere in a case of
public offense should be carefully studied also by us. For the evil committed by
few or many infects others like a penetrating poison, to some it causes
loathing, to others it is a temptation. Therefore by exercising justice the evil
must be punished and the course of the poison must be checked. And do you not
also think that if every blasphemer and curser in this country was to be stoned,
there would not be enough stones? And would we, would I and you go free? That
dreadful sin and its just punishment we will now discuss.

You will find our text in Exo 20:7. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name
in vain. Upon these words our catechetical instruction is based as you will find
recorded in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XXXVI. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 99. What is required in the third commandment?

A. That we, not only by cursing or perjury, but also by rash swearing, must not
profane or abuse the name of God; nor by silence or connivance be partakers of
these horrible sins in others; and, briefly, that we use the Holy Name of God no
otherwise than with fear and reverence; so that he may be rightly confessed and
worshipped by us, and be glorified in all our words and works.

Q. 100. is then the profaning of God’s name, by swearing and cursing, so heinous
a sin, that his wrath is kindled against those who do not endeavor, as much as
in them lies, to prevent and forbid such cursing and swearing?

A. It undoubtedly is, for there is no sin greater or more provoking to God, than
the profaning of His name: and therefore He has commanded this sin to be
punished with death.

Dear Hearers! Once and again we have tarried in thought at Horebs mountain.

We have first considered the significant and comforting introduction to the law,
which was heard from the lips of the Lord when He spoke: "I am the Lord thy God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
After that we considered the first commandment, in which the Lord erects a
bulwark against the idolatrous nature of the deeply fallen man. "Thou shalt have
no other gods before me." And that is precisely what the unregenerate wants, he
wants to kneel to a thousand gods, and he adds to their number again and again.
But for the true God he will not bow, Him he will not honor, upon Him he will
not depend. For that matter, he does not know the only true God, and hence does
not love Him; he is afraid of Him; he wishes He were not there. And when he
acknowledges that there is a God, and that this God should and must be served,
he wants to do it in a visual and sensual manner. Led by his foolish and errant
conceit, he attempts to make the Invisible God visible in countless forms and
shapes. This was done and is still done among the heathens. This was done by
Israel at Horeb, where they made a calf to represent God. This is done
especially in the heathenish papacy. And in a more refined manner each one of us
does so, even the people of God who have received grace. But the Lord disallows
all such visual and sensual religion, all that making of images. Such a religion
does not please Him. Such a visual and sensual religion provokes His Holy
displeasure, that is no religion. That is cursed image worship which He shall
visit with His Holy wrath upon even the fourth generation. By making images one
does not honor God, He calls it hating Him, and shall visit it terribly in His
own time. And when the Papacy tried to justify its image worship by calling its
images books to the laity, the Instructor gives this excellent answer, "We must
not pretend to be wiser than God, Who will have His people taught, not by dumb
images, but by the lively preaching of His word." And so it is. When God wants
to instruct a concerned Ethiopian, God does not send an image, but Philip to
preach God’s Word. When the Lord wants to establish a church somewhere, He sends
the lively preaching of His Word. When He wants to bring His children to faith
and cause them to grow in faith, He uses the lively preaching of His Word.
Indeed, the establishment, the maintaining and the reformation of His church is
entirely done by the lively preaching of His Word. Oh, beloved hearers, let us
then always esteem highly that preaching of His Word and let us support it by
our prayers and our gifts. And now we are called to tarry again for a moment at
Mount Horeb to listen to and meditate on the third commandment. In this
commandment the Lord lays His hand on the sin which has made our country
notorious among foreign nations. In other countries we are called "a cursing
people." And still there is no sin more provoking to God than this sin. He will
also punish this sin terribly. What a privilege it is when the Lord plants His
fear in our heart; then we have reverence and high esteem for God’s dear Name.
These matters shall become more clear to you as you give us your attention while
we are called, in accordance with Lord’s Day 36, to speak about the third
commandment or the abuse of God’s Holy Name.

Permit me with a few words to show you:

1. The sin here forbidden; 2. The punishment here threatened, 3. The attitude
here commanded. The Lord grant us through grace His Spirit as we elucidate these
matters, for Jesus’ sake.

"Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain." Thus, dear hearers,
we hear the highest Law-giver and Judge earnestly warn us, for the abuse of His
Holy Name is regarded by Him as doing violence to the highest Majesty of God,
which shall be punished by the severest penalty in body and soul.

Let us then first notice the sin here forbidden.

Thou shalt not take—literally it says "take up"—the Name of the Lord thy God in
vain"—that means lightly. By the "Name of the Lord" you must understand all that
the dear Lord has revealed about Himself. Some think especially of the name
Jehovah which is always written in capitals in good Bibles. And truly, this is
God’s most significant name, as Hellenbroek says in his instruction book, the
name that may not be given to any creature. "I am the Lord: that is My Name: and
My Glory will I not give to another, neither My Praise to graven images." (Isa
42:8.) This Name signifies the self-existence, the immutability and faithfulness
of God. It is the same Name which the Lord spoke to Moses and with which He sent
Moses to the children of Israel in Egypt: "I am that I am!" (Exo 3:14.) Yet even
this name can not circumscribe the entire Divine Being, God’s infinite Being can
not be expressed by one name, nay, not by a thousand names. No, we may not take
this name, nor any other name of the Lord in vain. Yea, nothing by which the
Lord reveals Himself may be taken in vain, hence not the names of His
attributes, nor His Word, nor His works. And that is to be understood. Is not
the Lord thy God the Most High Majesty? Is He not the King of kings and the Lord
of lords? Is He not the Righteous One, but also the Most Gracious One, Who a
thousand times was our Benefactor? Is He not our Best, our Heavenly Father, Who
provides for all our temporal and spiritual needs, and Who pardoned us a
thousand times. And shall we then take His Holy Name in vain? Dear hearers,
taking His Name in vain is contrary to man’s calling. Has He not created man to
declare His praise and glorify His Name? Has He not for that purpose revealed
His Name, that is Himself? Has He not for that purpose revealed His attributes
and perfections? And how gloriously that took place in the state of rectitude.
All that was in paradise proclaimed the praises of God. Trees, and flowers and
plants, fish and birds, four-footed and creeping animals, yea, everything,
though it be unconsciously, proclaimed the glorious Name of God. And above that
chorus of creatures praising God, sounded the mighty voice of Adam and Eve as a
silver trumpet through the garden of the Lord, to praise and glorify the Name of
their Creator. Then the third commandment was not necessary. To use the Name of
their Maker and Benefactor except with deepest and childlike reverence was
unthinkable. They could not do so. Would not their voices have sounded more pure
than the heavens which declare the glory of God and the firmament which showeth
His handiwork? Oh, had it but remained thus! But alas, we have fallen, we have
sinned. We have not regarded nor honored the Name of the Lord. We listened to
him who was the first to take the Name of the Lord in vain, when he lied to our
first parents saying that they would not die, not even if they ate from the
forbidden tree, even if they transgressed the laws of the Lord. And when Adam
listened to the voice of the tempter and transgressed the commandment, he, and
we in and with him, lost that reverence and child-like fear for that dear Being.
We knew Him no more; we retained no respect for Him any more, then a root was
planted in our soul, which brought forth both cursing, and lying. Then it was
also necessary that the Lord included the third commandment in His holy law. And
it is His unutterable goodness that He was willing to do it and that He actually
did it. Hence the fact that there is a third commandment is an accusation
against us. The Apostle says, "Where no law is, there is no transgression." We
can also say, Were there no sins there would be no need of a law. Every
commandment accuses us. It is proof that we do not do that which is commanded,
nor refrain from doing that which is forbidden. Hence we are guilty of sins of
omission and commission. The third commandment then speaks of a shameful abuse.
For we ask You whereas the Lord in condescending goodness made known to man by
means of His names His being and His attributes, so that we may learn to know
Him to our salvation, is it then no abominable and shameful abuse of the names
of the Lord by the enemies of God when they take them lightly upon their lips to
blaspheme their Creator or to curse their neighbor by the names of God? In the
third commandment the Lord does not forbid the proper and reverent use of God’s
name, but the light and sad abuse of it. Hence we must not do as the
superstitious Jews do, who when reading God’s Word omit the name Jehovah and
substitute another name. And why do they do that? We noted before that literally
the commandment reads "take up." The opposite of take up, reasons the Jew, is
let lie, hence, not use. And because, that boy of whom we spoke in the
introduction was stoned because he blasphemed the Name, and because of many
other superstitions, the Jew does not use the name Jehovah. But again: here we
find forbidden using the name of the Lord thoughtlessly or without reverence and
for an improper or shameful purpose. In the third commandment God forbids not
only cursing, but also, as our Catechism correctly observes, perjury. That this
commandment refers especially to this terrible sin is evident from Lev 19:12,
"And ye shall not swear by My Name falsely; I am the Lord." And truly perjury
may particularly be called a blasphemous and vain abuse of the Name of God, for
in perjury we call upon God that He will bear witness to our lie and treachery;
yea, we would make the spotlessly holy One a servant of sin. And this sin,
however terrible it is, is repeatedly committed in many ways. Profaning the Name
of God is also done by rash swearing, either by the attributes of God or by
thunder and lightning, as is heard repeatedly, even from lips of which you would
not expect it. Oh, beloved, the cursing and profaning of the Name of the Lord is
such an extensive evil, it is done in so many ways that it is impossible to name
them all.

You ask: how is it done? Permit me to say something about it.

It is done by words when we curse our neighbor in God’s Name, or even call down
damnation upon our own head. Thus we would make the Lord the executer of our
hatred and revenge to our own detriment. Alas, what has man become by sin! It is
also done by swearing, by using words which alas some of God’s people even do
not recognize as sinning, hence those swearing words are heard also from their
lips. It is also done by blaspheming when we charge God foolishly; when we doubt
His omnipotence, when we mock His wisdom, when we deny His providence, or accuse
Him of hardness and injustice. Well, people of God, put your hand into your own
bosom. Are you innocent in this matter? Remember how Job in his despondency
cursed the day of his birth. Remember what Peter did in the hall of Caiaphas. It
is also done in prayer, when in extended long prayers that dear Name is used
over and over, sometimes a hundred times, often merely using it as a stop-gap
while thinking what to say next. That is a terrible transgression of the third
commandment. Surely such a concatenation of sins the Lord will not regard as a
prayer. Oh, people of God, let your words be few, and seasoned with salt. It is
also done in our thoughts, when internally we curse or blaspheme, or accuse that
dear Being of unfaithfulness. Are you not guilty in this? By this we do not mean
the hellish torments of Satan who under the permission of God utters curses and
blasphemy against the Lord in the tender soul of the child of God to torture and
frighten it, yea, if it were possible, to bring it to despair. Nay, you will
notice that Satan’s curses in the heart are hellish torments concerning which
the soul cries to God for deliverance, but they leave no guilt upon the
conscience. It is also done by deeds, when we pretend to serve the Lord, but
secretly live in sin. Oh, beloved, the sin against the third commandment is so
widespread. It is found in the inner chambers of kings, in the assemblies of the
government of the nation, the state and the cities, it is found in the courts,
in schools, and homes, yea, even in God’s house. Walk along our streets and even
from the lips of children you will hear curses. There are families in which
parents and children outdo each other in cursing. Often one of the first words
little children can utter is a curse. Is it not a dreadful thought that our
country is notorious for its curses? The third commandment is also transgressed
by perjury. And then where shall we begin? Shall we hear the false oaths uttered
in legislative halls, in court rooms, at marriages, and in consistory rooms,
false oaths, at which they call upon the Name of God, but which presently prove
to be oaths which men dare to break faithlessly? All promises made in the Name
of God must have only the honor of God and the welfare of man as their aim, and
breaking such a promise is profaning His Holy Name. God’s Name is also profaned
by rash swearing by heaven or earth, by our life or our health. All unnecessary
promises and promises we know we cannot keep are included in this vain and rash
swearing and abusing God’s Name. And if you perhaps think you are guiltless in
this, we request you to consider the 100th Question and Answer, and what our
Instructor says there. Then you, too, shall cry out "Have mercy upon me, O God!"
For also our "silence," and "not endeavoring to prevent and forbid" such
profaning of God’s Name also renders us guilty of transgressing the third
commandment. How often we are silent because of fear of man or for the sake of
profit. And thus we make ourselves guilty of that terrible sin. To remain a
friend of Caesar we invoke God’s anger and wrath upon our soul. Upon all this we
hear the threatening of God, which reads: I shall not hold him guiltless, that
taketh My Name in vain. This naturally leads us to our second thought: the
punishment here threatened.

"The Lord shall not hold him guiltless." This negative statement contains a
positive threat to all transgressors of the third commandment. The punishment of
these sins is certain. That proceeds from His Holy Nature, which can not endure
sin. For He is the King of kings, He it is, Who because of His pure and holy
nature must punish sin; He is that God Who loves Himself above all, Who hates
and punishes sin, because it conflicts with His Holy Nature. Moreover, profaning
God’s Name is one of those sins which not only would rob God of His crown but
would even pierce His heart. In the original of Lev 24:11 we read that the boy
blasphemed "or pierced" the Name of the Lord. "There is no sin greater or more
provoking to God, than the profaning of His Name; and therefore He has commanded
this sin to be punished with death," says the Catechism. And how could it be
otherwise? We, sinful contemptible sinners, become indignant, we become angry
when people dare to misuse our name, or slander it, and would the Lord not have
a holy and terrible anger against those who profane His Holy Name? God hates and
punishes sin, and no wonder, cursing and swearing are not only the fruit of
unbelief, but are the proper works of the devils. A curser shows plainly that he
is an image-bearer of the devil and that he is related to the doomed in hell.
Such profanity He who is the faithful one, also in His threatenings, will not
allow to go unpunished. Would you have proof?

Pharaoh cried, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice? And see how the
waters of the Red Sea covered this cursing and swearing king. Then you shall see
how God punishes this sin. Recall again the son of Shelomith of Lev 24:1-23.
Take also, for example, the woman, the unfaithful wife, who. called upon to take
the oath of purification, committed perjury. By a special plague and punishment
of God she was publicly smitten with terrible bodily ailments. (Num 5:1-31.)
Goliath also dared to defy the armies of Israel’s Jehovah. Remember the four
hundred prophets of Baal; who were killed by Elijah, because they defied God.
Yea, consider the slandering Sennacherib and how the Lord killed one hundred
eighty-five thousand men of valour in one night. Another example is the mocking
Belshazar and his thousand drunken lords and God wrote His sentence upon the
wall: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting," which sentence
was executed that same night. But never has the Lord revealed His holy
indignation against the misuse of His Name more gloriously than on Golgotha in
the death of His Holy Child. For notice what took place in the hall of Caiaphas:
There He stood—our Jesus in our stead, covered with our sins, the sins of His
church. And now notice that it is the sin against the third commandment of which
He is accused and for which He is sentenced to death. "He hath spoken
blasphemy"—"He is guilty of death." Oh, people of God, see how your Surety is
led out of Jerusalem as a blasphemer. Yea, look to Golgotha and there you see
how God punishes sin, how He visits the profaning of His Name with the most
dreadful punishments in body and soul. Truly, with an eye upon that Christ, we
cry out to you, who know yourself as a slanderer: Ye are bought with a price;
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. And you
who still continue in sin, you also may look to Calvary, you will then see that
God did not spare His own Son. How then shall you escape, if you continue on and
on in sin. Dreadful is the punishment threatened upon the transgression of the
third commandment. For what is the future of a blasphemer? Is that future not
terrible? Not only does God in time punish the curser so that he experiences
that the curse is consuming his income, but all this is nothing compared to what
awaits them in the future, in eternity. For when one profanes God’s eternal
Name, God will requite that sin with eternal punishment. One day all those who
did not learn to bow before the Lord here, shall find themselves in a cursing
company and with gnashing of teeth they shall curse and profane God’s Name
eternally and gnaw their tongues eternally with pain and sorrow of heart.
Blessed then is the people that by grace have learned: to bow before that high
Majesty, to tremble at His Name, and to fear Him with childlike fear.

Having heard what the Lord forbids in the third commandment, and the punishment
He threatens, let us finally also say a few words about the attitude here
commanded. The Lord demands in this commandment that we shall fear Him with
child-like fear. The Instructor says in his answer, "that we must use the Name
of God not otherwise than with fear and reverence." And how shall natural man do
that?" How shall we utter the Lord’s Name with fear and reverence, if no fear
and reverence dwells in our heart. According to Solomon, the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom. For only when by grace the Holy Spirit has worked that
fear of God in the heart, then we hate and flee from sin, and first of all from
the sin of cursing and slandering. It is true, God’s people learn by discovering
grace to know themselves as bastards, and they learn to understand that not only
outside of them but also within them a company of blasphemers is found. For we
are born in the City of Destruction, we are born with a cursing heart. In our
state of nature this became evident, although in one person more than in
another. And this is the cause of our grief and sorrow. When the Holy Spirit
works that childlike fear in our hearts, we love the Lord uprightly, as children
born of God. Then we receive deep reverence for His holy Name. Then we regret
our past life. Then we bring the blasphemer within us to the judgment bar of
God. Then we implore the Lord with deep contrition for the forgiveness of all
our sins, but especially for the sins we committed against the third
commandment. Then we ask Him whether He will graciously save us from that
terrible sin, so that we may never again pierce His holy Name with thoughts,
words or deeds. We ask Him to set a watch before our mouth, and to keep the door
of our lips, so that we would never use His Name except with fear and reverence.
How very differently a godfearing person utters the Name of the Lord than an
unregenerate person. Oh, how unsuitable, how presumptuously do unregenerate
ministers or leaders address the Lord in prayer. It is as if they were
addressing someone equal or inferior to them. And they would have you consider
it child-like liberty, an evidence of their friendly communion with the Lord.
But it is nothing like it. It is an insolence that cuts us through the soul, so
how terribly must the Lord then be affronted. No, my dear hearers, would you
hear how a friend of God addresses the Lord in prayer? Would you hear how a man
communing familiarly with the Lord approaches Him? Turn then to your precious
Bible, Gen 18:1-33. There a man stands before God, whom the Lord Himself calls
His friend. And now hear how meekly, how humbly and how servile he speaks to the
Lord: "Behold I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes." (Gen 18:27) And again, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak"
(Gen 18:30) and again, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the
Lord." (Gen 18:31) Does that not sound quite differently than the presumptuous
address of those others we have mentioned. My hearers, the Lord wants us to use
His Name with fear and reverence in our praying, reading, speaking and singing.
It is a great mercy that He was willing to reveal His Name to us, and that we
may take His Name upon our lips, but let reverence, then, never be lacking.

Let us now sing Psalter No.304 stanzas 1, 6 and 7. The Lord demands in the third
commandment that we rightly confess His Name. And that confession can only be
rightly done when a band of love has been laid between the Lord and our soul,
between Christ and our heart, so that the love of God impels us to confess
openly that He by grace has become the God of our salvation and the God of our
heart and life. To rightly confess the Lord’s Name also means that we humbly
confess in secret and in public, before friend and foe, Him from Whom we expect
all salvation, even though it would involve a loss for us. Hence it means to
acknowledge God’s Name everywhere, to rebuke the blasphemer, admonish each
other, and speak when we hear others of God’s people use profane language. We
have just sung with David, "with all His people I will raise My voice and of His
glory sing."

Oh, people of God, how often we are remiss in this matter, how difficult it is,
how much we need grace to do so! And if it is difficult to do it among friends,
what will it be among enemies, at the market, or in the factory, or in your
store among your customers? And we must do it uprightly, that is, solely to His
glory, without any other motive, for instance, to be considered a pious
Christian, or to merit heaven thereby. No, our sole motive must be love and
reverence for the Lord and His Christ. Alas, we must cry out, "And enter not
into judgment with Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man living be
justified."

Finally, the third commandment demands that He be glorified in all our words and
works. The attitude of soul here commanded is in perfect accordance with the
rules of the sanctuary and the demands of the new life. For is it not the
purpose of that new life to glorify the Lord in word and deed, in life and
conversation? Yea, it is the innermost desire of the soul of all who are truly
born of God, to glorify and praise in all their words and works Him Who in the
Son of His love revealed Himself as a merciful and gracious Being. And although
God’s people must repeatedly confess, "The good that I would I do not, but the
evil which I would not, that I do. Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me?" still it is the desire of their heart, and the choice of their life to
glorify God in all things, so that also in respect to the third commandment,
they cry out, "How I love Thy law, it is my meditation all the day." Is the law
of God also your meditation all the day, my fellow traveler to eternity?

Perhaps you belong to those wellbred, polite people, who do not curse or use
profanity, who think cursing is beneath their dignity. Perhaps you belong to
those employers or those higher officers who do not use God’s Name or other
so-called strong language to make their subordinates respect their will, and to
keep them under their control and discipline. I think that is very fine. It
makes you a respectable person. But, do you also have the attitude of heart that
God demands? Is there that right confessing and worshiping of the Lord so that
He may be glorified in all your words and works? If the latter be not present,
the first part means nothing. Certainly, to refrain from doing what God forbids
in the third commandment may make you a respectable person, but if what the Lord
commands is not added, it shall not avail you for eternity. And it shall be
terrible in the day of judgment to stand before God as one who profaned, or at
least did not honor, His holy Name. The Lord shall not hold you guiltless. No,
indeed. He shall sling you out as out of the middle of a sling into hell fire.
Oh, fall even now at His feet and implore His forgiveness, beseech Him for
heart-renewing grace. Remember, He shall not hold him guiltless that taketh His
Name in vain. "The wicked like the driven chaff Are swept from off the land,
They shall not gather with the just, Nor in the judgment stand." And you who
have learned to know and accuse yourself as a blasphemer before God, who have
often wept over that sin, even though the words did not pass over your lips. The
Lord’s holy Name is so precious to you, to confess and glorify Him is the
delight and choice of your heart. Your soul is pierced as if with a dagger, when
you hear the Lord’s Name profaned. You have known the times when you would
rather receive a slap in the face than hear the Name of your Maker and
Benefactor be pierced. And yet you fear that you shall one day fall a prey to
the wrath of the Lord. For you there is forgiveness. For such He sent His Son,
for such the dear Jesus permitted Himself to be condemned as a blasphemer and to
be crucified. My hearty wish for you is that the Holy Spirit will take you by
the hand and lead you to the foot of the cross. He give you grace to lay your
heart upon that offer and you will hear, "My son or daughter, be of good cheer,
your sins are forgiven you."

But, dear people of the Lord, let this guilt-remitting grace be an incentive for
us to curb as much as we can and wherever we can all cursing and profanity. Over
against the cursing and profanity of the world, we must place a right
confession, a true calling on His Name, and a reverent praising of the Lord, and
that in the church, in our family, in the world, yea, in every realm. Remember,
it concerns God’s honor.

Amen!

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. When he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946. Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the
common people. In all these sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and
self-denial. Throughout all these sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing
by experience these three important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as
he himself was not a stranger thereof. Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his
Catechism sermons and others have been translated into the English language. He
confessed in his life not to be worthy of any honor or praise; that we may then
by grace give all honor and praise to Israel’s God and King, saying with the
Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for
Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa 115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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  CHAPTER 4: 04 - "THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT"
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Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No. 227 st. 1, 2. Read Isa 58:1-14. Psalter No. 250 st. 1, 2. Psalter
No. 341 st. 1,2,3,4. Psalter No. l20 st. 3,4.

XXXVIII. LORD’S DAY. My dear hearers! The good Lord has provided in our glorious
and invaluable book of Psalms, a Psalm for every day and for every occasion.

Thus the title of the Psalm from which we sang reads, "A Psalm or Song for the
sabbath day." Hence it was a psalm which the Lord intended to be sung especially
on the sabbath day in church services and in the family circle, by His covenant
people of old and certainly by us, upon whom the ends of the world are come. The
contents of this precious psalm can teach us what should be the subject of our
meditations and conversations, and what should be the purpose of our preaching
and church attendance. For in this psalm we find a sincere glorification of the
great works of God’s creation and providence, and the great purposes He intended
to attain and does attain. The purpose is the glorification of His Name, both in
the humbling and punishing of the wicked, so that they might see and acknowledge
that He is the Most High; and in blessing the righteous so that they might have
reason to show that the Lord is upright, their Rock in Whom there is no
unrighteousness.

Among other reasons, the Sabbath was also instituted so that Israel might
remember the great work of creation, and their deliverance out of slavery in
Egypt by a chain of wonderful plagues by which the Egyptians, their enemies and
oppressors, were humbled and punished, and they were liberated and exalted.

No, the Lord did not give that day to be spent in laziness and slothfulness. The
Lord gave His people the Sabbath day to be spent in holy meditation on these
great works of God, so that their minds, filled with deep reverence and grateful
acknowledgment will be the more lifted up to render to God the honor of His
Name.

It was this consideration that prompted the God-fearing poet to compose this
glorious psalm, and to present it to the congregation in order that they might
sing it, especially on the Sabbath day, and thus to direct the true sabbath
keepers in sanctifying the day and to give suitable matter for meditation.

There have been some who gave the psalm this title: "a Psalm or song for the age
to come," and that because this psalm gives a prophetic vision of the New
Testament days. For would not then the children of God enjoy the spiritual rest,
which the Messiah would merit for them by His atoning death? Were the Sabbath
days of the Old Testament not a shadow of that sweet rest? And do not God’s
people enjoy a taste of that sweet Sabbath rest in their best moments.

Yea, we may freely stretch the final fulfillment of the Sabbath song to the last
days. Only then will the true Sabbath dawn. Then all the enemies which had
flourished as the grass shall be destroyed forever, and the blessed flourishing
period of God’s church shall arrive and endure to eternity.

These matters shall become more clear to you if with your devoted attention we
consider the fourth commandment according to the thirty-eighth Lord’s Day.

You will find our text in Exo 20:8-11.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all
thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor
thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed
it.

Upon these words is based the catechetical instruction as you will find recorded
in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XXXVIII. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 103. What doth God require in the fourth commandment?

A. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained; and
that I, especially on the sabbath, that is, on the day of rest, diligently
frequent the church of God, to hear His word, to use the sacraments, publicly to
call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the poor, as becomes a
Christian. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil works,
and yield myself to the Lord, to work by his Holy Spirit in me: and thus begin
in this life the eternal sabbath.

Beloved hearers:

Four times already we were privileged to tarry at the famous mountain from which
the God of Israel chose to proclaim the constitution of His house and kingdom.
The first time we heard and considered there the gloriously comforting and
instructive introduction to the law of the ten commandments, which reads, "I am
the Lord thy God, Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage." And because He is the Lord our God, He demands that we shall
have no other gods before Him. He demands that He alone shall and can be known,
trusted, served, loved and glorified as God. In the second commandment He
demands that we shall serve Him spiritually. He is a spirit, and wills therefore
that men, especially His people, shall serve and worship Him in spirit and in
truth. The Lord loathes and is terribly displeased by the heathenish and Romish
image worship. Those images are teachers of lies, an affront to the majesty of
the Most High. In the third commandment the Lord demands that we shall serve Him
with deep reverence. In both the preceding Lord’s Days we have discussed this
particularly. To save time we will not repeat it now.

We are called now to consider with devoted attention the fourth commandment. The
basis, the demand, and the prospect of this commandment now ask our attention.
The Lord be gracious and near and dear to us in speaking and hearing, for Jesus’
sake. So be it!

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," thus, my dear hearers, Israel’s
Lawgiver and Judge calls to us all in the fourth commandment, directing us to
the grave necessity of consecrating and hallowing the day which the Lord has
graciously set apart and given to us after six days of labor, by delighting
ourselves in His Person and service. The commandment to keep the Sabbath day
holy unto the Lord rests upon firm and solid foundations. The basis then of this
commandment first requires our attention. When asked concerning the basis of the
fourth commandment, we may answer: That basis lies in God’s own will and being.

No, that basis is not in the need of man. That is often quickly and
thoughtlessly said, "Man needs a day of rest and therefore we have one." But if
we see the riding and racing, the jumping and romping thousands of people do on
the day of rest, we would not be so quick to believe that people need a day of
rest. Most people seem to need rather a day of sport. As we have already said,
the basis of the Sabbath day lies in God’s will and being. As the Most High
Sovereign of all creation Who made all things for Himself, it was God’s will to
set apart a day on which His creature should rest and delight himself in God the
Creator and Maker of all things.

Hence the Sabbath day must be said to be of divine origin, since it is designed
and ordained by God Himself, of Whom, and through Whom and to Whom are all
things, hence also the Sabbath.

God Himself set the example. For He says in this commandment, "For in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." When
the Creator of the ends of the earth had shown His almighty power, wisdom and
goodness in the works wrought by His omnipotence on each of the six days of
creation, He rested on the Sabbath day of all His works, for God saw that all
His hands had made was very good.

It will not be necessary to remark that God was not tired or weary; for the
Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary. Resting means
here that God ceased to create new things. His creative power remains eternally
the same. The Lord’s resting on the Sabbath day consisted in looking down upon
all creation with delight and holy pleasure. He rested in His holy and pure
creation, and thus He gave an example to man His creature, showing him how he
must delight himself in God, his Maker and Creator.

Hence the deepest basis of this commandment lies in the ordinance of God.

He, the Lord, in condescending goodness gave the Sabbath day as a day of rest
from all the labor man must perform in six days with all his power and will, so
that particularly on this day he would delight himself in God’s favor and
communion with all the zeal and fervor of body and soul.

Yea, to rest in God, to delight ourselves in Him, to lay ourselves at His heart
and in His bosom, that is the purpose for which the dear Lord gave the Sabbath
day and that is the privilege which He graciously bestows upon man as the work
of His fingers.

Hence the commandment of the sabbath is the oldest and first commandment of the
Lord, founded in His sovereign will, in His love to Himself and to His work.

After the creation of heaven and earth, then that took place to which the fourth
commandment refers particularly: "The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed
it." But this commandment also is based on the proclamation of the law at Mount
Sinai.

There in the solemn proclamation of the law of God’s house and kingdom, the Lord
solemnly renewed this commandment with Israel. I say: renewed it for, as we have
said, the Sabbath already existed from the beginning of creation. Also in the
days of Enos men came together on a certain day, the Sabbath day, to call upon
God’s Name together. And the regulations concerning the gathering of manna,
which took place already before the lawgiving at Sinai, clearly show that the
Sabbath was known to Israel before this. But it seems that the keeping of the
Sabbath day was neglected during Israel’s stay in Egypt.

Therefore in the fourth commandment the Lord reminded His people with whom He
had graciously entered into a marriage covenant, by saying, "Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy." Hence it was no new commandment. The Lord engraved
this law in stone with His finger, to signify that it is an everlasting law,
although, not in its form, but in its essence. And although for Israel of old it
was highly ceremonial, yet for them too it was no day of mourning, but of
rejoicing. Busy Jerusalem was then filled with holy silence, or else a song of
praise was raised, accompanied by the harp or a stringed instrument, when they
sang, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto
Thy Name, O, Most High. And then these happy choruses are answered by the other
players singing, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Then God’s
creation and lawgiving were commemorated, God’s deeds were glorified and His
works praised.

There has been much strife concerning this fourth commandment. The opinions
concerning it vary widely. The Jews think the commandment of the seventh day
with all its ceremonial accompaniments is of everlasting power. The Socinians
and others teach that with the coming of Christ in the flesh, this entire
commandment is annulled, so that those living under the new-dispensation are not
bound to a weekly Sabbath. Hence these consider the fourth commandment to be
entirely ceremonial.

According to our doctrine this law is partly ceremonial and partly moral. That
which was ceremonial was abolished by the coming of Christ, but that which is
moral can never be abolished, but was given as an everlasting ordinance by the
Lawgiver to His church. But then you ask: Why do we keep the first day instead
of the seventh day as the Sabbath day?" In answer to this question we can say,
"Our basis for it is found in God Himself as Recreator." For the first day of
the week was ordained and sanctified by the Lord Himself as the day of triumph
for His Son. On that day the Lord saw every thing that He had made in the realm
of grace and redemption, and behold, it was very good! And God rested in the
work of Christ. And Christ, as the reward upon His labor, rested with His church
in God. Therefore the church of old already cried out, referring to the
resurrection day, "This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and
be glad in it."

He, Who is Lord of the Sabbath, has Himself, as the King of the church He has
purchased, ordained and sanctified that day.

Upon that day He arose a victor from the grave, and by His resurrection He
sanctified the day. On that day He repeatedly revealed Himself to His disciples,
and on that day He also sent His Holy Spirit, so that the church of the new
covenant sings, "This is the day of full salvation, which God has made and
sanctified. Come, let us voice our jubilation, and triumph in the grace
supplied." On the day of the Old Testament the Lord Jesus rested in the grave,
and He in Whom all things would be recreated buried the Old Testament Sabbath in
Himself and thus Christ made the first day of the week a day for commemorating
the recreation. And this, too, is remarkable: In the old dispensation the reward
followed after the labor. Then it was: first work, and then rest. On the other
hand, in the new dispensation we first receive the reward, first rest and then
work out of gratitude. That the first day of the week was sanctified by Christ
is evident from the conduct of the Apostles. Repeatedly they convened on that
day, and the Lord appeared in their midst, thus giving His approval. On the
first day of the week they repeatedly came together to break bread. On that day
the Spirit from on high was poured out upon the church of God. And Paul
admonishes the church of Corinth that on the first day of the week every one
should lay something in store for the poor. By the early Christians the first
day of the week was kept as the day of rest, as is evident from the writings of
the church fathers.

Yea, the early Christians had the custom of greeting each other on the first day
of the week with the words, "The Lord is risen indeed." And it is remarkable
that the Lord has never shown His displeasure about keeping the first day. I
have never met a child of God whose conscience spoke because he kept the first
day instead of the seventh day. But often they and we have experienced that the
Lord refreshed us on the first day of the week with the Sabbath blessings to the
salvation of our souls.

And, to mention no more, this first day of the week was never established by any
ecclesiastical assembly, for that was unnecessary. For certainly that which
Christ approved and which the Apostles upheld had, as an institution of God, no
need of further establishment.

Thus, dear hearers, we have said something about the basis upon which the
commandment of the sabbath rests. Let us now in the second place notice the
demand of the fourth commandment.

We find that demand in the answer to Question 103.

We think that answer of our Heidelberg Instructor somewhat narrow-minded. I
think if a pious, well-educated man were to answer this 103rd question today,
his answer would be quite different than that of our Instructor. His answer
leaves the question of the Sabbath quite untouched. Of that which the Lord
forbids you read nothing at all in his answer. You hear nothing about violating
the Sabbath day.

Very learned men ascribe these facts to the zeal with which our fathers
contended against Romish work holiness, and in their zeal they went to the other
extreme. Since this is meant to be a simple explanation of the Catechism, it
would be unsuitable to delve deeper into this matter. Those who want to know
more about it can study the works of the older and later learned men who wrote
about this subject.

How dreadfully Satan deceived our first parents! He told them that if they ate
of the forbidden fruit they would be as God, knowing good and evil. What a liar!
Large volumes have been written about the Sabbath, and now we often still do not
know what is forbidden and what is commanded, what we may do and what we may not
do. For instance, may a man ride his car or his bicycle to church on the Lord’s
day, if the distance is too great for walking? One dear pious brother will say,
"No, absolutely not." Another dear brother, no less pious, says, "Certainly you
may." One brother told me that he often went to God’s house praying on his
bicycle, and at times returned with thanksgiving and singing psalms. Another
brother felt so guilty about the matter while bicycling that he lost control of
his wheel and fell. Another question is: may one use a public conveyance on the
Lord’s day for an emergency, for example to visit a dying father, mother,
daughter or son? We are very much inclined to say, "On no account." But another
says that it is permitted. I would say: "Public conveyances may not be permitted
to ride on the Lord’s Day, but then we are not permitted to make use of them.

Oh, what a liar Satan is! And how foolish we are, how ignorant in the things of
the Lord!

It is very evident from what the Lord wants us to abstain, namely from all
common labor, such as buying and selling, etc. We must abstain from all works of
the flesh We must abstain from all that which is not to God’s glory, to our
salvation, or to a blessing for our neighbor.

Why did the Lord give us that day? To that question the answer must be that the
Lord gave us that day to be spent in His service for the salvation of our soul,
for a blessing to our neighbor and for the glory of God.

How good God is! For we live as foolish slaves of sin in a world full of selfish
creatures pursuing after money, wealth and pleasure. "The tender mercies of the
wicked are cruel," says Solomon. And if their tender mercies are thus, what must
the other then be? That world then, would let you work in the dust of the earth
day and night and every day of your life. They would let you work yourself to
death to enrich themselves. And we are so foolish that we would spend our entire
lifetime to satisfy and care for our body and the carnal pleasures of others and
of ourselves. But now the dear Lord came and said, "My child, it shall not be
so, I give you one of the seven days of the week, then you need not work, then
you may lay down your tools; then you may close your business, your store, your
books and your safe; then you may cease all your common labor that you must do
because of sin; then bus and train, horse and wagon may, yea must stand still;
then your son, your daughter, your manservant and maidservant are free from
common labor; and then you may rest; yea, you may use that day for the salvation
of your soul, use it to find refuge for your lost soul in Him, Who is the Ark of
safety; then you may go to My house of prayer to hear the voice of My servant,
who shall show you the way of salvation; then you may pour out your heart in
prayer, then the high praises of God may be in your mouth; then together you may
glorify Him with the harp and voice; then you may give a thank offering for the
church and its services, and to support the school and the poor. In one word,
child, I give you that first day of the week to experience that day as I, the
Lord your God experienced the Sabbath day." My hearers, what do you say of so
much love and goodness and faithfulness as the Lord has shown His creature. Do
you not see that the commandments of the Lord are not grievous, that they are
pure love. But we are so degenerate and so corrupt that when the Lord has given
us as a favor, we consider it a difficult matter, a grievous task. Instead of
saying, "On the Sabbath day we need not work, we need not buy or sell, but we
may delight ourselves in God and His service, we now hear, "We may not work and
we must go to church."

Thus a labor of love has become slavish work because of sin, the Sabbath has
become a heavy yoke. Now people say, "Sunday is the Lord’s day, those six days
are our days, but the seventh one is the Lord’s." We should rather say, "The day
of rest is our day which God has given us, and no one can take it from us. Six
days I will work for you, but that one day is given to me, so that I may rest
and delight myself in God and in His works; that day I may spend as God spent
it." But the natural man cannot and does not keep the Sabbath thus. The
unregenerate makes his Sunday into a sin-day, and spends it in laziness, or
gluttony or else in Pharisaical work-holiness and slavish servitude. A wonder
must be performed in man. He must be born again, grace must be shown him. He
must be spiritual to perform the blessed demand of the fourth commandment in
spirit and in truth."

Dear brothers and sisters, were we not also sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures? And did we not do so every day,
but especially on Sunday? That would have remained so until we fell into hell.

Then the Spirit of God came. He loosened those bands of sin and the ties of
iniquity. Then the evil of sin melted away, and the choice was made to fear and
serve God. Then, among other things, God’s day became precious to us. Then we
marvel that the Lord has still given us such a day, even after the fall. Then we
shame ourselves because the day which God has given us for the salvation of our
soul and the glory of His Name, we have abused to provoke God and to ripen
ourselves for our eternal perdition. Yea, then it became our aim to learn to
keep the Sabbath as our Instructor teaches us in His answer. And still God’s
children are no Sunday Christians. God’s children would like every day to be a
day of rest. Sunday Christians are those who want to be religious only one day a
week, and then go to God’s house but once and that for as short a service as
possible. But God’s people would like every day to be a Sabbath Day. They wish
to fear and serve the Lord out of love all their days. God’s house is the
dearest place to them. They "diligently frequent the church of God." Do you hear
what the Instructor says? They do not go diligently to the minister, but to the
church. That is the object of their love. There they go diligently, even if
there is no minister, even if there is (only) a reading service

They do so "especially" on the Sabbath day, but they also do so whenever the
opportunity is there during the week. Not only is God’s house a precious place
to them, but also the Bethels and the Peniels, and the inner chamber are
precious places they love to tarry, also when it is not Sunday. God’s people
sometimes work in church and sometimes have such blessed moments while at work
that their tears begin to flow. Then they are working with zeal and still they
are resting in God. Have you ever experienced that?

Singing, praying and thanking with the congregation is precious to them. But,
they also pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. The high praises
of God are in their mouth, sometimes even at midnight. "In the night His song
shall be with me."

Oh, it is good and sweet when on the Lord’s Day they may sit in the house of God
to hear His word. But, they love best to preach and speak about God and His
service every day. They can not do it all in one day. I remember very well when
I wished every Sunday were four times as long to speak about God and His service
and to glorify God with song, prayer etc. Those were not my worst days.

"And to use the Sacraments" say the Instructor. How sweet it is when on the
Sabbath Day the table of the Lord is prepared, and we may be satisfied with the
seals of God’s covenant and we may receive and enjoy the pledges of His love out
of the hands of the minister. But, God’s people also have communion when it is
not Sunday and when the table is not prepared. They do this whenever Jesus comes
in to them and in a spiritual way sups with them and they with Him.

Also the church and the school have their hearty support, not only on Sundays,
but also through the week.

This, then, is what the Instructor means when He says, "That all the days of my
life I cease from my evil works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by His
Holy Spirit in me; and thus begin in this life the eternal sabbath . That leads
us to our third point: The prospect of the fourth commandment. But let us first
sing Psalter No. 341: st. 1 - Numbers

"And thus begin in this life the eternal sabbath," so says the Catechism. The
eternal sabbath is that rest that remains for the children of God, that
heavenly, perfect sabbath, that eternal sabbath. That sabbath is begun in this
life by God’s people. They learn to know something of that which shall be known
perfectly above.

God’s people enjoy something of that which shall be enjoyed eternally above.
Here they enjoy the crumbs of the feast above. Here they taste drops from that
river clear as crystal, which was seen by John. And the blessed moments of rest
which they experience here in the midst of the strife is enough to make them
familiar with the sweet rest they shall enjoy hereafter. And God’s children at
times do here that which they shall hereafter do perfectly. Here already they
learn to lay their crown reverently at the feet of the Lord. Here, at times
their incense gives forth its odor. My hearers, God’s children will not enter a
strange heaven, they shall not do a strange work, nor enjoy a strange food, for
they have here begun the eternal sabbath. And every Sunday brings them a step
nearer, and every Sunday seals to them that one day they shall enjoy the eternal
Sabbath. Yea, child of God, every Lord’s Day calls to you, "The year of your
release, your jubilee, is at hand."

APPLICATION

Beloved hearers, thus we have briefly elucidated for you the basis, the demand
and the prospect of the fourth commandment.

How very, very sad the situation is in our country in respect to the keeping of
the Sabbath. Words cannot adequately describe the full extent of
Sabbath-breaking. That riding and speeding and feasting and shouting on God’s
holy day is most terrible. How forebearing and unmeasurably long-suffering God
must be! How men provoke God when they abuse such a holy day, given out of love
for such a glorious and holy purpose, so profitable for both body and soul! It
is evident, my hearers, that our country and nation are making themselves ripe
for God’s judgments. I can understand that God cuts off prayer by His people for
the country and nation, that He says, "Pray thou not for this people." And how
is the holy day of rest kept in your home? Is it noticeable that it is God’s
day? I dare not raise the veil that hides the desecration of the Sabbath in many
so-called Christian homes.

How do you yourself keep the Sabbath? What value do you place on church services
and preaching? Do you "diligently frequent" the house of God? Do you go to hear
the word of God or to criticize? How do you listen to the word that is read or
preached?

How do you contribute to the relief of the poor? Is it truly "as becomes a
Christian?" And how is it with your visiting the sick and the poor? You know
that this belongs to the pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father.
(Jas 1:27). And now I have not yet spoken about the hidden, the spiritual
Sabbath observance. Do you truly cease from your evil works? Do you yield
yourself to the Lord to work by His Holy Spirit in you? Do you truly thus begin
in this life the eternal Sabbath?

Ask yourself these questions. Answer them before God. And then remember what God
says of the transgressor in Psa 95:1-11. There God says that He has sworn a
heavy oath that the transgressor shall never enter that rest which is the
portion of His people.

He who does not begin the eternal Sabbath in this life shall not share that
Sabbath rest. He shall sink away into hell fire to regret eternally that he had
abused the time God gave him for his salvation, and spent it for his own eternal
destruction. But it is different with you who have received grace. Oh yes, I
know that every evening of your life and especially every Sunday evening you
must invoke the blood of Christ over your conduct. when you ask yourself, "How
have I spent this day?" How much reason you have to shame yourself before an
All-knowing God. It is good that you notice this, that you do not merely pass
over this, that you mourn because of this, that this humbles you before the
Lord, that this drives you to beseech the Lord to give you His Holy Spirit on
every Sabbath Day, yea, all the days of your life, to work in you the proper
frame and desire for the Sabbath so that you may receive the Sabbath rest and
blessing. But still, has not God’s day become very precious to you? What a
foretaste of the eternal Sabbath have you sometimes enjoyed on God’s day! Then
on Monday you still enjoyed the aftertaste, and on Tuesday you began to count
the days till the next Sunday again. And what a pleasure it was to have another
evening of it during the week, for it seemed such a long time from Sabbath to
Sabbath, the shewbread became so old. But if during the week there was another
opportunity to go to the house of prayer, then it was a feast of fat things, a
day of slaughter!

Thus it was formerly. Is it still thus? If you can answer "yes" to this question
I am happy with you. May the Lord prolong the happy days for you! But there are
also those with whom it was so formerly, but how is it now? I had better not say
how it is with you now. "Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, child of God."
But God keeps His word and is faithful forever. In Christ God is and remains
ready to forgive. God, Who beholds no iniquity in Jacob, neither sees
perverseness in Israel, sees your trouble and sorrow. He will grant you full and
free remission of your sins. He knows that we have no might to strive against
the spirit of temptation and against our indolent and sinful flesh. But soon, O
happy prospect, soon He will take us up into glory. Then we are delivered from
all that hindered us in keeping the Sabbath holy according to the desire of our
heart. Then we will be always with God, always together, with the whole church.
Then there shall never be an evil lust, our indolent flesh shall never hinder
us. Then we shall always be in a blissful frame, then we shall always sing,
worship, magnify and praise Him Who has loved us with an everlasting love. In a
word, then it shall be the eternal Sabbath!

Amen.

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 5: 05 - "THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT"
========================================================================

Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No. 38 st. 2, 3. Read Eph 6:1-24. Psalter No. 89 st. 1, 2. Psalter No.
290 st. 1,2,3. Psalter No. 216 st. 3.

XXXIX. LORD’S DAY. My hearers! In Jer 35:1-19 we read of a people who practiced
a virtue, which with few exceptions, is not found anymore.

Scripture calls them Rechabites. Those who have studied the matter say they were
not Israelites, but Kenites, (1Ch 2:55), a people descended from the Midianites.
They did not belong to the Israelites, but lived among them, though separately.

They were a wonderful people. One would want to exhibit them!

What was so strange about those people? My hearers, I will tell you: They were
subject and obedient to the commandment of their father! Their father Jonadab,
the son of Rechab had commanded them to drink no wine. He had said, "Ye shall
drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever." And they drank no wine; under
any circumstances, neither the fathers, nor the mothers, nor the children, nor
the grandchildren. For centuries no drop of wine had passed their lips, and that
only because their ancestor Jonadab had forbidden it! To bring their childlike
subjection and obedience to light the Lord commanded Jeremiah to bring them into
the house of the Lord and to place wine before them, bidding them to drink.

You may be sure this was a severe test. None less than God’s prophet commanded
them to drink, and that in the house of the Lord. What must they do? Must they
still be obedient to the commandment of their forefather who was dead and buried
ages ago? Or should they use this fine opportunity to break away finally from
that unwarranted command? Hear their answer (Jer 35:6-7) "We will drink no wine:
For Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, "Ye shall drink
no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever: Neither shall ye build house, nor
sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in
tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers." And to
that commandment they strictly adhered. They not only say so themselves, but the
All-knowing God says so of them in the fourteenth verse. The Lord points to the
Rechabites as an example for His people. He promises to do them well, saying,
(Jer 35:19), "Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab
the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."

I ask you, my hearers, have I said too much when I called these Rechabites a
wonderful people? Where would you find them today, children as these children of
Jonadab, who with so much perseverance obey the commandment of their father, and
then such a commandment? And yet it is the bounden duty of every person to show
submissive and childlike obedience and subjection. That is not commanded by our
fathers or by our forefathers, but by no less a person than God Himself. This
shall be evident as we resume our catechetical instruction.

You will find our text in Exo 20:12. "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Upon this commandment our catechetical instruction is based as you will find
recorded in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XXXIX. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 104. What doth God require in the fifth commandment?

A. That I show all honor, love and fidelity, to my father and mother, and all in
authority over me, and submit myself to their good instruction and correction,
with due obedience; and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and
infirmities, since it pleases God to govern us by their hand.

Dear hearers! In the preceding Lord’s Days after hearing the comforting
introduction to the law, we drew your attention to the four commandments of the
first table of the law: The first commandment in which He demands that we shall
have no other gods before Him. And why should we? "For who is so great a God as
our God?" Why then should we pledge our heart and give our confidence to that
which is naught, and to idols. If we were as the Rechabites, the thought of
having other gods would never enter our mind.

Then the second commandment, in which the Lord commands us, I almost said, in
which the Lord permits us, to serve Him in spirit and truth, and not through
dumb, hard, cold, lifeless images. And then the third commandment, which teaches
us that the Lord must be served with reverence, that He will be served as His
people always want to serve Him and one day certainly shall serve Him.

Finally, the fourth commandment, which teaches us that the Lord will be served
by us all the days of our life, but especially on the first day of the week, the
Sabbath day, the day of rest, which rest is indicative of the eternal Sabbath,
and at the same time a pledge that all those who have learned to serve Him in
spirit and truth shall one day enter that eternal rest and glory. With that we
had finished the commandments of the first table and have come to the discussion
of the commandments of the second table. The Jews of Jesus’ days were accustomed
to consider the commandments of the second table to be much less important than
those of the first table, and there are still such. It is true, that which the
Lord demands in the first table He calls "the first and great commandment,"
because they are more directly related to God. Still we must not forget that the
Lord Jesus, Who is the best Interpreter of the law, says of the commandments of
the second table, which speak of love to our neighbor, that this second
commandment is like unto the first, and he who does not love his neighbor, does
not love God either. He who regards not the commandments of the second table,
regards not the commandments of the first table either. Thus the Apostle John
also writes (1Jn 4:20-21) "If a man say, "I love God, and hateth his brother, he
is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who
loveth God love his brother also." This is the order which the great Lawgiver
follows: He speaks first of the duty of the lesser to the Greater and then what
our conduct should be to our neighbors.

Let us first give our attention to the demand of the fifth commandment.

"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee," thus speaks Jehovah the God of Israel from Sinai.
And with these words the Lord shows His love and care for the welfare and peace
in our heart, house, church and state. The meaning, then, of these words first
ask our attention. So we shall first speak of the commandment and then of the
promise appended to this commandment. In this commandment the Lord speaks of our
father and mother. Those are our parents to whom under God we owe our being in
this world. Pro 23:22, "Hearken unto thy father who begat thee, and despise not
thy mother when she is old." The Lord speaks of the father first: "honor thy
father." He is the head says Paul in 1Co 11:3. But in Lev 19:3 the mother is
mentioned before the father, "Ye shall fear every man his mother and his
father." This proves that to honor our father we must respect our mother. He who
does not do the latter, does not do the former, either. We should also observe
that in the second table of the law the parents are spoken of first of all in
order to gradually adjust man’s corrupt nature to obedience to just government.
Our duty to our parents is to honor them: "Honor thy father and thy mother." The
Hebrew word in the original denotes something weighty, and when used of a person
it indicates that his honor and respect are important to us. If all is well,
then there are to us no more important nor more eminent persons than our
parents. In paying homage, they should have the precedence. It is true, a man
must love his wife above his father and mother, but in showing reverence the
parents must have the priority, -of course, after God, Who must be the first in
all things.

Secondly we will consider the promise appended to the fifth commandment, for it
has pleased the dear Lord to add a promise to it. It is already such a precious
and blessed thing when we may love and honor our parents, there is so much
sweetness and blessedness in it. We would say, "Lord, it is not necessary for
Thee to add a promise to it." But it pleased the Lord to do so. He says, "Honor
thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee." In Deu 5:16 it says, "that it may go well with thee."

Interpreters of the Hebrew give us this translation, "that they may prolong thy
days." How beautiful and true that sounds! For are not godly parents continually
active at the throne of grace beseeching God to bless and prolong the lives of
their children, especially of their obedient children? This promise applied in
the first place to the people of Israel, but then also to the spiritual Israel,
they are the Christians. The Lord promises the obedient ones a long life, yea, a
prosperous and flourishing, yea even eternal life. Thus Paul writes to his
spiritual son Timothy (1Ti 4:8) Godliness is profitable unto all things having
the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

"Upon the land," refers in the first place to Canaan, which the God of the
covenant had promised to give to Abraham and his seed as a gift. To live long in
that land was very desirable for the Jews for two reasons: Because in that land
the Messiah would he born, would live and walk, and because there was no more
glorious land under the sun than Canaan. Who would not want to live long in such
a land, flowing with milk and honey; a land, which, moreover was an earnest of
all spiritual and eternal blessings? This, then the Lord promised to them who
would honor their father and mother. On the contrary, the Lord would cast the
disobedient out of that good land; God’s judgments would come upon them. Take
for examples, the sons of Eli, also Absalom and all Israel, Whom the Lord exiled
out of that good land to Babylon, one of the reasons being that they had not
honored their parents. In reprimanding them the Lord says, "In thee have they
set light by father and mother." (Eze 22:7). But Paul also applies this
commandment to believers of the New Testament. See Eph 6:2-3. Honor thy father
and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well
with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Can "living long on the
earth" be accounted a blessing? Certainly, and that because: one thus can
increase in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and can advance
in holiness, perfecting it in the fear of the Lord, (2Co 7:1); one can become
more sedate and cautious, and thus be useful in the church of God and one can be
prepared for a blessed death-bed. To attain all this, a long and blessed life on
earth is so wonderful and necessary. Thus we have briefly sketched for you the
literal meaning of the fifth commandment.

Let us proceed to the explanation of the fifth commandment as given by the
Catechism in Question and Answer 104. How much further the duty of filial
obedience, love and fear extend when we read the answer of our Instructor. Come,
my dear hearers, consider that catechetical answer more particularly. To the
question "What doth God require in the fifth commandment?" the Instructor
answers, "That I show all honor, love and fidelity, to my father and mother, and
all in authority over me," etc.

Among the persons whom we must honor the Instructor first mentions, father and
mother. As we said before, after God we must honor our father and mother first
and most. But they are not the only two. The Catechism also speaks of "all in
authority over me." Hence after our father and mother we have our grandfathers
and grandmothers, and they in an ascending line, as far as our genealogy
extends, even to the Patriarchs. Are they not called our fathers? In Acts 7:11
Stephen, speaking of the sons of Jacob, hence, the Patriarchs, said, "And our
fathers found no sustenance." Our step-parents are also among the foremost of
those whom we must honor. None less than the Lord Jesus Himself set us an
example in this. He was obedient to His step-father Joseph, the husband of His
mother, and who in Luk 2:48 is called His father.

Also our father and mother-in-law are included. Thus David called his
father-in-law Saul his father in 1Sa 24:11. And Naomi called Ruth her daughter.
(Ruth 3:1). But even these we have enumerated do not complete the list of those
whom we must obey. We must also honor those in authority over us:

(a) in the community. They are also called our fathers, such as guardians over
orphans, as Mordechai and Esther. So also are employers: "Then his servants came
near and spoke to him (Naaman) "My father," etc. (2Ki 5:13). Thus Jubal was
called the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Gen 4:21).

(b) in the state, kings, mayors and presidents are called fathers. We speak of
the father of our country, and of the city fathers. Thus we also owe honor to
the aged and to those who by their wisdom, virtue and piety have deserved the
title of father.

(c) in the church, ministers and elders of the congregations are called fathers.
In 2Ki 2:1-25, Elisha called Elijah his father. And Paul writes to the
Corinthians (1Co 4:15), "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ,
yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through
the gospel." He also calls the Galatians his children to whom he had given
birth.

These then are the fathers and mothers included in the fifth commandment whom we
must honor.

Why are they all called fathers? In the first place, because of the close
relationship of the greater to the lesser. And in the second place because the
authority exercised by the one over the other is derived from the paternal
power, which is the oldest, and the most natural and the sweetest. The
government which agrees most closely with this is therefore the most
praiseworthy.

Let us now notice the mutual duties the fifth commandment lays upon us.

(a) We must show all honor to our parents acknowledging their superiority above
and over us. That honor consists of an internal respect which reveals itself
externally in speaking to them and of them with humility, and with respectful
attitudes, such as rising for them, etc. How much respect Joseph showed his
father, and Solomon showed his mother, when he placed her on his right hand.
(1Ki 2:19).

(b) We must show our love, without which all outward show of respect is but
eye-service to please and deceive men. We must love all men, but the love to our
parents must surpass that of others.

(c) We must show fidelity, says the Catechism. We must have regard for their
good name, we may not reduce their funds, we must help them in time of need. In
Gen 47:12 we read, "And Joseph nourished his father."

(d) We must obey them. "We must submit ourselves to their good instruction and
correction, with due obedience." Here again we think of the Rechabites. Paul
teaches us (Eph 6:1) that our obedience must be an obedience "in the Lord,"
which means that it may not be contrary to God’s law. For then we must apply the
word of the Lord, "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me."

(e) We must bear patiently their weaknesses and infirmities. We must do as Shem
and Japheth did, who covered the nakedness of their father Noah. And we may not
despise our mother when she is old. (Pro 23:22).

Now we must consider the duties of parents toward their children.

You will understand that the duties of parents toward their children are
included in the duties of children toward their parents. Our parental duty,
then, consists in sincerely loving our children. We must provide what they need
for body or soul, such as food and clothing, etc., out of love. It is our
parental duty to teach our children and let them be taught, and, in a word, to
educate them to be useful members of the community and of the church. We must
instruct or cause our children to be instructed in the doctrine which is
according to godliness. Solomon says, (Pro 22:1-29), "Train up a child in the
way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Timothy had
the privilege that from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures, which were
able to make him wise unto salvation. And that certainly was not accomplished
without the aid of his grandmother Lois and godly mother Eunice.

Now we must speak about the mutual duties of the greater and lesser and that:

(a) in the community. There it is the duty of the servants to fear and respect
their masters, not only the good and gentle, but also the froward, says the
Apostle Peter. Hear what Paul writes to Titus, (Tit 2:9-10) "Exhort servants to
be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not
answering again, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." (Read also Col 3:1-25).
The duty of employers to their servants is to treat them as they themselves
would like to be treated if they were in their servant’s place; hence, that
masters be just in their demands, that they provide them with reasonable wages
and food and drink; in short, they must treat them as their fellow-men. They
must give their servants opportunity to worship the Lord. "Masters, give unto
your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master
in heaven." (Col 4:1).

(b) in the state. It is the bounden duty of subjects toward their magistrates to
be obedient to them. God’s Word tells us: "Submit yourself to every ordinance of
man for the Lord’s sake; whether it be to the king as supreme; or unto
governors, as unto them that are sent by him for punishment of evildoers, and
for the praise of them that do well. Yea, God’s Word admonishes us; "Fear God.
Honor the king." (1Pe 2:13-14, 1Pe 2:17).

God’s Word also teaches us to faithfully pay our taxes. "Render unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things which are God’s," says the
Lord Jesus. But then it is also the duty of the magistrates to give due heed
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life; and that by giving us good laws
that do not conflict with God’s Word and our conscience. Being ministers of God,
they must punish the wicked and reward the good. And they must themselves do the
good that they command and shun the evil they forbid.

(c) in the church. It is the duty of the church to obey their ministers, to
uphold their good names, to refresh their body and soul, and to bear patiently
their infirmities and weaknesses. Bear in mind that they also are but men. And
then it is also the duty of ministers and elders that they rule the
congregation, but not as being lords over God’s heritage. They must strive to
magnify their office, to discriminate between good and bad. Especially must they
give a good example. The ministers and pastors must be a pattern in life and
doctrine for their church to follow after. We find plentiful admonitions to that
effect in the pastoral epistles of the apostles.

Now we must speak about the principle and basis upon which all authority rests.

"Since it pleases God to govern us by their hand," says our Instructor in the
conclusion of his answer.

Hence if we honor our parents and submit ourselves to those in authority, we are
actually submitting ourselves to the Lord Himself. Authority does not come from
below. It is not graciously given from one to another. No, indeed, authority
comes from God. Therefore parents and the authorities are to be considered as
standing, as it were, in the place of God. He is our Highest Father, King,
Teacher, Lord and Lawgiver, Whom for conscience sake we must obey before and
above all else. But it is His will to govern us through those whom He has placed
in various relationships over us.

"The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the
power, resisteth the ordinance of God." (Rom 13:1-2).

Let us now sing Psalter No. 290 st. 1, 2, 3.

Thus, beloved hearers we have cast a little light upon the demand of God in the
fifth commandment. What a good and loving Law-giver the Lord is! How He demands
of us that which is so very natural to us and so profitable for us!

"Honor thy father and thy mother." Is that not very natural? With how much pain
have they begotten us! How much care have they bestowed on us! That care began
before our birth, and then after our birth, in our youth, yea, throughout our
life.

How our parents loved us, and that so unselfishly! That became evident when we
were ill and mother attended us so constantly, and would gladly have kissed away
our pain, were it possible. If we were sad, father and mother kissed away our
tears. Mother even counts those that have died. That empty place in her heart
can never be filled by another. Even when we were disobedient and they had to
punish us, they hurt themselves more than us. The prodigal son had to "come to
himself," but his father needed not to come to himself, for he had never lost
his son. Day and night he prayed to God for the return of his son. Every day he
looked for him to come, every night he listened for his footsteps, in his dreams
he reached for his boy . . . I will not expand this further, but I ask you:
would you then not show all honor, love and fidelity to your father and mother?
Would you not patiently bear their weaknesses?

Honor your ecclesiastical authorities. This is also very natural, for consider:
Who called them to this solemn office? The Lord did. Yes, but He did it through
you. You yourself prayed for a minister and called him. You said, "Come over and
help us." You yourself have chosen your officers to be elders and deacons. The
church did it as a means in God’s hand. Never forget it! And how do they watch
over the church and. over your soul, for your welfare and that of your home!
When you have already retired, your leaders are still sighing and praying to the
Lord for you and your family. And would you deny them obedience? Would you not
"submit yourself to their good instruction and correction?" Would you not hear
patiently their weaknesses and infirmities? Remember, God chose and sent not
angels, but men, full of weaknesses, and that in order that they could also bear
you in your weaknesses. So also you must obey your superiors at your work and in
the state. "Equality" is socialistic deception. God gives rank and station. He
gives one a spade and another a scepter. To one He gives authority to command
another. But that does not make one happier than another. A laborer can be, and
often is happier than his employer.

Golden crosses so often seem more desirable than wooden crosses. And yet a
golden cross is much heavier and has such sharp corners! It often robs one of
all sleep and vitality. And remember, those who are not submissive in what is
right resist the ordinances of God. For, as we said before, there is no power
but of God. That which God demands of us in the fifth commandment, nature
teaches the animals, so that incidents of mother-love among them often put human
beings to shame! How they care for their young, and how fond the young are of
their parents. I could give you many examples of this, but I deem it entirely
superfluous, since you can observe examples of parental love and obedience in
animals on many occasions. And also the heathens who have not the Word of God,
by nature do the things contained in the law because parental love and obedience
are created in us.

God’s Word teaches us obedience. Severe punishments are threatened to the
transgressors of the fifth commandment. Hear what Pro 30:17 says: "The eye that
mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the
valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." Perhaps you say,
"But that does not always happen." No, but the Lord has much more severe
punishments. See Pro 20:20 : "Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp
shall be put out in obscure darkness." And that God’s threatenings are not in
vain, we see in Absalom, and also in Ham who mocked his father and therefore was
cursed. Korah, Dathan and Abiram went down alive into hell, because they refused
obedience to the men God had placed over them. That on the contrary the Lord
blesses those who practice the fifth commandment, we see to this day in Shem and
Japheth, also in Joseph, the dear son of Jacob, in the unforgettable Ruth and
Naomi, and in Solomon and his mother. Indeed, where could we stop if we were to
mention all examples?

Dear hearers, to honor and obey your father and mother, and all those placed in
authority over us, is to your personal benefit. "That it may be well with thee."
It is of benefit to your family — how sad when it is lacking — a curse rests
upon the family. On the other hand, where it is found, a blessing rests upon the
home. It is also of benefit to the church. The Lord commands His blessing there.
But where church life is not in accordance with the fifth commandment, confusion
reigns. God and His blessing depart. It is also of benefit to your civic life.
"Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child!" And yet, in what sad times we
live! Would there be anything more lightly esteemed than the fifth commandment?
As you enter many homes, where is the authority? It seems as if the law reads,
"Ye parents, submit yourselves to your children, as is proper." It is terrible
to hear how the daughter dominates her mother, and how the son withdraws himself
from the authority of his father. Little children dare to raise their hand to
their parents. And the parent’s rule is often much too weak and loveless. Of
thousands of parents the Lord can say as He formerly said of Eli, that he did
not restrain his sons, when they made themselves vile. Therefore the Lord would
judge his house. (1Sa 3:12-14) And you may be sure there are now many families
upon which the judgment of God rests, because of their rejection of the fifth
commandment. And see the church of God. Come into many congregations. It is sad
to see how the spirit of resistance reigns. The members rule and the consistory
is their servant. They are never satisfied, they never approve of what the
consistory does, they always disapprove and criticize everything and everyone.
And that has become much worse since our people take more interest in politics
which usually consists in disapproving, berating and casting aspersions. That
same spirit is carried into the church. Many members think they have as much
right to speak in the church as in the state.

Therefore congregational meetings often resemble political gatherings. And then
people complain that they receive so little blessing; as if the Spirit of God
would dwell and work in such a confusion. And then to pass by the factory and
school — look at the State. How dreadfully anarchy is increasing! And what
causes this? "The poor living conditions of the laborer." Is that true? I do not
believe it. Formerly the position of the laborers was much worse than it is now,
but still there was more contentment and submission." It is because the
employers and officers are less fatherly. It is true, that fatherliness that was
often found among the superiors is now often lacking. Certainly, there are
employers who see their wealth increasing day by day, and yet, give their
employees a meager wage. And I would not dare to deny that such employers foster
socialism and anarchism.

Still I believe that despising the first table of God’s law is the cause of
anarchy. "Them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be
lightly esteemed." That is God’s decree which He maintains. What then can the
authorities expect that promote idolatry and image worship, that have no regard
for the honor of God’s Name and the sanctity of the Lord’s Day, yea, even
cooperate in the desecration of it, setting an evil example? What can the
authorities expect who boast that they have extinguished the lights of heaven,
that is God and Christ; who seek to banish God out of the government of the
nation, the state and the city; who seek to banish God and the Bible from the
schools; who teach their subjects not to fear God, yea, that there is no God;
authorities who feel no need of prayer; what can they expect? Certainly nothing
but anarchism. Those overturned thrones, those castaway crowns, those thousands
of revolutionists, that stealing, lying and deceiving, that rebellion against
the powers ordained by God; all these, my hearers, are the harvest of that which
the authorities have sown.

Therefore the best means to fight anarchy are: turning to God, bowing before Him
and reverently meditating on the commandments of the first table of the law. If
that is not done, you may expect, O magistrates, soon to be so lightly esteemed
that you will be trampled upon by both God and men! That you also can expect,
despisers of your father and mother. You, too, can expect that God shall put out
your lamp in obscure darkness, that means, that He will put you in hell,
forever!

Therefore, O sons and daughters, whose conscience still speaks, learn still to
bow down before God, do not trample upon the heart of your parents; take care of
your mother who is a widow, support your old father, do not bring their gray
hairs with sorrow to the grave.

You, also, parents, do not make it so difficult for your children to honor and
obey you, by your unparental conduct. Set them a good example in honor and
virtue and piety as a parent should do.

Certainly, there is forgiveness with God, also for the sins against the fifth
commandment, but only for those who confess and forsake their sins, and then
only for the sake of Him Who always obeyed His parents and loved them till
death. Who fulfilled all righteousness, and Who as the Surety of His people
always gave unto Caesar that which was Caesar’s and unto God that which was
God’s. In and through Him we may preach the forgiveness of guilt and the
deliverance from sin. And in Him and for His sake, lost sons and daughters who
return with repentance, are so very welcome to the Father of all mercies.

Amen

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: 06 - THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
========================================================================

Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.38 st. 2, 3. Read Rom 13:1-14. Psalter No.83 st. 1, 2. Psalter No.9
st. 3. Psalter No.370 st. 1, 2.

XL. LORD’S DAY.

"God abhors the man who loves violence and base deceit."

Thus my dear hearers we have sung together. Yea, God abhors the man who loves
violence, who stains his hands with the blood of his neighbor, yea, even of his
own brother. That dreadful sin began already shortly after creation, we find it
recorded on the first pages of the Bible. In Gen 4:10 we hear Jehovah speak,
"The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground."

What had happened, and what act of violence was committed is known to you. The
one son of father Adam and mother Eve had slain their other son in the field.
And the only reason for his act was that the Lord had respect unto the offering
of the god-fearing Abel. Therefore the wicked Cain, whose offering was a stench
in God’s nostrils slew him. And lo, the first family was plunged into deep
mourning. They had lost two sons in one day: the one was dead, and the other as
a murderer under the curse of God was a vagabond in the earth. That was the
fruit of their fall, by it man became blood thirsty, even more than the wild
animals round about them. And what streams of blood have flowed upon the earth
since it received the blood of Abel. There have been streams of blood, even of
God’s dear children. Ask the valleys of Piedmont, ask the green mountains of
Scotland against which the sighs of the persecuted ones have echoed. Yea, ask
the lowlands of our own native country. What pools of blood have drenched our
Netherlands. And the only reason was that the children of God, in Netherlands as
well as in Piedmont and Scotland, wished to fear and serve their God according
to God’s Word and their own conscience. Is man more dangerous than wild animals?
Yes, my hearers, he is. That is why murder and slaying are daily occurences;
therefore we all have become murderers and slayers. But how great, then, is the
incomprehensible goodness of Him Who is our Creator, Who gave us life, and
therefore is the only one Who has the right to take our life; since it pleased
Him to erect a bulwark against our blood-thirstiness, murderousness and
vindictiveness in the commandment which now requires our attention.

You will find our text in Exo 20:13, "Thou shalt not kill."

Upon these and similar expressions of the Bible our Catechetical instruction is
based as you will find recorded. That neither in thoughts, nor words, nor
gestures, much less in deeds, I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor, by
myself or by another; but that I lay aside all desire of revenge: also, that I
hurt not myself, nor wilfully expose myself to any danger. Wherefore also the
magistrate is armed with the sword, to prevent murder.

Q. 105. What doth God require in the sixth commandment?

A. That neither in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures, much less in deeds I
dishonor, hate, would, or kill my neighbor, by myself or by another; but that I
lay aside all desire of revenge; also, that I hurt not myself nor wilfully
expose myself to any danger. Wherefore also the magistrate is armed with the
sword to prevent murder.

Q. 106. But this commandment seems only to speak of murder?

A. In forbidding murder, God teaches us, that he abhors the causes thereof, such
as envy, hatred, angel, and desire of revenge; and that he accounts all these as
murder.

Q. 107. But is it enough that we do not kill any man in the manner mentioned
above?

A. No: for when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, he commands us to love our
neighbor as ourselves; to show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all
kindness, towards him, and prevent his hurt as much as in us lies; and that we
do good, even to our enemies. My dear hearers!

After we have given a short, simple explanation of the first table of the law,
we have on the preceding Lord’s Day considered God’s demand of love in the first
commandment of the second table of the Law which speaks of the love we owe our
neighbors, and especially our parents. The Instructor showed us how extensive,
according to the Word of God the fifth commandment is. For it not only speaks of
the love we owe our parents but also shows us that we must show all honor, love,
fidelity and submission to all those whom God has placed over us. The fifth
commandment not only tells us: "Honor thy father and thy mother, but the Lord
also tells us thereby:

Render unto Ceasar the things which are Ceasar’s and unto God the things that
are God’s."

How very evident it is, then, that the great Lawgiver, Who is a God of love and
of order, desires our peace and salvation. He desires that love and order shall
reign in our hearts, in our home, in the church and in the state. And now we are
called to give our attention to that commandment in which the Lord clearly shows
His care for that most precious of our possessions: our life. Our life is that
precious gift that we received from Him Who is the fountain and cause, the
preserver and dispenser of it.

We esteem our life very highly. Man clings to his life more than to anything
else. What care he bestows on it! And no wonder! Our lifetime is our time of
grace, our time of preparation for eternity. Among the few truths spoken by the
father of lies is this one: "Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give
for his life." And truly, the Egyptians gave everything to Joseph to preserve
their life, and the Gibeonites were willing to hew wood and draw water for the
Israelites all their life, if they might but live. With what grief and sorrow a
life is lost! Enter the death chamber of a father, mother or child who is
struggling with death. Everything is tried to save that life. See those spasms,
that resistance to death. What gladness there is when the doctor gives hope for
improvement. How dreadful it is, on the contrary, when the doctor gives no hope
at all and speaks the awful words, "You must die." Death is something unnatural.
God did not create death. We called death into being by our sins. Alas, death
separates two friends that are closely attached to each other, namely, body and
soul. One thing can reconcile us with death; and that is the knowledge that our
death is gain. Even then the Lord must give grace to die, else the message,
"Prepare thee for removing" is still heard with grief and sorrow, as, for
example, Hezekiah.

God gave us our life. He alone has the disposition of it. He determines both its
beginning and its end. Therefore He sharply forbids killing any one without His
command.

Permit me to draw your attention to the goodness of God in guarding our life, in
accordance with the sixth commandment and the explanation of it in the
Catechism, Questions 105-107.

"Thou shalt not kill." That is a short commandment, but rich in content and
precious in intent. This commandment does not refer to the life of plants,
insects or animals. There are fanatics who declare that we may not kill animals,
not even unclean and harmful insects, and then appeal to this sixth commandment.
But the Hebrew word here translated "kill" is used only when killing people is
spoken of, never when the killing of animals is meant.

Neither does this commandment forbid a lawful killing.

There is murder which God Himself commands. See Gen 9:6, where the Lord says
"Whoso sheddeth blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God
made He man." Judges commit a great sin when they permit the wilful murderer and
slayer to live. Perhaps it is because of this sin that murders and slayings are
increasing so terribly. When we want to be wiser than God, we always go wrong.

Lawful killing also includes killing in a lawful war. A lawful war is a war
waged to protect the true religion, to preserve liberty and to defend our
country. In Deu 7:1-26 God commands Israel to destroy the Canaanites without
mercy or pardon, and in 1Sa 15:1-35 the Lord gives the same command concerning
Amalek. Also in the New Testament the lawful war is not forbidden. In Luk 3:14
John the Baptist tells the soldiers how to conduct themselves, but he does not
say they may not be soldiers. In Mat 8:1-34 we read that the Lord praises the
faith of the centurion, but not that He forbade him to be a soldier. In Acts
10:33-48 we can read that the Holy Spirit descended upon people who carried
weapons, upon Cornelius, the centurion, and his friends. Do we then not favor
antiwar movement and the peace movement? My hearers, have you not also observed
that since the laying of the first stone of the Peace Palace in The Hague, the
wars have multiplied and have become a thousand times more terrible?

Lawful killing also includes killing in self-defense. The Lord says (Exo 22:2)
"If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no
blood be shed for him." Hence, if a robber, thief or murderer, attacks you, it
is no sin if you kill him in self-defense.

Thus it is also with an unintentional murder. In Deu 19:1-10 such a murder is
mentioned, taking for an example a case of one who is hewing wood when the head
of the axe slips from the helve, hitting his neighbor so that he dies. For such
a one there were cities of refuge to which he might flee to save his life from
the avenger of death. These cities were not a place of refuge for a wilful
murderer or slayer, seeking refuge in those cities would not avail them. They
were under the sentence of God: "He that smiteth a man so that he die, shall be
surely put to death. The sixth commandment forbids the unlawful murder. That is
killing with a hostile mind upon one’s own authority, without receiving a
command from God for it.

Hence, the unlawful murder can be committed inwardly by evil thoughts. In Zec
8:17 the Lord says, "And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts toward his
neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things I hate, saith the
Lord." Oh, beloved, how many murders are committed and how many slayings are
planned in our wicked heart. How often a Cain’s fist is raised within! He that
knoweth the heart says, in Mat 15:1-39, "Out of the heart proceed — murders."
Have you learned to know that heart? Then you must place yourself, with me, on
the list of criminals. Terrible as this is, it is a blessing that it still
remained within, then at least it did not disturb others. But sometimes that
which is within comes out.

We can also slay our neighbor by angry words. David in Psa 57:4 speaks of sons
of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. The
Omniscient God knows how many live a languishing life, yea, how many are lying
in the cemeteries, having been slain by evil words that dishonored, mocked or
cursed them. Then I think of the words of Ishmael that mocked Isaac, of Shimei
who cursed David, of Nabal who spoke provoking words to David and his men which,
had Abigail not prevented it, would have led to bloodshed. Oh, how necessary it
is that we daily pray the Lord to set a watch before our mouth, so that no
sharp, harmful words are spoken by us. Then we may also pray to be saved from
the "false tongue, sharp arrows of the mighty." This commandment can also be
transgressed by an angry countenance or incensed gestures, a face upon which
Satan put his stamp, and eyes as flames of fire. Such a face Cain must have had
when the Lord spoke to him, (Gen 4:6) "Why art thou wroth and why is thy
countenance fallen?"

It is becoming worse: in his answer to the 105th question the Instructor also
speaks of that which can be considered the cause of murder, such as dishonoring
or humiliating one. Then I think of the base and wicked treatment David’s
messengers got by Hanun, of which you read in 2Sa 10:4. Hanun shaved half their
beards and cut off their garments so far that the men were ashamed to show
themselves. The Instructor also speaks of wounding or maiming ones neighbor. The
Lord seriously cautions us about this in Exo 21:24-25 and Lev 24:19-20, "If a
man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be done to
him, breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc. So it is also with
wilfully exposing someone to danger. Thus the Lord says of the ox that was wont
to push, and then killed someone, both the ox and the owner had to be killed.
(Exo 21:29). So there was also blood guiltiness upon the house of a man if he
failed to put a battlement for his roof and a man fell from it. (Deu 22:8). And
now we come to the deed itself. It is with sin as with the trees: the trunk
grows out from the roots, upon the trunk grows the leafage and among the leaves
the fruit. Scripture also speaks thus: "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin: and sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death." Thus it is also
with the transgression of the sixth commandment; the Instructor first speaks of
murderous thoughts, then of murderous acts and then of executed murder, which
consists in taking a life.

We can do so in various manners. God’s Word speaks of killing a person with an
instrument of iron, with a stone, or with a hand-weapon of wood. (Num 35:16-18).
We can also commit murder by giving one poison. One can also kill a person by
betrayal, under the guise of friendship, as Joab and Abner, or by dueling.

One can also kill a person by giving the order to do it, as with David and
Uriah; by delivering him over to that end, as Judas did; by advising it, as
Caiaphas, and by giving false witness, as with Naboth.

How cruel man has become by sin! Must you not agree, dear hearers, when you
consider all those means by which a person can embitter, shorten or take away
the life of another? And yet all those means we have enumerated from the Bible
are but child’s play compared to the cruel and terrible inventions to destroy
life in our days. Think of the submarines. With one shot they can send a ship
with hundreds of people into the deep. Think of the airplanes and poison gases.
A few minutes of murderous effort by a few planes can destroy a city, leaving
nothing but ruins full of maimed bodies. That is our work! We have brought it
about by our sin. No, you must not say it is the work of those people, no, that
is our work, that is the work of mankind, and of mankind we are members. And now
there are people who cannot wait until God puts an end to their brief life. They
take their own life. It is terrible how the number of suicides in these wicked
times increases day by day. May the Lord graciously save us from that dreadful
sin.

Also by shortening our lives do we come before God upon the list of suicides.
And we can do this by willfully exposing ourselves to danger, by climbing too
high, swimming too deep, eating or drinking too much or too little, sleeping too
long or too short a time, working too hard or too little, etc. And now I have
not yet mentioned the present-day audacious recklessness. Also by revelings,
fornication and drunkenness and other similar irregularities men do not live out
half their days. (Psa 55:23). In Question 106, the objection is raised that the
sixth commandment seems to speak only of murder. But the Instructor answers very
correctly: that the Lord also abhors the causes of murder, such as envy, hatred,
anger and desire of revenge, and accounts all these as murder. The Instructor
here mentions four causes of murder:

(1) Envy, that is that malicious feeling that arises when we begrudge our
neighbor’s prosperity. Solomon calls it "the rottenness of the bones." Because
of selfishness the envious Cain could not endure Abel, nor Saul, David.

(2) Hatred is another cause of murder. Envy cannot endure the neighbor’s
prosperity, but hatred can not endure the neighbor himself. And when the Lord
does not prevent it, hatred leads to murder, as it would have in the case of
Esau and Jacob.

(3) Anger is the third cause of murder. Anger is that evil mind against the
neighbor by which envy and hatred reveal itself. Anger is a momentary madness.
The terrible effect of anger was experienced by the men of Shechem, who were
killed by Simeon and Levi, of whom Jacob said, "Cursed be their anger." In anger
David would have slain the entire house of Nabal, had God not prevented it. We
should always remember the word of the Lord, "The wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God."

(4) The Instructor also mentions desire of revenge. That is the burning desire
to seek revenge. But the Lord says, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer." He who is revengeful shows the true character of the devil, who as
the murderer is called the avenger in Psa 8:2. Recall the language of Lamech
(Gen 4:24) "Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, but Lamech seventy and sevenfold."
My hearers! The sin against the sixth commandment is called an imitation of the
devil, an abomination which God abhors, a crime that defiles the land, a sin
crying to heaven for vengeance, and an accursed sin. (See John 8:1-59, Psa
5:1-12, Num 35:1-34, Gen 4:1-26 and Rev 21:1-27.) If the act is terrible, the
punishment is also severe.

(a) God punishes this sin inwardly, by pangs and unrest in the conscience. And
this is already terrible. Think of Cain, who wandered and roamed from place to
place without ever finding rest from that voice within which continually called
to him, "Murderer, where is your brother? You killed him, murderer, murderer!"
Is that not terrible? Think also of Herod, who always thought he saw the spirit
of John the Baptist. And think of Pilate of whom it is said that he could find
no rest, was rejected by Caesar, and died a miserable death. And thus it is with
every murderer and slayer. They must admit as did the thief on the cross, "We
receive the due reward of our deeds." That worm within, that smarting remorse,
must be unbearable, they say.

(b) Externally, God wills that these sins shall be punished by death. "Whoso
sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed" thus saith the Lord. That
was done in Israel, and formerly also in this country. Then men did not argue
about it, they simply obeyed the commandment of God. The catechism reminds us
that therefore the magistrate is armed with the sword. But now the sword is
rusting in its sheath. Neither slayer nor murderer are punished in accordance
with God’s command. They are punished with an imprisonment of a few years, that
is, if they are found to be "not responsible." In some countries murder and
suicide are glorified, and birth-control is openly advocated and praised. In the
inverted world in which we live, parents with many children are despised, and
those who restrict or illegally prevent birth are praised and promoted. My
hearers, is it a wonder that God’s hand rests heavily upon rulers and people;
that murder is increasing so terribly; that often criminals are not found
anymore; that the Lord holily mocks the detectives, police hounds, and such? How
many parents who wanted but one son or daughter, now have no son or daughter?
And in places where childbirth is encouraged, where premiums are given to large
families, this is not done because God wills it, but rather to have large
armies, to have them slain on the battlefields of an often unjust war.

(c) God shall punish this sin eternally. Ye know that no murderer hath eternal
life abiding in him," says the Apostle of love. (1Jn 3:15). The eternal
punishment which the slayer and murderer must bear shall be terrible! No, we
cannot even attempt to describe it. It will be horrible.

Still, there is forgiveness. That we may declare to you in the name of the Lord!
None of you, whoever you may be, or whatever you may have done, may say, "My sin
is too great to be forgiven." There is forgiveness, but only in the blood of Him
Who was willing to live, to suffer and to die, also for murderers and slayers.
How gloriously and clearly this forgiveness was shown on Golgotha. There at
Jesus’ right and left side there were hanged two people who had committed
terrible crimes against the life of their neighbor: they were murderers.* And
even hanging on the cross, as it were at the portals of death, they reviled the
holy Jesus. (Mat 27:44 and Mark 15:32). Then Jesus sends His high-priestly
prayer to heaven, "Father, forgive...". And the Father Who always hears Him,
sends His Spirit. A ray of light enters the murderer’s soul; he sees who he is
and what he did; acknowledges that he is worthy of death. But by that light he
also sees who He is Who is hanging beside him, and what He has done. Then the
prayer comes from his lips, "Lord, remember me . . "Today shalt thou be with Me
in paradise." What rich grace it is that promises paradise to murderers. But
that is not for all murderers, but only for those for whom He prays, for those
who acknowledge their guilt and come to Him with true repentance! That is
necessary for each of us, also for you, unconverted one. How many murders you
have committed, even though God prevented you, and me, from the deed itself. For
have you not heard that the Lord also counts the cause of murder for a murder?
May you then acknowledge that you are worthy of condemnation. And may you learn
to flee with all your guilt and sin to the throne of grace. May you still learn
with Mary Magdalene to mourn over your sins at the feet of Jesus, and smite upon
your breast as the publican, pleading, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

Well, people of God, how much reason we have to be thankful! But how much reason
we have to be humble, and we also have reason to be prayerfully watchful, for
remember, the causes of murder such as envy, hatred, anger and the desire for
revenge are still deep in our heart. How often that becomes evident. When
someone insults us, how often we act as our own judge! We have not yet unlearned
the prayer of the disciples that fire come down from heaven to consume our
enemies. Oh, do not commit a murder because someone owes you a few pounds. May
God give you grace to find refuge in Jesus, He casts no murderer away. One day
you shall hear, "This day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."

Come, let us sing, Psalter No.83 st. 1, 2.

Dear hearers, thus we have shown you what the sixth commandment demands and the
punishment for the transgressor. But we have not yet finished. We have remarked
earlier that it is not sufficient to refrain from doing that which God forbids,
but we must also practice the opposite virtues. We must keep in mind that the
commanded virtues are included with the forbidden vices.

Thus the Instructor asks in Question 107, "But is it enough that we do not kill
any man in the manner mentioned above?" And then he answers, "No, for when God
forbids envy, hatred and anger, He commands us to love our neighbor as
ourselves."

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." That is the summary of all the
commandments of the second table of the law, as the Lord Jesus Himself said.
(Mat 22:39).

Love is the bond of perfectness that binds all virtues together and excludes all
vices, and hence is a general virtue which includes all the duties of the second
table of the law. The Apostle writes (Rom 13:9) "For this, Thou shalt not commit
adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false
witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is
briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself." But here the reference is to that special love to the neighbor, by
which we love his life as his most precious possession and hence diligently seek
to protect his life and make it pleasant, so that thus living he may be able to
glorify his God. Of that love we can say:

1. It seeks peace. It follows after peace, not at the expense of the truth, but
in keeping with the truth.

2. It is not envious. It rejoices in another’s welfare.

3. It is meek. It does not revenge itself. Cain’s hatred and Lamech’s vengeance
is foreign to it.

4. It is merciful to the needy as the Samaritan near Jericho.

5. It is kind. No, this love has no sour face and bitter mind.

6. It endures patiently.

7. Hence it also abhors inflicting material, and even more inflicting spiritual
damage.

Dear hearers, how pleasant it is to experience such love! How pleasant to be
treated so mercifully as that Jewish man was treated by that Samaritan, and as
Mephibosheth by David. How pleasant people could make your life! Oh, if man
dealt as friendly with you as Joseph did with his brothers and as Esau did with
Jacob when he met him; he kissed him. How pleasant it is when our shortcomings
are so patiently borne, as the disciples experienced of their Lord and master
when they had fallen asleep, or when they acted or spoke a bit foolishly. The
dear Lord palliated the offense by saying, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh
is weak." Again how sweet it is when men live friendly and peaceably with us;
when they further our welfare; when they strive for our good name; when they
seek to warn us of evil; when men pray for us, when men seek to promote our
temporal and eternal welfare. Why, how much trouble people could ward away from
us and how much peace they could bring us. Neighborly love, how sweet it is to
experience thee! But also, how difficult it is to practice.

If we are slandered or insulted, the Lamech’s spirit arises in us. We say, "Do
you think I will allow them to take away my crown? Then it is "an eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

You want others to be patient with your weaknesses, but are you patient with
those of others? Do you strive for another’s good name, the good name of one you
do not like? Do you do your best to advance another’s cause, also if it means a
slight loss for yourself? Do you practice neighborly love, also if you must
suffer for it?

If you can answer these questions affirmatively, you would not only have more
understanding than your teachers, but also more, much more virtue than they. For
they know that preaching about neighborly love from the sixth commandment is
quite a different thing than practicing it. The person who needs neighborly love
the most often practices it the least. And the person who talks most about the
lovelessness of these evil days, is very often the most loveless. While man is
in trouble, he preaches about neighborly love until he is helped out of it, but
when he is out of his pit, he does not heed another who is still in it. We see
that in the butler. When he was out of prison, he did not consider poor Joseph.
For two years he forgot Joseph, that poor boy. People who preach about
benevolence are sometimes the most miserly. "One cannot give to every cause and
to everyone," they say and they give nothing to any cause, and to anyone. If
poor people were rich they would be generous! But when they become rich and as
they become richer, they become more and more miserly.

Only one has lived upon this earth who preached neighborly love and also
practiced it perfectly. That one is our Lord Jesus Christ. See Him come in the
counsel of peace, in the fulness of time, follow His ways and notice His deeds.
See Him in Bethlehem’s manger, in the garden of Gethsemane, on the cross of
Golgotha, in Joseph’s sepulcher, always and ever He practiced perfectly the
sixth commandment. He never transgressed this commandment, neither by sins of
omission nor by sins of commission. Even when he was angry it was still pure
neighborly love. And now look at yourself in this mirror. No, we must not use a
man full of faults for our mirror, but in this mirror we must study ourselves.

You unconverted ones have nothing of this love. Certainly, there is a natural
gentleness, there is something that we call neighborly love, which also bears
its fruit, which we call good, yea, excellent. But in the sight of God Who seeks
for perfection, and Who demands patience, peaceableness, forgivingness, etc.,
from you, in the sight of Him you are hateful and revengeful. He sees not only
the tree, but also the roots.

You cannot thus enter heaven. Your guilt must be covered with the righteousness
of Christ, and your heart must be renewed by the Holy Spirit.

Learn to supplicate the Lord for this while it is still the day of grace for
you, before the Lord makes it dark for you, and as a malefactor you sink away
into eternal perdition. And we, children of the Lord, what a small beginning we
have of this obedience. Examine your life in accordance with the explanation of
this commandment, and let your conscience make the application. Is there no
reason to shame yourself before God?

Dear child of God, the Lord grant us grace to meditate much on the life of Jesus
and to tarry much at Golgotha, thus to learn not only how Christ atoned for our
transgression, but also what God in the sixth commandment demands of His
children. Would that be beneficial for our sanctification? Hear what the Apostle
says (2Co 3:18) "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord." The Lord then grant us that by grace for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

*In the Holland Bible both Matthew and Mark speak of the malefactors crucified
with Jesus as "murderers."

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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  CHAPTER 7: 07 - "THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT"
========================================================================

Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No. 93 1,2,3,4. Read 1Co 7:1-40. Psalter No.64 st. 1,2,3. Psalter No.143
st. 3,4. Psalter No.170 st. 1,2.

XLI. LORD’S DAY.

"Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners,
thus, my dear hearers, the chief priests and scribes spoke of our holy Lord
Jesus. But it was vile slander, adder’s poison, to say that He, the Holy of
holies, Who knew nor committed sin was a friend of people who cheat others, who
indulge in all manner of iniquity, who drink too much wine, who were harlots and
who associated with harlots. No, a thousand times no! Our holy Jesus is an enemy
of all sin and of all those depraved creatures who commit such abominations.

Yet the Lord Jesus truly is a friend of harlots and publicans, but of such who
by the grace of God turn away from their sins to God and learn to implore Him
for the forgiveness of their sin and peace for their soul. Yea, for such the
scoffing words of the Pharisees and scribes are words full of blessed comfort,
especially when in their own heart they may experience the truth of those words.

What a comfort it was to Rahab, who even today is still known by the epithet
that reminds us of her former life of sin, but is now an honorary title for her!

Jesus, a friend of harlots and publicans, is a comfort to the weeping Mary
Magdalenes, who shed hot tears at Jesus feet for their sin. In their blindness
and enmity the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes also spoke comfort to the
woman taken in adultery. "Hath no man condemned thee? Neither do I condemn
thee," spoke the Lord after the accusers had left one by one, being accused by
their own conscience. That Jesus is a friend of sinners, of harlots and of
publicans is also a comfort for us, for you and for me. Or do you not know
yourself as such a sinner?

We must now deal with the seventh commandment. May the Lord use this sermon as a
light to uncover us. May it be a rod to drive us to Christ.

Then this sermon would also be a signpost to salvation. Our text you will find
in Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Upon these words our catechetical instruction is based as you will find recorded
in the Heidelberg Catechism:

Q. 108. What doth the seventh commandment teach us?

A. That all uncleanness is accursed of God: and that therefore we must with all
our hearts detest the same, and live chastely and temperately, whether in holy
wedlock, or in single life.

Q.109. Doth God forbid in this commandment, only adultery, and such like gross
sins?

A. Since both our body and soul are temples of the Holy Ghost, he commands us to
preserve them pure and holy: therefore he forbids all unchaste actions,
gestures, words, thoughts, desires and whatever can entice men thereto.

Dear hearers, The preceding Lord’s Day we considered the sixth commandment, in
which the Lord showed His loving care for our life, our most precious
possession.

We heard that it is the Lord Who gave us that life; that it is He Who joined our
soul and body, and that therefore it is also He Who, at His appointed time, as a
result of sin, can and may separate soul and body,

We showed you the lawful and the unlawful murder: the lawful murder which is
committed at God’s command, in a lawful war, in defense of one’s life or
committed accidentally; the unlawful murder which is committed inwardly by evil
thoughts, and outwardly by angry words, by an angry look, by dishonoring,
insulting, or wounding someone, by bringing one into danger, by unjust
condemnation, by taking a life, either doing it or having it done, and by
bringing one’s self into danger, or taking one’s own life.

Therefore we also showed you how God punishes the transgress ion of the sixth
commandment: internally in the conscience and externally by delivering the
wilful murderer to the law, with the command to do unto him as he has done, and
finally by delivering him eternally to the tormenters, in hell, unless he comes
to conversion and seeks and finds forgiveness in the blood of Him Who because of
the merits of His atonement can say also to murderers, "This day shalt thou be
with me in Paradise."

After we have thus shown you the horror of murder in all its wickedness, we
showed you the neighborly love which God commands, and which must be found in us
and must be practiced by us, shall it be well with us for eternity. Without
neighborly love we are still dead in sins and trespasses and strangers to that
life of God which the Lord gives to His people in the regeneration.

We heard how pleasant it is to experience neighborly love shown to us by others
but we have also said how difficult it is to practice it ourselves and show it
to others.

Finally we spoke of the only One who had and practiced neighborly love to
perfection as He gave His life and blood for slayers and murderers, and thus is
and opened a fountain of comfort to those who have learned to know themselves
and accuse themselves as murderers before God, and seek and find grace in and
through Him Who is the end of the law, also of the sixth commandment. And now we
must consider the seventh commandment, in accordance with Questions 108, and
109.

Praying to the Lord, and with the help of the Holy Spirit we wish to speak
about:

1. the blessing of matrimony 2. the corruption of man 3. the beneficial purpose
of the seventh commandment.

Dear hearers, it is with much constraint that we prepare ourselves to handle
such a delicate subject, for our heart is so very corrupt. It is like a powder
magazine, only one spark is needed to set on fire the course of nature. And yet
the Instructor could not omit the discussion of the seventh commandment. And in
our explanation we must use caution and discretion every moment, but we must
also mention the sins and warn ourselves and you against them The Lord wills
that His covenant people shall be pure and holy in all their walk and
conversation, and that like God, Who is a pure and holy Being. He calls to them,
"Be ye holy, for I the Lord am holy." That is evident from the divine laws in
which the Lord prescribed that all who were unclean had to be separated from the
fellowship of His people, and in which He strictly forbids His people to eat
anything that is unclean, and to have communion with anything unclean. And
because lasciviousness is a sworn enemy of purity of life, in the seventh
commandment God commands that we keep a pure soul in a pure body and shun all
that which conflicts with it.

Thou shalt not commit adultery. These words once heard from Mt. Sinai which
Jehovah himself engraved in stone, bring to our memory a sweet story, it is the
story recorded in Gen 2:1-25. In Gen 2:1-25 we read of the first marriage, the
marriage of our first parents, hence of that marriage of which we all are the
fruit. Dear hearers, how thankful we should be that the Lord by His servant
Moses, has recorded this marriage! Others may believe and say that we are
descendants of apes. We know that we have descended from a pure and holy
marriage, the only marriage performed immediately by God Himself. In Gen 2:1-25,
Moses narrates the occasion for that marriage. When the Lord God had formed
every beast of the field and every fowl of the air, He brought them all to Adam
to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof. When Adam had showed his great innate
knowledge by giving them names in accordance with their nature, a sad lack was
revealed: all the animals were paired, but he, our father stood alone: there was
not found a helpmeet for him.

Certainly it was not God’s intention to leave man alone. For was it not God’s
plan to make of one blood all nations of men? And behold Adam standing there,
see his form, and hear his speech. Could it be God’s plan to leave him without a
partner for life? Why then did He give his speech? No, the Lord wanted to make a
helpmeet for him. And Moses also records how the Lord did it. In Gen 2:21-22 we
read of the creation of the woman. The Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon
Adam. And while He slept, God took out one of his ribs and closed up the flesh
instead thereof. And the Lord God made the rib which He had taken from Adam into
a woman. Wonderworking God! While we sleep, God often prepares for us the
greatest blessing. But all was not yet done. The woman was there, but what must
still follow is the marriage itself. As the father who gives his daughter to the
bridegroom, so God brings the woman to Adam. What a sweet awakening that must
have been, what a blessed surprise: his God is bringing him a sweet partner for
life!

Notice again Adam’s great wisdom (Gen 2:23) a. in his explanation. He fathoms
the origin of that woman: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh."
b. in the name he gave her: "She shall be called Woman, because she was taken
out of man." c. in declaring the obligation which flows from the divine
alliance. (Gen 2:24) : "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." And now also note
the divine qualifying for marital life. The Lord gave to the man and to the
woman the desire, the delight and the ability to bring forth children in union
and communion with each other, to love, care for, raise and protect them, all
this with the blessing and the help of their God. And the Lord still does so.
Read what the form for the confirmation of marriage before the church says that
when God confirmed the marriage of our first parents, He witnesses "that He doth
yet as with His hand bring unto every man his wife." And what a blessing it is
when it pleases the Lord to give to the man a good wife, as He did to Adam.
Solomon says, and he could know it, that a prudent wife is from the Lord. He
says (Pro 18:22) "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor
of the Lord. "Yea, he says (Pro 5:1-23), "Rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Let her be as the loving kind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at
all times; and be thou ravished always with her love." And truly, who is able to
receive all the blessing and to describe all the enjoyment of the marriage
state.

How very sad that sin has entered that state. For has not sin also corrupted
married life? Through sin man’s helpmeet is often a stumbling block and the
silken cord, soft as velvet, which binds husband and wife together is for many
an iron chain which they would like to break and cast off.

Through sin the lust and desire for union of the man with the woman has become
unbridled, the marriage bed is often defiled, and the lusts extend to various
abominable objects. This induces us to speak in the second place about the
corruption of man.

After those two happy people in Paradise had broken the covenant with their God,
after they had fallen away from God and from each other, God still did not want
to abolish marriage. Rather He would hedge it about to keep it undefiled.
Therefore He spoke, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

If we listen to what our Instructor says in his answer to Question 108, we hear
that adultery is committed when two people who are married to others associate
with each other. It may be that both are married, as with David and Bathsheba,
which is called double adultery; or a married person with an unmarried person,
as with Abraham and Hagar, which is called single adultery. It is also done by
those who are engaged, as we read in Hos 4:13, "Your brides (Am. Rev.) commit
adultery."

Adultery is also committed by having more than one wife at a time. This was
first undertaken by the wicked Lamech. Alas his example was soon followed by the
patriarchs and the kings of Israel, under the tolerance of the Lord. However,
polygamy conflicts against the first institution of marriage. There were but two
who became one flesh. The Lord punishes polygamy as a grievous sin. See Mal
2:13-15. There the Lord says that He does not regard the offering any more, nor
receives it with good will from His people. And why not? Because they had
forsaken the wife of their covenant and had taken more wives, where as the Lord
had made but one, although He had the residue of the spirit.

Adultery is also committed by unlawful divorce. For every minor matter, for
every small difference, the one leaves the other and seeks divorce. But what God
hath joined together, man may not put asunder, except in the one case the Lord
Jesus mentions in Mat 5:32, namely, fornication. The Lord also forbids marriage
within one’s family. Lev 18:1-30 defines the relationship within which marriage
is not permissible.

If this closed the register of sins, many unmarried people would be blameless.
But now the Catechism speaks not only of unchastity in holy wedlock, but also of
unchastity in single life, whoredom, which is committed, when unmarried persons,
outside of legal marriage mingle with each other, either by having or being
concubine, or by filthy prostitution of harlots who offer themselves to any one
for money, for food, or for clothing. By such abominations the land is defiled.
(Lev 19:27) Such shall not be saved. (1Co 6:9).

God’s Word also speaks of sins committed against marriage, as when men commit
lewdness with men, and women with women, or even with animals. How deeply man
has fallen, that God had to write in His law a commandment as given in Lev 18:23
"Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither
shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion." How
corrupt man created after God’s image has become, so that God must give such a
commandment, and even a threat of punishment with it Exo 22:19 : "Whoso ever
lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death." And our instructor goes even
farther when in Question and Answer 109 he shows that God forbids not only the
outward sins of adultery and similar crimes, but also all that which "can entice
men thereto." And then he mentions:

(1) all unchaste actions, those are the unfruitful works of darkness, against
which the Apostle warns us in Eph 5:11.

(2) unchaste gestures, such as winking with the eyes, dancing with the feet, and
indecent use of the hands. God’s Word speaks of eyes full of adultery. (2Pe
2:14). The Lord says of the daughters of Zion that they are haughty and walk
with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking mincing as they go, and
making a tinkling with their feet."

(3) unchaste words. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,"
says Paul (Eph 4:29.) And what wicked proposals, plans, expressions, offerings
and agreements come over our lips. The Apostle admonishes, "But fornication, and
all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh
saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not
convenient." (Eph 5:3-4).

(4) Unchaste thoughts. Thoughts are not free. Oh, I know that God’s most
sanctified people are tormented by unclean thoughts and by the filthy lusts of
the flesh. But when we wilfully awaken and feed those thoughts and desires and
incite them into action when the opportunity is there, then the Lord Jesus says,
"But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Mat 5:28).

(5) whatever can entice men thereto. There are things that especially entice
fallen man to the lust of the flesh. And with those things the world is filled
as perhaps never before, so that I sometimes look down in pity upon the
children. Oh, sometimes I say in my heart, poor children, how will you come
through a world so full of temptation. Oh, then it is no wonder to me that so
many drown before they have seen water. One needs not be a prophet in order to
see that we have entered the "hour of temptation" of which we read in Rev 3:10.
Which are "the things that entice thereto?"

See the unbecoming dress of mothers and their daughters. Is it a wonder that the
children have no respect for a mother who dares to appear in their midst in
improper apparel, and who sets her children an example in shamelessness? And
then see the shameless conduct of boys and girls, yea, of children, having
barely or not yet left the schools. And if they dare to show themselves thus and
dare to conduct themselves thus in the open, what then happens under the cover
of darkness and in secret? And then see the piles of corrupt books and pictures.
So also the movies and theaters, the joy riding and speeding, those drinking
parties. My hearers, I do not wish to go into more details. Paul once said, "It
is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret, "but
now it is also a shame to speak of those things which are done of them in
public. And now we are still living in a land in which the government still
seeks to control sin. But when we hear and read what happens in other countries
with the approval of the laws, it is most terrible. Consider Russia. And it
shall also be thus in this country when irreligion shall attain the mastery over
religion. And now I must also speak of the virtues commanded. As with all God’s
commandments, the commanded virtues are the opposite of the forbidden vices. The
Instructor also mentions this. He speaks of living "chastely and temperately,
whether in holy wedlock or in single life." A chaste and modest temperate life
is called a pure and clean life in Scripture. It is that fruit of the Spirit by
which the child of God seeks to keep his soul and body clean and unspotted from
all carnal lusts. Thus there is a chastity of the soul which shuns rash, vain,
and unchaste thoughts. Chastity of the soul abhors the lust of concupiscence
(1Th 4:5). There is likewise a chastity of the body, consisting in possessing
one’s vessel in sanctification and honor.

Certainly, the body must be kept pure, for not only the soul, but also the body
is God’s. Therefore we must yield our members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. Then we pray, "Turn Thou mine eyes from beholding vanity." Then we
close our ears to unclean words, and no corrupt communication proceeds out of
our mouth; then we shall be chaste in all our walk and conversation, in all our
motions and actions, and we shun all that in any way could entice to unchastity.
To induce us to live thus temperately and chastely the Instructor adds a strong,
persuasive reason, adapted from 1Co 6:18-19. "Flee fornication. Know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God."

If, then, we are with body and soul the temple of the Holy Ghost, the Lawgiver
demands that we keep it chaste and holy in the married state or in single life.

Now I must still speak of the results of this sin. The Lord calls to us: "Thou
shalt not commit adultery." He forbids us to live in that sin of unchastity. If
we do so nevertheless, the punishment is severe and sure.

Take, for example, the results of the sin of polygamy among the patriarchs. What
discord there was in their families, and what jealousies there were among the
four wives of Jacob and their children. And how can it be otherwise?

Consider also the results of David’s sin with the wife of Uriah. After he had
committed that sin David was not the same as before. God did remain true to His
covenant, and He did reassure David of the forgiveness of his sin, but the sword
would not depart from his house, and did not depart from his house. My hearers,
God punishes the sin against the seventh commandment terribly. Loss of honor,
loss of health, loss of peace, loss of life and loss of salvation are the
results of the sin of fornication, of adultery, of an unchaste and undisciplined
life. And new we admit that it is no elevating, but rather a humbling thought
that none of us are blameless in this matter. We all are unchaste persons,
adulterers, fornicators, etc. Although perhaps people do not know it of us, God,
Whose eyes see also what happens in the darkness and in hidden corners, knows
what we thought, what we desired and what we did. Thus He knows many to be
harlots and adulterers, though they appear to be most innocent. And although
God’s restraining grace withheld you from the act, God knows the thoughts of
your heart are impure. For if the great apostle Paul, who was advanced so far in
sanctification, who was full of the Holy Spirit, who had received the gift of
continence from God: if he must testify, "I know that in me, that is, in my
flesh, dwelleth no good thing," if from the pen of such a man flows the
complaint of Rom 7:1-25 : "O wretched man that I am," then let us, poor sinners,
not do as Adam did, cover our transgressions, by hiding our iniquity in our
bosom. May we do as the man after God’s own heart did. Let us put on the garment
of penitence and go to Him Who is so plenteous in mercy and sing beseechingly
and prayerfully.

Psalter No.143 st. 3 and 4.

Let us finally consider the beneficial purpose of this commandment. That
beneficial purpose will be evident as we consider the blessing that lies in a
pure and chaste life. The godly poet says, "And in the keeping of His word there
is a great reward." Thus it is also with the keeping of the seventh commandment.

It leaves a blessing upon our personal life. If either in the married or in the
single state we lead a pure and chaste life, how much misery and trouble we are
spared. One rash moment can cause years of sorrow. On the other hand, the Lord
rewards purity of life with a calm and undisturbed conscience and with an open
door to the throne of grace, with peace in our heart and home and between God
and our soul.

Purity of life also leaves a blessing for the whole church of God. Where purity
of life is practiced in the fear of the Lord, all things are done in order in
God’s house and we are spared the judgments which the Lord brought upon the
church of Corinth because of the sin of adultery. Thereby we are also spared
from causing God’s Name to be blasphemed, God’s people to be despised and
taunted, the doctrine of free grace to be disdained, and the Word of God is not
hindered, but by the godly conversation of the church others also may be gained
to Christ.

Purity of life also leaves a blessing for the entire community. Oh, it is so
true that righteousness exalteth a nation, but also that sin is a reproach to
any people. For what is the cancer that is gnawing on our civil life? Is it not
the sin of adultery and unchastity? But wherever also in civil life God’s laws
are honored and obeyed, there God commands His blessing and removes His
judgments. We see that in the history of Israel and also of our country.

Therefore we would cry out with the prophet of old, 0, earth, earth, earth, hear
the word of the Lord and be instructed, lest the Lord come and set thee as Sodom
and Gomorrah because of thine iniquity. But we must always remember that every
national conversion must begin in our own heart and life. A government can make
sin punishable and reward and encourage virtue. But the purity of heart and life
cannot be commanded, it originates in regeneration. Thus David also understood
it, and therefore he prayed:

"Gracious Lord, my heart renew, Make my spirit right and true."

If, then, you still lack this blessing, let it be your constant prayer that God
by His Spirit might renew your heart. For, remember, even if you can say as did
the rich young man, "All these things have I kept from my youth up," it would
not avail you for eternity. Heaven remains closed for the unregenerate; he can
neither see nor enter the kingdom of heaven.

Oh, it is a very comforting truth that the Lord is a friend of harlots and
publicans, who by the grace of God come to Him repenting of their sins. If there
is among us a sinner who is guilty of transgressing, perhaps in a special
manner, the seventh commandment, then we in Christ’s stead, may call to you,
"The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God cleanses from all sins, hence also
the sins of adultery, fornication and all uncleanness. But then we must also
strive for a chaste and pure life that is pleasing to God and Christ. For that
purpose it would be beneficial, with the blessing of God, to have lively
impressions of God’s omniscience and omnipresence. God hears all we say. He sees
all we do. He is always with us. In Him we live and move and have our being.

Beware of the first beginnings of this evil, although it seems ever so innocent.
Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, went to see the daughters of the land at Shechem.
Surely, we would say, there was no harm in that? My hearers, that was the first
step on an evil way, for how did she return? What a bloody massacre was the
result? See Gen 34:1-31. And David walked in idleness on the roof of his house.
And he experienced that idleness is the parent of vice. See 2Sa 11:1-27.

Shun evil companions. If you choose a friend, let it be a godfearing one. Beware
of false shame. Dare to say "no" to a flatterer or "tempter." Shake him off as
if he were an adder. Think of Joseph. He left his garment in her hand and fled
from Potiphar’s wife with the words, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin
against God?" But never trust your own powers. Distrusting our own powers is
learned in the school of Jesus, often by very painful lessons. And be ever
watchful. I have heard that the temple watchmen wore a white garment. When the
controller found one sleeping, he would give him a rap — on that white garment —
with the torch he was carrying! Such a spot could never be removed. Therefore,
"watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak."

Remember the word of the Apostle, "It is better to marry than to burn." And
think not that the unmarried state is holier than the married state. Marriage is
honorable. No, it is not a sacrament as Rome teaches, but still marriage pleases
the Lord and the Lord Jesus honored it with His presence and miracles. Be
careful in choosing a mate. Let there be no great difference in age, state or
position between yourself and him or her to whom you give your hand and heart.
Usually such marriages do not turn out well.

Dear hearers, let Jesus be the Bridegroom of your soul. Give Him the first place
in your heart and home and life. If Jesus is your Bridegroom then His Father is
your Father and His house your house. But beware then, that you commit no
spiritual adultery, nor spiritual fornication.

People of God, the Lord grant us grace to walk in sanctification and fear, and
one day the redeemed shall sit at the marriage feast of the Lamb, and be as the
angels. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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  CHAPTER 8: 08 - "THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT"
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Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.389 st. 1. Read Eph 4:1-32. Psalter No. 161 st. 7,8, 9. Psalter No.7
st. 1,2,3. Psalter No.204 st. 3,4.

XLII. LORD’S DAY. My dear hearers,

It is a very notable admonition which we read in Jesus’ famous sermon on the
mount, namely, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." The Lord
Himself was poor, poorer than the foxes, who had holes, and poorer than the
birds of the air, who had nests, but He had no place whereon to lay His head.
Neither did the Lord make any effort to become rich. He turned from Satan in
disdain when he offered Him the kingdoms of the earth.

Hence the Lord will not condone that lust of money, that thirst for gold, that
thirst for great wealth in His people. Therefore He says, "Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth." By the word treasures you must not understand
those things that belong to the necessities of life, such as food and drink,
clothing and shelter, etc. By treasures the Lord means those things which
indicate abundance and luxury, such as gold, silver, beautiful furniture,
clothes, and in one word, all that for which earthly-minded people slave,
sacrifice everything, pollute their conscience and even hazard their soul and
their salvation.

Hence the Lord’s admonition is aimed at such pursuit of treasures in which the
world is engrossed, and in which it places its trust. He does not advise against
zeal and thrift, industry and prayerful planning to save either for ourselves or
for an evil day, or for helping others in need, but rather against excessive,
wrong, ye a sinful pursuit of temporal things. And alas, that is done so much.
Since the fall man has made material things his god, the treasures of earth are
his desire, they have his heart. And to obtain them he lies, robs, steals and
practices usury, he sins against his soul and hazards his salvation. We see this
in Achan. For a few hundred pieces of silver, a garment and some gold, he
brought judgment upon the army of Israel and a curse upon himself. He was stoned
and relegated to hell. And think of Gehazi, who, for a handful of silver brought
shame upon the Lord, the God of Israel and upon His servant, and Naaman’s
leprosy upon himself. And think also of Judas who for thirty pieces of silver
betrayed his Master, and sold his life and his salvation.

How good and loving the Lord Jesus is then, when he calls to us, "Do not thus.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Yea, how
good and loving our God is, for it pleased Him to cast up a bulwark against that
sin in the Commandment that now requires our attention.

You will find our text in Exo 20:15 "Thou shalt not steal."

Upon these words our catechetical instruction is based as you will find recorded
in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XLII. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 110. What doth God forbid In the eighth commandment?

A. God forbids not only those thefts, and robberies, which are punishable by the
magistrate; but he comprehends under the name of theft all wicked tricks and
devices, whereby we design to appropriate to ourselves the goods which belong to
our neighbor: whether it be by force, or under the appearance of right, as by
unjust weights, ells, measures, fraudulent merchandise, false coins, usury, or
by any other way forbidden by God; as also all covetousness, all abuse and waste
of his gifts.

Q. 111. But what doth God require in this commandment?

A. That I promote the advantage of my neighbor in every instance I can or may;
and deal with him as I desire to be dealt with by others: further also that I
faithfully labor, so that I may be able to relieve the needy.

Dear hearers! The subject which requires our attention today calls us again to
the foot of the mount where God gave his law. It has already been our privilege
to receive blessed lessons there. There we learned to know in what relationship
man, especially God’s child, stands to the Lord. He is the Lord, our God, Who
brought us out of the house of bondage of sin and the world.

We also learned that we must serve Him alone, that we must serve Him reverently
in spirit and in truth, that we must serve Him always, but especially on our
Sabbath day.

Then the Lawgiver taught us childlike submission. He showed us His great care
for our life and for the most sacred relationship on earth, namely, marriage. We
showed you the blessing of wedlock, that union of husband and wife, willed and
instituted by our Creator, which in His Word He declares to be an example of the
unity of Christ and His church, and which Christ honored with His presence and
miracles.

Next we showed you the corruption of man. Through sin the holy delight and
desire for communion of husband and wife has become sinful and unbridled, so
that the lusts of our flesh reach out to a stranger, yea even to various
loathsome objects. We shall not record further the list of sins committed
against the seventh commandment by thoughts, words, and deeds, in marriage,
outside of marriage and even against marriage.

Finally, we showed the beneficial purpose of the seventh commandment, which we
shall not now repeat.

Now in accordance with Questions and Answers 110 and 111, we draw your attention
to: The loving care of the Lord for our possessions.

Dear hearers, how exalted and glorious the care of the Lord was shown in regard
to the possessions which in His sovereign pleasure He has given to the children
of men, when on Mount Sinai it was heard from the mouth of the Lawgiver, "Thou
shalt not steal."

Permit me to show you in the first place:

(1) The great necessity of this commandment. This will be evident when we notice
man’s thievish nature.

We believe we are not too bold when we affirm that all men, none excepted, are
thieves. Are we not all born as thieves? It is unnecessary to state that the
holy man Jesus Christ is not included in this statement.

"Thou shalt not steal," does this commandment not immediately carry us back in
thought to Paradise, to the origin of the iniquities that prevail against us, of
which David complains in the sixty-fifth Psalm? For there in Paradise, the
greatest and most wicked theft on earth was committed.

You ask by whom that dreadful theft was committed, and the answer must be, "It
was committed by the man who was created by the Lord - good and in God’s image,
in true knowledge, righteousness and holiness, that he might rightly know God,
his Creator, heartily love Him and live with Him in eternal happiness, that man
with whom God graciously had made a covenant. He is the thief.

What has he stolen? He has taken of the fruit of the tree which the Lord had
separated from all the trees of Paradise to be a tree of testing, to test his
love, his adherence and his fidelity. He has taken unlawfully of that tree of
which God had said, "Thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die." And from that tree he took and ate. Oh dreadful
transgression.

You ask what the result was of Adam’s theft. The dreadful result is that we are
now all born as thieves. For there in Paradise Adam opened his heart to evil
covetousness, the thief entered his heart, and as a canker and pest he corrupts
our entire nature. Since now his nature has become thievish and rapacious, he
could only beget children having the same nature as he. Adam also begot a son
after his own image and likeness, hence, just as thievish and rapacious as he.

Therefore, parents, when you notice the thievish nature of your children, when
you see their little hands reaching for forbidden things even before the
children can talk or walk, do not say, "At what an early age wickedness enters
the heart of a child," but rather say, "At what an early age evil comes out from
the heart." It was already in the heart when the child was born, it needs only
to come out. Man is not a thief because he steals. but he steals because he is a
thief. And since that first theft in Paradise that evil has developed terribly.
It has eaten as a canker. Hence it was indisputably necessary that the Lord
erect a bulwark against it in the eighth commandment. The necessity will be more
evident as we notice the extent of these sins and when we consider how men
steal. The Catechism mentions a list of matters in which men steal and by which
men steal.

Come, beloved, permit me to speak about these matters. In Exo 21:1-36 we read of
stealing men. That was done especially when slavery was practiced. Thus Joseph
said to the butler, "For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the
Hebrews." And such a thing often happened formerly, when men were considered as
merchandise. You can well imagine the grief such a theft caused. Think of the
grief of the parents whose daughter was carried away and made to serve Naaman
the Syrian. How thankful we should be to the Lord that we, parents and children,
are spared such grief. For the abolition of slavery we thank God alone and the
light of His Word. In Exo 22:1-31 we also read of stealing animals. "If a man
steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for
an ox and four sheep for a sheep."

Men also steal by peculation. Peculators are those who appropriate to themselves
unjustly, public money or property, thereby enriching themselves. In these days
there is much of such dishonesty and theft in many countries. It is also done by
evading taxes, etc.

There is also church theft. That is committed when property of the church or of
religious service, or for religious purposes, or of the poor of the church, is
unjustly diminished, or squandered, or embezzled, or lost.

How do men steal? They steal by unrighteous wars, by highway robbery and piracy,
by burglary, by having and using divers weights, and divers measures, one for
buying and one for selling. All these types of thefts are punishable by the
authorities.

If this were all, it would be very terrible, but there is still much more.

Before God they are not only thieves who appropriate property of others and
hence are punishable by the earthly judge. But you, too, are a thief who defraud
your neighbor udder a pretense of fairness.

You who have a true scale and just weights but still weigh so that the customer
does not receive his due, you, too, are a thief.

You, who with a true measure know how to measure so that the customer does not
receive his full length, you are a thief.

You, who know how to fill a measure so that it seems full at the top, but is
hollow at the bottom, you are a thief.

You, who mix your wares with wares of lesser quality than you would advertise or
sell as such, you are a thief.

You, too, are a thief, who pay with counterfeit money or worthless checks.

You, too, are banded by God as a thief who misuse your neighbor’s need to loan
him money at a high rate of interest. God knows you as a userer. But you, too,
have transgressed the eighth commandment who make debts, which you know you
cannot repay.

You, too are a thief, who do not return what you have found. You, too, are a
thief who declare yourself bankrupt in order to be exempt from paying your
debts.

You, too, are a thief who hold back the hire of your servants or permit them to
work for too meager wages. James pronounces God’s judgment upon you; he says
that your riches are corrupted; and your garments are moth-eaten, because the
hire of the laborers which is of you kept back by fraud crieth to heaven for
vengeance. But then you, too, who accept money, but do not perform your duties,
are a thief.

Thus we could go on, but what do you think? Could anyone truthfully say, "I am
free from that sin." The fact that these sins are so general, does not give us
liberty to commit them. "They all do it so I do it too." God does not reckon
thus. And now I have not yet spoken of spiritual thieves.

They are people who rob the Lord of His honor.

They are people who think themselves happy with a stolen Jesus.

They are people who appropriate to themselves unjustly the promises of salvation
in God’s Word.

They are those unworthy communicants who steal the bread of the children.

They are those wicked deceivers whose preaching sends men with a fancied heaven
down to hell.

They are also those Sabbath breakers who rob God of His day. And they are those
who rob their own souls of salvation. But what do you think, my dear hearers,
does not this list which could be extended much farther, show the necessity of
the eighth commandment. That necessity will be still more evident when we notice
the unreasonableness of this sin.

We see its unreasonableness immediately when we ask ourselves, "How do I want to
be treated?" The proverb says, "Do unto others as you want others to do unto
you." Rather I would remind you of the words which the Lord Jesus, the Teacher
of all virtues, gave to His disciples, "As ye would that men should do to you,
do ye also to them likewise." (Luk 6:31) Even heathens have adopted these words
and praised them as the perfect rules of righteousness and equity. The Lord
Jesus wants every man’s own feelings to determine what he shall be for another.
We could well consider this with every commandment of the second table, but
especially the eighth commandment demands that we shall do thus with our
neighbors.

Oh, we are such cunning lawyers; we know so well what is right and equitable
when it concerns ourselves. Thus we can use ourselves as a rule of conduct to
determine how we shall treat others.

Well then, my dear hearers, consider the pain and grief others cause you when
they defraud you, when you do not get your full measure of coal, when you buy
and need ten yards and receive nine and a half, when you receive poor quality of
flour and slate for anthracite. In a word, what a vexation to be deceived. But
then, you must not deceive another either. Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you. Jacob experienced the unpleasantness of it with Laban, who
deceived him ten times because he himself had deceived his own father.

If you were poor, how would you want others to treat you? You would want those
who had more earthly goods to take pity on you, to give you a portion of their
abundance. You would think it terrible if sitting by a warm fire, they would
say, "Depart in peace, and be warm"; if they were sitting at a bountiful table,
and begrudged you the crumbs; if they had an abundance of clothing and covers,
and let you walk in rags. If so, dear hearers, do unto others as you would have
others do to you if you were poor. And ye poor people, how would you want to be
treated if you were rich, if you were the employer? Would you not want your
employees to work for their wages? Would you not want them to be careful with
your goods, and thankful for your favors and gifts? Well, then, go and do thou
likewise.

It is not enough not to lay our hands on our neighbor’s goods, but you must
also, as the Catechism says so correctly in the answer to Question 111, promote
the advantage of your neighbor in every instance you can or may, and deal with
him as you desire to be dealt with by others, and that in every circumstance in
a right manner. In his explanation of the eighth commandment the Instructor
mentions two vices, of which I then, also will speak a few words. The first one
is covetousness. A covetous person is a despicable, a terrible person. God’s
Word classes him with the greatest sinners. Thieves and covetous people go hand
in hand, in fact covetousness is indirect thievery.

Covetous people commit indirect thievery towards God, Whom they refuse to honor
with their goods. Read the injunction in Pro 3:9 "Honor the Lord with thy
substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase." They also commit
indirect robbery of the poor, from whom they withhold that which God had given
them to give to the poor. This is thievery to the worst degree.

They also rob themselves. "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and
it is common among men: a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor,
so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth
him not the power to eat of it." (Ecc 6:1-2).

Paul calls covetousness a root of all evil. Covetousness displeases God greatly.
God will not have covetous people in his heaven. Covetousness is an inducement
to stealing, yea, to all sins, as for example we see in Judas and others of his
kind. The other vice which the Instructor mentions in his answer is all abuse
and waste of God’s gifts. This can be done by reveling and drinking parties, by
luxuriance and extravagance in clothing and furniture; also by disregarding that
which God gave you, by neglecting your household, by laziness and idleness, and
by gambling, for when you win you steal from your neighbor and when you lose in
gambling or speculations you steal from yourself and your family or heirs. From
all we have enumerated it is clear and plain that this commandment, "Thou shalt
not steal" is very necessary.

(2) Permit me in the second place to show you the justice of this demand.

"Thou shalt not steal." Can you imagine a more just demand than this. This
demand that we may not illegally appropriate the goods of our neighbor or rob
him of it, presupposes the right to have property, or any certain object that we
may call our own. The saying "Property is theft" is therefore thoroughly false.
They also who speak of equality in the sense that all people should have an
equal amount of goods and therefore strive toward an equal division of all
property, are mistaken. They work for something that never shall and that never
can happen, and if it could happen, it would not last for even a day.

No, God gave to every man his own convenient portion. Before the fall of man God
gave him dominion over all creatures. (See Gen 1:26-28) In the second world,
after the Deluge, God spake to Noah, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be
meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." (Gen 9:3)
Thus man received all visible things as a gift of God. Nevertheless God remains
the dispenser of it. To Him belong the world and its fulness, the gold and the
silver and the cattle upon a thousand hills, yea the kingdoms of the earth. They
are all His and He gives to whom He wills and what He wills and as much as He
wills. To His people, the people of Israel He gave Canaan, the most beautiful
and the best country of the world. Therefore when Israel took that country, it
was not stealing, but it was taking into possession that which God gave them.
(Thus we believe that God gave us this country. Therefore we want to keep it and
when necessary fight in its defense.)

Thus, the Lord gives to every man his own portion, to the one much and to the
other little. To Boaz He gave wealth, and Naomi was glad to have a
daughter-in-law who was permitted to glean on the fields of Boaz. To the King
the Lord gives a scepter, and to another a spade. The rich and poor meet
together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

But, although the Lord gives more wealth to one than to another, the wealthier
is not for that reason the happier or more blessed one. No, indeed. To some the
Lord gives but little material possessions, yet much happiness and blessing and
joy and gratitude. To David the Lord gave riches and honor, but his sons were a
sorry set. There was but one who gave him joy — Solomon. The others were
murderers, and fornicators. I will not now enumerate all they did. And what
troubles did the rich Jacob and Job have!

Even now the Lord gives everyone his own portion, and that shall remain so unto
the end of the world. And the Lord forbids the one to lay hands on the goods of
another. And still, how one is inclined to do it in days of poverty. What
preventive grace is necessary to keep us from helping ourselves by deceitful
methods. Agur knew he was prone to do so and therefore he prayed God to be saved
from poverty "lest I be poor and steal and take the name of the Lord in vain."
Dear child, if you ever are in such dire distress that you plan to steal, then
first, before executing your plans, bow your knees before your heavenly Father
and tell Him that His child is going to steal, because He kept you waiting too
long, and then ask His blessing upon your intention.

How often we are dissatisfied with our lot. How often we wish for the portion of
another. And still what a privilege it is to be poor, but to be rich in God; we
would be free from many cares. If you are rich it may be a blessing if you also
receive grace to use it according to God’s Word and to God’s glory, so that your
wealth will not be to your destruction. "Thou shalt not steal," the justice of
this demand is also founded in true love to the neighbor. As we remarked before,
it is true of every person in the world that God gave him his just portion. To
that portion he has a divine right and it is given him so that he therewith can
acquire what is necessary and profitable and if possible what is pleasant, and
also to glorify and serve His God. But if you rob him of it, do you not give him
reason to be sad? Do you show neighborly love when you grieve him by your theft?

"Covetous people," is it not because of you that the cries of widows and orphans
has reached the ears of the Lord Sabaoth?

"Usurer," is it not your fault that many are reduced to beggary?

"Thief," how many tears have you caused to be wept by those from whom you stole?

"Cheater," is it showing brotherly love when you embitter the life of the
merchants and store-keepers are troubled about an empty cash-box and an account
book full of the names of people who do not pay! That is your work, "cheater."
And do you realize that because of your failure to pay, the merchant in turn is
unable to pay his obligations?

Finally, the justice of the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," is founded upon
a proper self-love.

Many think that caring for one’s own welfare demands the opposite of honesty.
They think their covetousness and avarice by unjust weights and measures will
profit them. "If you want to prosper in the world, you must not be too
conscientious," they say. "If you want to do business," they say, "you must not
live in the narrow conscience street." If you remark about their lying and their
dishonesty, they say, "Oh, well, that’s business." A fourth one says, "The world
wants to be deceived, so deceive it."

But, my dear hearers, it is not true that stealing, lying and deceiving will
profit anyone. The reasonings we just mentioned have led many to destruction.

God’s Word says, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul?" The Lord says the curse shall remain in the house
of the thief. And is this not often seen, even on this side of the grave? Does
God not punish the covetous person? Does He not take away again from the thief
that which he had stolen? Stolen riches often do not reach the 4th generation.
Has not many a one marred his reputation for life by transgressing the eighth
commandment? And what shall eternity be for the thief and the covetous person?
God says emphatically that no thieves, no covetous, no extortioners shall
inherit the kingdom of God. Which kingdom, then, shall they inherit? That of
Satan. And oh, how their un-righteously gotten riches shall burn upon their
conscience together with the money they have withheld from the church and the
poor.

(3) Permit me in the third place to speak about the salutary purpose of the
Lawgiver. But let us first sing: Psalter No.7, stanzas 1, 2, 3.

Dear hearers, according to my humble opinion, the purpose of the Lawgiver in
proclaiming the eighth commandment is three fold:

(a) that we should learn to know ourselves, not as a pious, honest person, but
as a thief and covetous person. And who, considering the wide application of the
eighth commandment, can put his hand in his own bosom and be guiltless?

Many who have a reputation of being honest and generous must accuse himself in
solitude before God, if not of thievery, then because of his thievish nature.
Those who are the most boastful of their honesty are often the least
trustworthy. Never let a pious Pharisee care for your uncounted sheep, for often
you will find yourself deceived. And beware of pious thieves who walk with a
Bible under their arm to deceive you. A wealthy man wanted to have some repair
work done in a room full of costly treasures, and therefore asked the contractor
to send an honest man to do the work. When the poor man who was sent entered the
room, and, looking around, saw all the expensive articles there, he cried out,
"O God, save me from stealing." When the wealthy man heard the poor man speak
thus, he asked for another workman, one who was more honest. But the contractor
answered, "I have no more honest man than he, and it is my experience that such
thieves do not steal." Have you learned to know yourself as a thief before God?
Have you learned to pray, "Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies and not to
covetousness." God’s people learn to know and accuse themselves as material and
spiritual thieves. And that is the purpose of the Lord.

(b) His purpose is also that we should take refuge. To whom must we go for
refuge? To Him who never laid hold on that which was not His, but still
complained, "Then I restored that which I took not away." And why? People of
God, He did so in order that He by His passive and active obedience could
present our bloodred soul before God as one who has never robbed or stolen and
has never practiced covetousness or deceit.

(c) Yea, the salutary purpose of the Lawgiver is that all things should be done
decently and in order so there would be no beggar in Israel, and that no thief,
no covetous person, no Ananias or Sapphira should profane the table of the
covenant.

Yea, the purpose is that we should learn to implore the Lord for His Spirit and
His grace, to deliver and save us from the demon of the world and from the
unrighteous mammon.

Dear hearers, thus we have shown you God’s faithful care for man’s property.
Permit me finally to admonish you.

Beware of covetousness; it is a root of all evil, as we see in Achan, Gehazi,
Judas, Ananias, Sapphira, and many others. Let these examples serve as warnings
for you. And do not waste the gifts of God by pride, by living above your means,
by immoderate eating and drinking.

Beware of idleness, for idleness is the parent of vice.

If you have stolen, return it, and if you have withheld your tithe from the
poor, give now what you have withheld. Do as Zacchaeus, who restored fourfold
what he had taken from any man by false accusation and gave half of his goods to
the poor. You may be certain Zacchaeus never made a more profitable transaction
than this — it surely made him no poorer. And if you cannot return what you have
stolen — we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He
is the propitiation for our sins.

Remember the admonition of the Lord Jesus, mentioned in the introduction, "Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal." The Lord does not want His children
to be enthralled with transitory things. Then He adds a notable exhortation.
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Amen.

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 9: 09 - "THE NINTH COMMANDMENT"
========================================================================

Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE NINTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.89 st. 1, 2. Read Jas 3:1-18. Psalter No. 24 st. 1,2. Psalter No.231
st. 1, 3. Psalter No.10 st. 2, 3.

XLIII. LORD’S DAY.

Dear hearers, One of the precious gifts which the Lord gave to man is the
ability to see.

It has pleased the dear Lord to place a pair of wonderful little windows in our
head by which we can see each other and can see so much and so far. What a
blessing that is, is best understood by those who lack these windows, and by
those whose windows are closed, by those who are blind. What those blind people
lack is so much and so grievous, that it breaks our heart. The author
experienced this recently when a dear friend and colleague visited him, one to
whom he was bound with close ties, but who now was blind.*

Another of those precious gifts is the ability to walk, that we can stand and
walk on two legs wherever we please. What a loss it is when we lack that
ability, when with Jacob one thigh is out of joint. But then if we are lame on
both our feet, as Mephibosheth, and confined to our chair, it is much worse. How
much trouble and misery that man experienced because of it, and lameness was one
reason why the impotent man lay thirty-eight years at Bethesda. And then, what a
wonderful and unusual gift is the ability to speak! Animals also can see and can
walk, but speech is a gift the Lord gave to the children of men only. Truly it
can never be fully appreciated. For speech is the conveyer of our thoughts, the
means by which men commune with each other, the means by which we can tell each
other what we feel and what we see, what we hope and what we fear, what we hate
and what we love. By the use of speech we can hear what we have become through
sin, but also who God in Christ will be for malefactors and hell-worthy
creatures. And what a glorious privilege it is to talk together, to pray and
give thanks together, to sing together of the praises of God, etc.

Yet this gift, because of sin, often changes into a curse. Does not the Apostle
James says: "The tongue, hence speech, is a fire, a world of iniquity?" He says,
"The tongue is a member that defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the
course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." He says that our tongue "is an
unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and
therewith curse we men, which are made in the similitude of God." Our tongue
needs a bridle, and God gave us one, of which we must now speak.

You will find our text in Exo 20:16 : "Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor."

Upon these words our Catechetical Instruction is based as you will find recorded
in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XLIII. LORD’S DAY.

Q. 112. What is required in the ninth commandment?

A. That I hear false witness against no man, nor falsify any man’s words; that I
be no backbiter, nor slanderer; that I do not judge, nor join In condemning any
man rashly, or unheard; but that I avoid all sorts of lies and deceit, as the
proper works of the devil, unless I would bring down upon me the heavy wrath of
God; likewise, that in judgment and all other dealings I love the truth, speak
it uprightly and confess it; also that I defend and promote, as much as I am
able, the honor and good character of my neighbor.

Dear Hearers! The previous Lord’s Day we considered in accordance with the
eighth commandment, the faithfulness and gracious care which the Lord has and
shows concerning that which He has sovereignly given men.

We showed you the high necessity of this commandment, which was evident from
man’s thievish nature, and from the extent and the unreasonableness of this sin.
And now if only we could say in truth: Gehazi, Achan and others of that type are
thieves, but we are free from such sins, — but none of us can say that in truth.
On the contrary, he who has learned to know himself by the light of the Spirit,
knows that not all thieves are in prisons. God’s child often is amazed that he
is not imprisoned. He does not ascribe that to his honest character, but rather
to God’s restraining grace which prevented him from enriching himself unlawfully
with his neighbor’s goods. For the fact that he is still at liberty, he gives
the glory to God! In the sight of the Lord we are all thieves. In His sight
there are no degrees of thievery; before Him all are alike. And should we, who
already in Adam have stolen from God, and who daily rob God of His honor, think
ourselves too good to stretch out our rapacious hands to the property of our
neighbor?

Happy is the man who is prevented from committing the act. And blessed is the
man, who apprehended by the Law is brought as a thief and robber before the
Highest Judge. Certainly, such a man is most afraid! He expects nothing else but
to be eternally east with all the spiritual and material robbers and thieves
into the prison of hell by that all-knowing and incorruptibly just Judge. That
is what he expects, that he would deem just, such a one acknowledges the right
of God to punish him eternally; such a one accepts the punishment of his
iniquity. However, such a one is not punished, but receives pardon, for the sake
of Him who restored that which He took not away.

Now in connection with the ninth commandment we must speak of the dreadful sin
of bearing false witness, and that in accordance with Question 112.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," thus reads the ninth
commandment, and more learned men than we agree this commandment is not hard to
understand.

Yet we would like in the first place to elucidate it with a few words. When in
this commandment we read of our neighbors, the term includes all people, none
excluded, not even our enemies. Since God has made of one blood all nations, of
men we are all each others’ neighbors. Of all these we must suppose that they
are on the earth according to God’s will and law as one community, with mutual
interests and giving mutual help. But then it is most essential that each one
practices truth and justice.

Therefore the Highest Lawgiver calls to them with a loud voice from Mount Sinai,
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." A false witness is a
witness or testimony in which the words do not agree with the facts, nor with
the intention of the speaker. For example, when the Pharisees in Mat 12:24 say
of the Lord Jesus, "This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the
prince of the devils," they gave false witness, not only because it was untrue,
but also because they knew better. When in Gen 42:38 Jacob says that his son
Joseph is dead, he spoke an untruth, but gave no false witness, because he truly
believed an evil beast had rent him in pieces and devoured him.

Bearing witness is permitted, yea, one is obligated to do so, as we see in Deu
19:15. But to give false witness is utterly despicable. It is so for every one,
but especially for God’s covenant people. A good name is one’s best possession
here on earth. In Pro 22:1 Solomon says, "A good name is rather to be chosen
than great riches," and in Ecc 7:1 "A good name is better than precious
ointment." The heathens also considered a good name to be sufficient wealth. By
giving false witness we often cause our neighbor to lose his good name, we rob
him of that which is his dearest possession, after God and grace. And not only
that, but we make it impossible for him to live with honorable people, for no
one wants to communicate with one who has a bad name. And yet this is a very
extensive sin. Notice what the catechism answers to the question: "What is
required in the ninth commandment?" Our Instructor explains the commandment in
two respects, namely, what is forbidden and what is commanded in this
commandment.

(a) What is forbidden? In this commandment God forbids the giving of false
witness generally. This can be done inwardly, by our thoughts, by suspecting our
neighbor. How prone man is to suspect his neighbor of this or that sin! We are
reminded of the old Eli who suspected the imploring and pleading Hannah of
drunkenness when she was pouring out her troubled heart before the Lord (1Sa
1:18). Thus the Jews also spoke of the Apostles in their blessed state on
Pentecost, "These men are full of new wine. And alas it is still so. When God’s
people are in a blissfully happy state, the world, especially the pious world,
says, "They are out of their mind." The barbarians thought Paul was a murderer
whom vengeance suffered not to live, because an adder clung to his hand. (Acts
28:1-4).

Neither are we free from that sin. How far we are from that love which thinks no
evil. Dear hearers, let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
neighbor! But this transgression is also committed outwardly, by shooting out
the lip and shaking the head, as they did with the Lord Jesus. He complained in
Psa 22:1-31, "The lip they curl, the head they shake." And especially is it done
by that little member, the tongue, particularly by bearing false witness. The
people of Israel were often called upon to bear witness, for the Lord had said,
"At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the
matter be established." And no one might give untrue testimony, for God’s Word
teaches us: "A false witness shall perish." And what God forbade in Israel, He
also forbids us. We, too, are forbidden to bear false witness. And yet how often
this commandment formerly was and still is transgressed grossly.

Notice what happens in the courts of judgment, there where justice should be
upheld, where men should love the right and righteousness. Oh, how the ninth
commandment is transgressed there by judges who pronounce rash sentences without
having heard both sides sufficiently, or without giving the matter sufficient
consideration, hence, without sufficient evidence, condemning the just, and
justifying, that is acquitting the wicked. Nicodemus would say, "Doth our law
judge any man, before it hear him and know what he doeth?" John 7:51.

It is transgressed by judges who pronounce unjust sentences because of
preference, prejudice or for profit. This grievous sin is forbidden in Deu
16:19, "Thou shalt not wrest judgment, thou shalt not respect persons, neither
take a gift." For this reason justice is symbolized by a blind-folded woman,
holding a pair of balances. King Jehoshaphat did well when he impressed the
judges in his kingdom with the importance of their office, saying, "Take heed,
what you do; for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in
judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do
it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor
taking of gifts." (2Ch 19:6-7) But this commandment is also transgressed
terribly by accusers who rashly accuse someone without cause. Thus Doeg, the
Edomite, accused David before Saul, thereby causing the death of eighty-five
innocent priests of the Lord. The Lord Jesus, also, who did no sin, neither was
guile found in His mouth, was nevertheless accused falsely before the Jewish
council. No less is this commandment transgressed by the defendants who deny
their guilt, sometimes even with an oath and by swearing, and even before the
Highest Judge. Think of Cain who brazenly dared to answer the Lord, "Am I my
brother’s keeper? I do not know where he is." Yet he knew very well where his
brother was, for he had killed him. This sin is also committed by witnesses who
are false and therefore bear false witness. I need but remind you of those sons
of Belial who said of Naboth that he had blasphemed God and the King, and only
to rob him of his father’s inheritance and enrich the wicked Ahab thereby, Also
against the Lord Jesus in the hall of Caiaphas did false witnesses arise.

Lawyers and attorneys also often transgress the ninth commandment. They usually
think they must make bad matters good and good matters bad. But this is contrary
to God’s commandment. The Lord pronounces woe upon them. (Isa 5:20) "Woe unto
them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light
for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Lawyers who
manage to gain an acquittal for malefactors may be much honored and sought after
here below, but they shall not enter heaven, except they repent of their sins
and be converted to God. But also outside of the courts, in everyday life among
men people transgress the ninth commandment terribly.

It is done by falsifying men’s words giving them a different meaning than the
speaker or writer intended. Take for example what Jesus said concerning the
temple of His body and how the Jews falsified that statement. The meaning can be
entirely changed by misplacing the emphasis or by omitting a part of a sentence.
Thus I can say that David is an atheist because he said, "There is no God." Did
David say that? Certainly, but something preceded those words. "The fool hath
said in his heart, There is no God." That is the way David said it. Do you see
that a half-truth can be a dreadful lie? And yet it happens so often that men’s
words are falsified and given another meaning. The Instructor also mentions
backbiting. There are almost no more dangerous persons than backbiters and
whisperers. They are called thus because they are too good (?) to tell one’s
faults to his face and therefore do it in his absence, behind his back! And then
they would not speak about it aloud, and therefore they whisper it. Hence they
are called backbiters and whisperers. David calls such backbiters evil speakers,
who shall not be established in the earth. (Psa 140:11) The Jews called them
"people who talk with a third tongue" and the Apostle lists this sin among the
sins of heathens. Rom 1:30. The Instructor also speaks of slanderers. A
slanderer is one who wilfully spreads an untruth and scatters lies to the
detriment of his neighbor. The world is filled with such people. They are more
dangerous than thieves and murderers, for one can, in a measure guard against
thieves and murderers, but no locks or bars are effective against slander. Such
slanderers were Shimei who slandered David, and Ziba who slandered the lame
Mephibosheth. It was too bad that David on that occasion acted like a credulous
person with whom slanderers find an open ear. The ninth commandment is also
transgressed by "all sorts of lies." This is done when we say with words what we
do not think or mean, hence against light and better knowledge. The Instructor
speaks of "all sorts" of lies and deceit. And indeed, there are lies of various
sorts.

There are lies spoken for pleasure, without harming or helping anyone, just for
a jest. These lies are also contrary to the ninth commandment, and hence sin,
for thereby we deny the truth and make a sport of sin. Let us never forget that
in the day of days we shall give account of every idle word spoken. Therefore
Paul writes to the Ephesians, and hence also to us, "Neither filthiness, nor
foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient let them not be once
named among you, but rather giving of thanks." "Charity rejoices in the truth,"
we read, but not in lies. The fact that we amuse ourselves with lies indicates
our decadence.

There are lies told for the sake of politeness. When, in order to keep ourselves
humble, we minimize the gifts and graces we have received from God, we are
unjust. to ourselves and unthankful to the Giver. Intelligent people soon
observe that we do not mean what we say and that we are abasing ourselves only
to be the more honored.

There are also lies told for the sake of politeness about others, often to
flatter others, to exalt him more than he himself knows he deserves. When the
people said of Herod’s oration, "It is the voice of a god, and not of a man,"
that was flattery. And because that worm of the dust did not reprove the
flattering tongue, he died in a terrible, painful and horrible manner. This type
of lying is often found in the courts of kings and among other great men. There
it is customary to exalt one another. King David did not want it. He says, (Psa
12:2-3) "They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and
with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaketh proud things." If more of the rulers spoke thus,
they would not ask with Pilate, "What is truth?" Then the truth would be told
them more often.

Then there are also shameful lies, lies spoken to deceive and injure our
neighbor, either personally or in their good name or business. Such lies are an
abomination to the Lord. Such liars shall surely be punished. (Pro 19:5) "A
false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not
escape." And the Jesuits speak of "White lies" as though they are not sin. They
are abominable sins, told for the purpose of deception by ambiguous words which
may convey a different meaning than the obvious one.

Men also speak of little lies of convenience to help one out of an emergency.
Thus Abraham said Sarah was his sister, so they would not think she was his
wife. Such also were the lies of the midwives of Egypt, and of Jacob, who lied
to his old father, saying he was Esau. My hearers, the world is full of lies,
also of these "lies of convenience." But God does not need our lies to help us
out of our difficulties. Wrong never becomes right, no matter what the
circumstances are.

He who lies and deceives, who slanders and back-bites his neighbor invokes the
terrible wrath of God. And that is no wonder when we consider the origin of this
sin. This sin comes from hell. Lying and slandering are the work of the devil.
He is the father of lies. His name "devil" means slanderer. The false tongue is
according to James "set on fire of hell."

Lying and deceiving come forth from the corrupt spring of our being. We are born
as liars and slanderers, and therefore we are a web of lies and deceit.

Ah, my hearers, it is because of our enmity against God and our neighbors that
we lie and slander each other. Would not God’s anger burn over such a sin?

Oh, that wicked heart, and that tongue set on fire of hell, that unruly evil,
how much misery it has caused, what a world of troubles that little member has
wrought! Its slain are many, they cannot be numbered. By lying and deceiving it
has caused thrones to waver, it has destroyed kingdoms, it has filled the battle
fields with maimed bodies, the nation with disturbances, church with schisms and
the abyss with lost ones.

How many hearts are permanently estranged from each other by the sin of slander!
How many families has it disrupted and filled with strife and discord. Entire
generations are as it were unraveled by lies and slander. How many people are
murdered by it. It cost Naboth his life and it hanged our Lord upon the cross.
Moreover, by lying and slandering we violate God’s perfections. By bearing false
witness we deny God’s truth and omniscience. Would the Holy One then not punish
that sin? Shall not His soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Observe then how He punishes these sins:

(a) In the conscience of the slanderer. Oh, that conscience! How it can torment
the sinner and poison his pleasure! They have enjoyed robbing their neighbor of
his honor, and marring his good name. But now comes the tormenter within, the
hammer of God begins to pound terribly; their lying and slandering has come to
an end; now the slanderer is afraid of the effects, of death and of judgment.
How many slanderers feel here already the sparks of hell, and start to gnaw
their wicked tongues for sorrow of heart. That is the avenging hand of God, that
is a foretaste of that which shall be the slanderer’s portion for ever.

(b) The slanderers lose their respect. They are considered dishonorable. When
they say or affirm anything, people do not believe them. "It is a slanderer who
says it, so it is not true." Thus people speak of them. They are not trusted,
even in small matters. The Jews placed slanderers on a par with slaves, neither
of whom were considered worthy to be called as witnesses.

(c) Their mischief returns upon their own head. It is with the slanderer as with
one who throws out ashes against the wind, it comes back in his face and on his
clothes.

(d) And his deathbed is terrible! He must appear before God. Now he must justify
his lies and slanderings! That will be terrible! Then he will be eternally cast
into hell, with all the thieves, murderers, adulterers, covetous and liars, in
the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. Or do you think we are drawing too
dark a picture? Notice then the dreadful retribution of God in the examples
which are recorded for us. Ahab met Elijah on the field of Naboth, the wicked
Jezebel was eaten by the dogs. What happened to the lying Gehazi? The leprosy of
Naaman cleaved unto him. Think also of Haman and his false accusation. He
himself was hanged on the gallows intended for Mordecai. Notice the brothers of
Joseph. For twenty years the lie they told their father concerning Joseph burned
in their hearts, for twenty years they had to silence their conscience. Hear
them speaking to each other in Joseph’s palace, (Gen 42:21-22). "We are verily
guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul," etc.

Yea, would you know how God punishes this sin? Then observe the sinner convicted
of sin by the Spirit of God, seeing and accusing himself as a liar and
slanderer, and as a deceiver before God. See him tremble as he stands condemned
by both his conscience and the law. Hear him sigh and groan as he sees God
demanding His just due, while he has not a penny with which to pay. Yea, see him
seeking and working to find truth within him, to improve himself; hear him
complain that he finds in himself only deceit, lies and unrighteousness. Thus he
becomes hopeless and looks for comforters, but finds none. He pleads for grace,
but must acknowledge that he has forfeited grace, yea, that he deserves to
suffer the severe wrath of God.

Such a soul agrees that it is impossible to judge too harshly of the sin of
lying, or of the punishment with which God visits that sin.

If you are still not convinced of the severity of God’s great anger, see that
anger presented objectively in the suffering Savior and Mediator.

Oh, indeed, it was the Fathers’ good pleasure to take to heaven and to press to
His heart sinners who, by their sin and falling away from God, had blasphemed
Him and had made Him, the God of truth, a liar. But God could not overlook that
sin; His righteousness and truth had to be exalted; another had to satisfy God’s
avenging justice for them and in their stead; in short, Christ, their Redeemer
and Mediator had to stand in their place and be apprehended, accused, condemned
and put to death as a blasphemer. And now see our dear Lord Jesus as He walked
upon this earth. Everywhere He walks in perfect innocence and holiness, never
did deceit or lies pass over His lips. Always His mouth overflowed with truth.
Yet He was always abused and slandered. They called Him everything mean, they
even called Him Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And although God’s Holy Child
Jesus never blasphemed, He was taken and sentenced to death as a blasphemer. You
hear it in the hall of Caiaphas, "Now ye have heard his blasphemy," says that
high priest, "What think ye?" "He is guilty of death," say the judges. And you
hear it again before Pilate, "Crucify him, crucify him, because he made himself
the Son of God!" And Jesus? He held His peace. Was He then conscious of guilt?
To that question I must answer no and yes. Jesus was perfectly conscious of His
own innocence. But He also knew that all the lying and slandering and
blaspheming of that innumerable multitude of His people was laid to His charge.
Oh, dear people of God, matters stood thus: Jesus had to hold His peace, He had
to permit Himself to be hanged as a slanderer and liar upon the cursed cross and
die as a blasphemer, or, you and I must be condemned eternally as liars and
blasphemers. But our dear Jesus did not want the latter, so He freely chose the
former. Therefore He kept silence, permitted Himself to be condemned and
crucified, and in the midst of taunting blasphemers He willingly gave up the
ghost.

Now see Jesus, dripping with blood, hanging on the cross of Calvary as a maimed
corpse, a spectacle for angels and men. And that is our work. That is the fruit
of our lying and blaspheming, but it is also the fruit of the Father’s good
pleasure and of the Son’s marvelous grace which in this manner cast away the
guilt of His people into the sea of eternal forgetfulness.

Come let us sing, with an eye upon the slain Lamb of God: Psalter No.231 st. 1
and 3.

Dear Hearers! May I ask you: What is your status in regard to the ninth
commandment? Do you too belong to those who occupy themselves with lying and
slandering?

Oh, I know, we are all guilty, terribly guilty in this matter. As I said before,
we are born as liars and slanderers and therefore we commit that sin. But there
is still a difference in sinning. If you belong to those who make their work of
that sin, then in the name of the Lord I admonish you to desist, and to refrain
from that devilish work. Have you not sown enough misery, quarrels and divisions
with your lying and slander? Remember, God will require it. He will reprove you
and set your sins in order before your eyes. We have already sketched for you
what the portion of the slanderer is, both in this life and in the life
hereafter.

You can not set right what your slandering has perverted. I am thinking of a
minister whose life had been embittered by lies and slander. But when that man
lay on his deathbed, the slanderers became so alarmed that they came with words
of regret and asked him how they could make amends. Without many words he gave
his slanderers a pillow and said, "Take this pillow and standing upon the tower,
shake the feathers out of it. Then pick up the feathers again, put them in the
pillow and place it under my head. Then you will have made amends for your evil
conduct."

"But, sir," they said, "we shall not be able to do that! The wind shall scatter
the feathers everywhere. We shall not be able to gather half of them."

"Thus," said the dying servant of God, "you cannot make amends, for your slander
has also spread far and near. Ask forgiveness of God, seek reconciliation with
the Father, in the atonement of the Son, by the work of the Holy Spirit." That
is the advice I give to all my fellow sinners with the sincere wish that the
Lord grant you grace and power from above to follow that advice! Are you
slandered?

People of God, you cannot stop it, any more than you can prevent it. Endure it
quietly. Do not requite slander with abuse, but commit yourself to Him Who knows
you better, judges you more righteously and treats you more gently than anyone
else.

And, oh, that everyone of us may receive grace, so that as the Instructor says,
we may "in judgment and other dealings love the truth, speak it uprightly and
confess it." Through the common grace of God there still is among men some sense
of truth. Man has become an image-bearer of Satan, and often does the work of
Satan but has not become a total lie as Satan has. But loving the truth for
God’s sake, because God is a God of truth, that can be done only by special
grace. For that we need regeneration. The upright desire to be true, everywhere
and always. But we need not therefore say everything we know. Matthew, Mark and
Luke did write that one of the disciples cut off the ear of Malchus, but they
did not put their dear brother in prison. Only John wrote who had done it, but
then they could not harm him anymore, for then Peter was in heaven.
Nevertheless, the Lord says, "Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice,"
and Peter says, "Charity shall cover the multitude of sins."

If we may experience the renewal of our heart, then we shall also strive by
grace "to defend and promote, as much as we are able, the honor and good
character of our neighbor."

We have shown you before that our good name is very important in this life. And
now it is our duty to promote the honor and good character of our neighbor.
Consider what grief it causes you when men attack your honor and good character.
Then do not sin thus against your neighbor, lest he grieve because of you.

Truly here we must pray, "O let Thy Spirit be my constant aid, that all my ways
may ever be directed to keep Thy statutes." Else we would rather sacrifice the
honor of our neighbor, yea of God Himself to our supposed honor and good name.
Without that Spirit we cannot rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, when
He permits the slanderer to grieve us for awhile. But, people of God, if you
would see peace and good days, keep your lips from speaking guile and —

"Love the truth and peace."

Amen.

*The Rev. H. A. Minderman

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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  CHAPTER 10: 10 - THE TENTH COMMANDMENT
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Sermons on the Heidelberg Catechism The Ten Commandments By Rev. G. Van Reenen
"THE TENTH COMMANDMENT"

Psalter No.305 st. 1,2. Read Psa 119:1-24. Psalter No.71 st. 2,3. Psalter No.64
st. 2,3. Psalter No.435 st. 9 XLIV. LORD’S DAY

"One thing have I desired of the Lord," thus, my dear hearers, the man after
God’s own heart testifies in the precious psalm we have sung. And that one
desire of David was a worthy desire. What did he desire? "That I may dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in His temple." That is a blessed desire — always to dwell with
the Lord! It is already so wonderful when the child of God may be with God for a
moment to pour out his heart before Him, to unburden his anxious mind, to show
Hun his love and affection, to thank Him for the benefits enjoyed, or even to
find rest for a moment from the war he must wage or from the way he must go.
Such a moment with God is truly wonderful. But to dwell with Him, to be with Him
for ever, of that, indeed, we may say, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy
house: they will be still praising Thee." Even the desire itself to dwell with
the Lord is so very pleasant when it is lively, when that sincere warm longing
is there to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord to behold
His beauty in His temple. This desire is also an unusual desire. If we notice
what men live for and strive after, how few we see who have the desire of the
poet. No one by nature wants to dwell with God. By nature we are enemies of God.
We rather wished there were no God.

We find David’s one wish only in God’s children as a fruit of regeneration, as a
mark of grace.

If now we could but say in truth that this one desire is the only desire that
lives in our heart, we would be happy. But together with that one desire David
had a thousand other desires, and so have we. And these desires are in direct
contrast to that one desire. They are sinful desires that embitter our lives,
and that would cause our downfall, if the Lord did not prevent it. I need but
mention the name Bathsheba to you, and you will know what unclean desires lived
in David’s heart beside that one.

Alas, our heart is as a well in which one unclean desire rises after another.
And in regard to all those unclean and sinful thoughts God is implacable, He
wants to destroy them. He casts a bulwark against them in the commandment that
now asks our attention.

You will find our text in Exo 20:17. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s."

Upon these words our Catechetical instruction is based as you will find recorded
in the Heidelberg Catechism:

XLIV. LORD’S DAY Q. 113. What doth the tenth commandment require of us?

A. That even the smallest inclination or thought, contrary to any of God’s
commandments, never rise In our hearts; but that at all times we hate all sin
with our whole heart, and delight in all righteousness.

Q. 114. But can those who are converted to God perfectly keep these
commandments?

A. No: but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning
of this obedience; yet so, that with a sincere resolution they begin to live,
not only according to some, but all the commandments of God.

Q. 115. Why will God then have the ten commandments so strictly preached, since
no man In this life can keep them?

A. First, that all our lifetime we may learn more and more to know our sinful
nature, and thus become the more earnest In seeking the remission of sin, and
righteousness in Christ; likewise, that we constantly endeavor and pray to God
for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we may become more and more conformable
to the Image of God, till we arrive at the perfection proposed to us, In a life
to come.

Dear hearers! The Apostle Paul says that the law is "spiritual." If we could up
to this time doubt the spirituality of the law, the last commandment, which we
must now consider, would cure you of this doubt. For this tenth commandment,
which says, "Thou shalt not covet," plainly shows that the jurisdiction of the
law extends not only over our external words and deeds, but also over the
innermost thoughts and tendencies of our soul. This is an evidence of the
divinity of the law. Human laws can govern our words and our deeds, but our
thoughts and desires are free. An earthly judge can not know and therefore can
not judge them. But the Lord searches every heart and understands all the
imaginations of men.

After the highest Lawgiver had proclaimed to us in the previous commandments:
"Thou shalt not kill, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness,"
He adds in the final commandment, "Thou shalt not covet." This tenth commandment
is sometimes considered the key with which all the other commandments are
opened. It is also called the touchstone which reveals all that does not truly
satisfy the Lord’s demand. By this tenth commandment the hypocrite’s mask is
removed, and the whited sepulcher is opened so that the dead men’s bones are
seen. It is compared to the arrow that fatally smote Ahab between the joints of
the harness. Against the sharpness of this command neither the off-white garment
of the papist, nor the phylacteries of the Pharisees, nor the cunning of one who
would enter heaven by his good works is of any avail. "Thou shalt not covet" is
a blow with which Moses breaks the entire structure of our self-righteousness.
It tears the spider’s web of our hope to be justified by our works, and places
us all uncovered before Him Who demands that we shall serve Him in spirit and in
truth. Yea, this tenth commandment is a scourge which drives us out of ourselves
to Calvary, to the feet of Him Who is the end of the law to everyone that
believes.

But, come, beloved, permit me to give a short explanation of the last
commandment of the law of God, in accordance with the 113th Question and Answer.

We have told you before that we do not agree with the doctrine of the Papacy who
divide this tenth commandment into two commandments. They do this to palliate
the union of the first two commandments, and thus to extenuate their
image-worship. When we spoke about the divisions of the law (Lord’s Day 34) we
gave our reasons why we hold that this last commandment is one single
commandment, namely because it speaks only of coveting, while the first and
second commandments speak of two distinct sins, namely, idolatry and
image-worship.

"Thou shalt not covet." What is it to covet? Coveting is a passion, an active
power of the soul to have something the possession of which it deems desirable.
Coveting is desiring.

God Himself has created desires in men. Hence all desiring is not forbidden.

Dear hearers, I wish that all of you were filled with heartfelt and fervent
desires to God, Who alone is good, to Christ, Who alone can save, to all that is
necessary in order that you may know, love, and glorify the Triune God. If you
do not learn to desire this, you will be eternally lost.

We may also desire "natural things," such as food and drink, clothing and
shelter, without which we, consisting of body and soul, cannot live. Such a
desire was also present in the father of us all, in Adam before he fell, and
even in Christ, when He was hungry and thirsty.

There is also a sinful desire. Through our fall in Adam we are entirely
depraved, we are become slaves of sin. Our desires naturally reach out to evil.
This general depravity James calls "lust." To distinguish it from the good
desires, evil desires are called lusts, as, for instance, the lusts of the
heart, the lusts of the body, or of the flesh, evil lusts, worldly lusts or the
world and its lust. See 1Jn 2:16-17 where John says, "For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the
lust thereof."

Out of this evil principle come the sins against the tenth commandment, and that
in various steps and degrees.

Out of our evil mind come evil lusts and sinful desires, sometimes without the
consent of our will, yea, against our will and desire. Then God’s child cries
out against it and prays with David, Wash me, make me pure within." Would to God
that it were always so, that we would always pray and strive against it. But
alas, so often our will consents to it, though with hesitation, and often we
suffer those vile lusts and evil desires in our heart with some pleasure, if not
with our full approval. That is, so to speak, the first step to the sinful act.

If, having taken this first step, we would draw our affections away from sin
immediately, — but, alas, we often begin to agree with that sinful desire, we
cherish it, we take pleasure in thinking about it. And then one step more leads
us to death. That is what the Apostle James means when he writes (Jas 1:14-15):
"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is
finished bringeth forth death. "Thus it was with Achan, the thief. He first
looked at that beautiful garment and those pieces of silver — ah, it was money
he could very well use, he could earn more money with it, he could give some to
the poor. His desire became strong, and, he took it.

"Except the law said, "Thou shalt not covet," I had not known lust (to be sin)"
says Paul. From this word of the Apostle it is evident that even the first
beginning of coveting, yea, covetousness itself is sin. That sinful lusts and
desires are sin, Paul knew from the other commandments; but if the tenth
commandment had not been there, covetousness, the root of sin, had not been
touched. And what may we not covet?

We may not covet what is of another, whether it be alive or lifeless, rational
or irrational, when it is of another, when it belongs to someone else. The
desire to possess it, even in a just way, may not enter our thoughts. That, my
hearers, exceeds all the ethics of the Pharisees and the heathens.

Hear what the Instructor teaches concerning this in the 113th Answer, "That even
the smallest inclination or thought, contrary to any of God’s commandments,
never rise in our hearts." Do you see that even covetousness in its first
tendencies, even in regenerate persons truly is sin and violates the law of God?
The law demands obedience with all the powers of soul and body. God demands
moral perfection and cannot approve anything contrary to it. And because His law
is spiritual, it forbids all contamination of the spirit by fleshly lusts. And
because covetousness is the cause of sin, it must itself be sin. This doctrine
finds no opposition with the child of God, but rather whole-hearted concurrence.
And since they see their deadly impotence in regard to the perfectly just
demands of the law, they testify with Paul: "For we know that the law is
spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin." (Rom 7:14).

"But that at all times we hate sin with our whole heart, and delight in all
righteousness," our Instructor concludes his answer.

God wills that man, and especially His people, shall be content. Child of God,
the Lord wants us to be content and satisfied with that which the Lord gave and
added unto us, without murmuring or complaining about our state, without looking
at and coveting that which is not ours. He wants us to love our neighbor with
all the faculties of soul and body, so that we do not at all begrudge him what
God has given him, nor envy him or covet what is his.

But, I hear you say, then we would have to be perfect. Precisely, that we should
be.

God demands moral perfection, and nothing less. God is a perfect Being, and
therefore He demands perfection. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect." (Mat 5:48) "Be ye holy, for I am holy," says the
Lord, and thus each of His commandments declares. The Lord suffers nothing
impure in us. God can not overlook a single inclination against one of His
commandments. When only in thought you work on the Lord’s Day, although your
hands do nothing, when one angry thought arises within you, or one covetous
thought toward your neighbor’s wife or property arises in you, although you do
not touch it with your hand or see it with your eye, you have transgressed the
law of your God. Nor will the Lord condone any defects. Do all that God commands
you, but if there is any defect in it, God will disallow all your work. Although
an Israelite brought the best of his cattle or sheep for sacrifice, if there was
even a small blemish on it, it was not acceptable. "Offer it now to thy governor
if it please him," says the Lord.

Neither does the Lord want forced obedience. Keep all God’s commandments, but do
it because you must, do it because you dare not neglect it, and — gone is your
obedience. God wants no servile, but childlike obedience. We must not be coerced
into obedience, but we should obey willingly out of filial love, otherwise it is
not pleasing to God.

He wills that we shall be perfect from the crown of our head to the sole of the
feet, from our cradle to the grave, without and within in body and soul, in your
acts, but also in your words and thoughts. That is the fatherly love of God. Is
that the fatherly love of God to demand the utmost of us? Certainly, it is that,
dear child of God, for the purpose of this demand is the perfect happiness of
God’s children. Nor would the child of God be able or willing to be content with
anything less than perfect obedience to all God’s commandments. The demand of
the Father is the child’s ideal. And if that moral perfection is not your desire
and your striving, you are not a child.

"But," asks our Instructor in Question 114, "can those who are converted to God
perfectly keep these commandments?"

Notice, my hearers, he does not ask whether natural man, or the unregenerate or
unconverted man can fulfill the demand of the law. In the second Lord’s Day the
Instructor had finished with the unconverted in this matter. There he was said
to be "prone by nature to hate God and his neighbor, and to transgress God’s
commandments with thoughts, words and deeds."

Here the question is asked whether those who are converted to God can satisfy
the law’s demand. Those converted to God are those who have experienced the
miracle the Catechism speaks of in the thirty-third Lord’s Day, namely, the
mortification of the old, and the quickening of the new man, hence of that
sincere sorrow of heart, that we have provoked God by our sins; and more and
more to hate and flee from them, and that sincere joy of heart in God through
Christ, and with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all
good works.

Notice well that the question is not whether those converted keep these
commandments perfectly. But the question is whether they can, whether the
possibility exists.

Hear now his humble confession in Answer 114.

"Not I, I do not keep the commandments of my God. But even the holiest men,
while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience."

"The holiest men," who are they? I would include Moses, Job, David, Isaiah,
Paul, James, etc. And did these not have their faults? Is it still necessary to
list those faults for you? Does not God’s Word say, "There is no man which
sinneth not?" Does not James say, "In many things we offend all"? And does not
John say that he who says he has no sin is a liar? Who can say, "I have made my
heart clean, I am pure from my sin"? And shall not the petitions: "Forgive us
our trespasses" and "lead us not into temptation" endure to the end of the
world?

How very different this confession sounds from that of the papist and that of
the rich young ruler and that of the Pharisees. And is this confession not in
complete accord with your experience, people of God? You find yourself thus:
every evening you must plead for the forgiveness of your sins of the day, and in
the morning for the sins of the night. If one hour you do something good, the
next hour you corrupt it again. You are like Gideon: when they wanted to make
him king, he refused, but in the next moment he committed a much greater sin, he
made himself priest, which was entirely wrong. You are like Hezekiah, now humbly
beseeching, and then again proudly displaying the gifts of God. You fear for a
little sin and fall into a great sin, sometimes within one hour.

No, truly, converted people do not keep the law.

"What then is the difference between the converted and the unconverted if
neither of them keep the law?" someone may ask. Our answer is that the converted
person has three things. which the unconverted one lacks.

(a) He has a small beginning of this obedience. In the heart of every gracious
person you will find something of the love to God and to the neighbor. That
beginning reveals itself in the fruit. That fruit is obedience. One of God’s
children may be farther advanced than another, there are steps in the
dispensation of grace. There are children, young men, men, and fathers. But each
of them has this small beginning, although even in the most advanced it is but
small in comparison to their ideal and in comparison to the perfection they
shall attain in heaven. Of that small beginning the unconverted person has
nothing. At his best he has a dead piety which God abhors.

(b) The converted person has a sincere endeavor to live not only according to
some, but to all the commandments of God. Although they must complain that they
are the chief of sinners,. nevertheless they are as runners in the race of
virtue. And now they sincerely confess that they are not perfect. They are no
perfectionists who boast that they are above. the complaint of Paul in Rom
7:1-25. No, indeed, they do not belong to the so-called perfectionists. Still
they strive for perfection. Every time they stumble, they rise again and press
on. After every wound they receive they take the sword again. After every
surprise attack they become more watchful, and as burnt children they learn to
fear the fire. This is not so with the world. A few sins which harm or dishonor
him he hates. He has delight in this or that virtue, that gives him profit or
honor, but to live according to all the commandments of God and to strive after
such a life, that does not please him.

(c) God’s child also has a prayer. Whereas again and again they become aware
that they are carnal, sold under sin, they often plead for the help of God’s
Spirit. (Later we will say more about this.) But "why will God then have the ten
commandments so strictly preached, since no man in this life can keep them?" the
Catechism asks in Question 115. This is the voice of that happy Christendom who
rather hear the preaching of the glad gospel than of the rigid, gloomy law. Also
the Antinomian agrees with the question, "Why preach the Law, since no one on
earth can keep it? Moreover, are not God’s people, the converted ones, made free
from the law? Is it not all grace? Is Christ not the end of the law to everyone
that believes? Is He not our sanctification before God? Why then preach the ten
commandments so strictly?" they ask. The answer the Instructor gives is very
much to the point. In it he shows the usefulness of the constant preaching of
the law. With the blessing of the Lord, it can yield a five-fold blessing to the
child of God. Permit me to elucidate this in a few words.

(A) It is useful to further discovery of self. "That all our life-time we may
learn more and more to know our sinful nature," says the Instructor.

Dear hearers, when we are first brought upon the way of life, it is our sinful
words and deeds that fill us with fear and sorrow before the Lord. But we are
still blind to our total depravity. Besides the feeling of guilt a
self-righteous Pharisee lives in our heart. What a high opinion we still cherish
of ourselves. What an unmerciful judgment do we pass upon others! What little
need we have for complete redemption! Therefore we need further discovery. That
will cause the Pharisee to die, then we become the chief of sinners, then we
lose our high opinion of ourselves, then our judgment upon others becomes more
charitable, and we feel the need for more discovering light. And whence shall we
receive that further discovery? How shall we learn that we are black as an
Ethiopian? To that end the constant, strict preaching of the ten commandments is
a means in God’s hand. Continually that mirror must be held before us, for that
law discovers, casts down, and breaks down. Yea, the law causes us to be
disappointed with ourselves, it causes us to sigh, "I did not know that my soul
so cleaved to the dust." And that is not pleasant, but it is very beneficial.

(B) This preaching of the law is useful in driving us out to Christ. "And thus
become the more earnest in seeking the remission of sin and righteousness in
Christ," continues the Catechism.

Remission of sins and the robe of righteousness, what blessed privileges they
are, especially for one who knows what misery lacking those blessings can cause.

Remission of sins and righteousness, those two things he seeks to acquire. But,
how does he seek them? He seeks to acquire them by practicing virtue and duty.
If he does not acquire it in that way, he tries to arouse God’s compassion by
his tears and prayers. But the strict preaching of the law teaches him that he
can make debts, but cannot pay them; that he can arouse God’s anger, but not His
compassion, that his robe of virtues is as filthy rags before God. When he has
learned these things he goes to another for forgiveness and covering, and that
is to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the preaching of the law is so necessary.
That law drives our patient out of himself to Golgotha. That law is the avenger
of blood that hunts him and causes him to flee to the city of refuge. God’s
concerned people have learned something of this, but still the law must be
preached to them continually so that they may be the "more earnest" to seek
remission and righteousness in Christ.

(C) The preaching of the law is useful in causing us to follow after
sanctification. When we have found remission of sins in Jesus’ blood, and
covering by the righteousness of Christ, and rest at the foot of Jesus’ cross, a
great danger looms, and that is that we lose our zeal and watchfulness, that we
rest as if our warfare were accomplished. In Gen 49:15 we read of Issachar that
when he saw the rest that it was good he bowed his shoulder to bear, like a
strong ass, and became a servant unto tribute. Many a little one in grace has
fallen into that snare in a spiritual manner. That is why the Roman Catholics
and others who seek to be saved by their works are much more zealous than those
who were saved by grace. That is not right, my brothers and sisters! "Let us go
on to perfection" is the watchword of faith. To hasten on in the way of
sanctification is the choice of the new life. Your perfection is the purpose of
redemption.

There is much misunderstanding in this matter. Sanctification has a twofold
meaning. Christ is our sanctification outside of us, before God. Therefore He
beheld not iniquity in His Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in His
Israel. But there is also a renewal after the image of God, a being conformed to
the law of God.

Therefore the preaching of the law is necessary to cause you to see your
shortcomings and to hasten on from the rest at the foot of the cross to the
crown of perfection.

(D) The constant preaching of the ten commandments is necessary in order that we
might lead a prayerful life. In our answer we first spoke of giving diligence in
the way of sanctification. However, we soon find that we lack all necessary
power to continue in the way of sanctification. Yea, instead of proceeding we
recede. But now the demand of the law drives God’s children to prayer. Therefore
they sigh: Lord, Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts diligently. O that
my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes. "Yea, they pray," O let Thy Spirit
be my constant aid, that all my ways may ever be directed to keep Thy statutes.
Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments." And another sighs, "Lord, to me
Thy ways make known, Guide In truth and teach Thou me."

Come, beloved, let us sing it together prayerfully: Psalter No. 64 st. 2,3.

Dear hearers!

Thus we have again preached those ten commandments to you. What a great
privilege it was for me that I might do it, and for you that you might hear it.

It leaves you without excuse. "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good." And
now put your hand into your own bosom, and prove yourself in regard to that
which was preached to you about those ten commandments.

How is it with your Christian contentment, whereby you do not covet that which
is your neighbors?

Thou shalt not bear false witness, nor falsify any man’s words, nor be a
slanderer, but always defend and promote as much as you are able, the honor and
good character of your neighbor." How do you stand in regard to this
commandment?

Thou shalt not steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill, but show due respect for
your neighbors’ possessions, purity and life. How do you stand in regard to
these commandments? Do you so honor your father and mother and all in authority
over you both in church and state as we have outlined for you? And how is it
with your Sabbath observance, and with the hallowing of God’s great Name? Did
you ever commit image-worship and did you ever serve another God but the Lord
Jehovah?

Dare you swear: All these have I kept from my youth up?

What a mountain of sin and guilt there is to your account, sins which God knows,
and guilt which is recorded in God’s book. And how shall you answer Him? For a
day, an hour, a moment shall come when you shall be summoned to appear before
that great Law-giver. Then He shall bring to your mind that constant preaching
of His ten commandments. Then He shall try your thoughts words and deeds
according to what you have heard of them. Oh, sinner, how dreadful that will be!
You will stand there with fear and trembling if you have no Redeemer for your
guilt and no God for your heart.

Therefore, O sinner, learn even yet to bow your knees at the mount of
reconciliation, in humility before God before that day shall come upon you as a
thief in the night, and you should sink away to the habitation of him to whose
voice you have listened. To that end the Lord grant you His Spirit and grace.

Well, people of God, both small and great, beginners and more advanced. We too
were privileged again to tarry in the spirit at Mount Sinai for a few weeks, and
again to meditate on the ten words of the law. What a privilege was ours that we
might stand there as children of a better covenant.

What the law demanded was nothing strange to us. The law gave utterance to that
which is engraved in our hearts. But the preaching of the law demands that we
should live in accordance with it, and that we should be conformed to it. And if
it is with you as it is with me, then we both must complain that we do not
conform to its demand.

We may not deny that we have a small beginning of it, and that we also have the
desire to live according to all His commandments. Our choice is perfect. Still
our earnest endeavor should be more manifest in the fruit of our life.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.

Let sin not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. Be narrow of conscience, but wide of heart.

Seek on Calvary what Sinai demands of you. And remember that the mount of
perfection is attainable.

(E) For the constant preaching of the law arouses a longing for that perfection.
Ah, child of grace, when these ten commandments are strictly preached to us, and
we constantly see our nonconformity, and whereas it is the desire of everyone
who is born of God to be perfect as God is perfect, not in degree but in
essence, and whereas we see, by the light of the law, that that perfection is
not obtainable in this life, but that, according to our Instructor, we shall
arrive at the perfection proposed to us, in a life to come, and that we shall
then be satisfied again with God’s likeness, then we can scarcely refrain from
sighing, "To depart and be with Christ is far better. Oh, come eternity, would
God I were with thee." Is it not so with you?

Then, dear child, the preaching of the law will come to an end, then the warfare
will be accomplished, then we shall be again as we were in the state of
rectitude, yea, much more glorious!

Then we shall have that law in our hearts again, then we shall never again need
to bow our guilty heads for that law! Then we shall be like the angels, yea, we
shall be like our Christ. And if then we are asked how we attained that height,
we shall also name, besides the precious Gospel, the law, as a means in God’s
hand. And then it will be Moses, the schoolmaster, the angel of peace, who will
give us the palmbranch of victory. And then with all the blessed, we shall sing
to all eternity the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb,
saying, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are
Thy ways, Thou King of saints." (Rev 15:3).

Amen

Author

"Many ministers have written sermons on the fifty-two Lord’s Days as we find
them in our Heidelberg Catechism. One of these ministers and servants of the
Most High, is the late Rev. G. Van Reenen, of the Netherlands. Wen he was not
able to preach any more because of a throat ailment, God inclined his heart to
write sermons, and work while it was day. This work he continued until the day
of his death in the year 1946.

Rev. Van Reenen has written these sermons for the common people. In all these
sermons he breathes the spirit of humility and self-denial. Throughout all these
sermons he indicates the necessity of knowing by experience these three
important parts, misery, redemption, and gratitude, as he himself was not a
stranger thereof.

Rev. Van Reenen does not know that his Catechism sermons and others have been
translated into the English language. He confessed in his life not to be worthy
of any honor or praise; that we may then by grace give all honor and praise to
Israel’s God and King, saying with the Psalmist, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake." Psa
115:1. (Pastor J. Van Zweden)

Reprinted and Translated from the Holland by the Netherlands Reformed
congregations in America (1955). This series on the Ten Commandments was taken
from the W. B. Eerdmans’ December, 1979 edition of the book, The Heidelberg
Catechism, by Rev. G. Van Reenen.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/reenen-g-van-sermons-on-the-heidelberg-catechism/
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