Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm of praise 32:3
Prayer
Psalm 34:2
Scripture reading:
Psalm 130
Scripture text:
Psalm 130:3, 4;
Catechism Lord’s Day 2
If
you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared. (NIV)
The life of a Christian is a life of continuous introspection – a life
during which he discovers himself through his sins and then fight with
all his soul, mind and strength against evil and conquers it to the
honour of God. Against this background we partake of the Lord’s Supper.
The formulary of the Lord’s Supper clearly states that only those who
can confess their sins and who see their lives in the mirror of the Law
of God may partake of the Lord’s tangible sign and seal of grace
(sacraments). Only those may share the meal of forgiveness at the
Lord’s Table.
What is the meaning of introspection and self-testing? Let us first see
what it does not mean.
- It does not mean that we should think about our
sins only just before the Lord’s Supper.
- It does not mean that we may live without any
perspective on life in the interim.
It does, however, mean that we should continuously look at our lives in
the mirror of God’s law. The reason is evident: We confess in one of
our particular articles of faith that we know our sins and misery from
the Law of God. Therefore we should go to the Law of God to see what is
wrong.
- It is very difficult to live according to this
confession. Our tendency is rather to do the opposite, because we so
often fiercely oppose the Lord.
- It is true that we repeatedly transgress most of
the commandments. Resisting the commandments of the Lord is actually
the same as backchatting.
Most people will probably not agree, because we do not want to regard
ourselves as disobedient backchatting children.
- We are adults with our own rights.
- Currently it is fashionable to say that I want to
serve the Lord in a different way (or the way I prefer), because my
needs come first.
Maybe the problem lies in the fact that we want to practise religion
according to our personal views? When we consider our sins carefully,
how do we come to know what sins we commit?
- Some people say experience reveals it.
- We have lots of experience because we daily
struggle with evil things.
The question is: Does this answer really have any ground, because
whatever we say or do, and also our experience, rest on a sinful
foundation. We are conceived and born in sin.
- Another point of view is that my conscience tells
me about my sins and misery.
- This point of view is certainly less acceptable
than the previous, because we are all more or less conscienceless.
- No one on this earth has a conscience that has not
been tarnished by sin to a greater or lesser extent.
- You may perhaps think that your heart tells you.
- It sounds like a good point of departure. However,
it is not possible because, according to the Bible, we also confess
that our hearts are corrupt.
- The Bible says that sins such as homicide and
adultery and evil thoughts originate in our hearts. Therefore
confession of sins cannot be born in our hearts. We will have to find
an external yardstick.
Such a yardstick we only find with God, because He cannot be afflicted
with sin. The Lord gave as such an accurate spiritual yardstick – his
law.
The Law of God:
- can lead a person to repent;
- it does not change and cannot be governed by
circumstances; and
- it will never perish.
The Law of God is the only means through which we can realise the full
extent of our sins and which can lead us to continuous repentance.
- The Law of God leaves no room for guessing. It
tells us exactly where we are guilty – whether we like it or not.
- The Law of God tells us exactly in what regard we
should humble ourselves before the Lord.
Self-testing is therefore a matter of looking at your life in the
mirror of God’s law. But there is much more to it.
- It is also to embrace Jesus Christ and his atoning
sacrifice gratefully, because only when we see our sinful life in all
its severity, we understand what the Lord Jesus made propitiation for.
- The most important aspect of the Law of God is that
we should learn how to love according to the love of Jesus.
Jesus
summarised it as follows:
Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.
In the Ten Commandments, as given in the Old Testament, the first four
commandments deal with how we should love the Lord, while the remaining
six commandments deal with how we should love our neighbour.
The Lord Jesus said that it is all included in the one commandment,
namely the commandment to love. This is very important; because it sets
the climate in which God’s law should be seen and fulfilled in its
entirety.
Let us look at what the Lord Jesus is telling us. Let us take as an
example the commandment that teaches us not to kill.
- The fact that you have never killed anybody means
absolutely nothing. If I were in a position to do it (and did not fear
arrest by the police) I might have done it.
- The fact that I have never killed anybody does not
mean that I do not hate somebody.
- Jesus wants me to realise – based on my love and
respect for Him – that He has the power over life and death. He is the
only who gives life and takes it. Out of respect and love for my
neighbour I therefore do not consider taking his life. Even if he does
things that irritate me.
A major problem however is the fact that people’s love for God is
progressively diminishing – also among members of the church. So often
God and his Word have to make room for our own interests, especially
when the Law of God interferes with what I so much want to do.
- What a blessing that God has so much mercy. Jesus
came to fulfil the law in Person.
- This is why the law given in the New Testament by
Jesus is angled differently. The Old Testament tells us what we should
not do, while the Lord Jesus tells us what we should do.
Now more than ever before we should continuously look at our own lives.
- The end of times is approaching and therefore the
Law of God should no longer just be written on paper. It should be a
confession engraved in our hearts.
- In practice it means that we should fight against
religion based on tradition. We must believe and worship because we
truly love God. We should be led by the law to glorify the Lord and
serve our neighbour.
Consider what James wrote in chapter 1:23-25:
Anyone
who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a
man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself,
goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who
looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues
to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be
blessed in what he does. (NIV)
The Law of God is like a clear mirror reflecting all your wrongs. If
you take it seriously and repent, you will receive grace from Christ.
Do not leave this building today without examining your life. The Bible
says that he, who does not do that, has lost everything. Look and see
and do something about your life.
Let’s see what we confess about this in Catechism Lord’s Day 2:
3. Q. From where do you know your sins
and misery?
A. From the Law of God. [1]
[1] Rom. 3: 20.
4. Q. What does God’s law require of
us?
A. Christ teaches us this in a
summary in Matthew 22: You shall love
the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind. [1] This is the great and first commandment. And a
second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these
two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. [2]
[1] Deut. 6:5. [2] Lev. 19:18.
5. Q. Can you keep all this perfectly?
A. No, [1] I am inclined by
nature to hate God and my neighbour. [2]
[1] Rom. 3:10, 23; I John 1:8, 10. [2] Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Jer. 17:9; Rom.
7:23; 8:7;
Eph. 2:3; Tit. 3:3.
Amen.
Closing prayer
O Lord we thank you for the ministry of your Word. And we thank you for
giving us your law as a mirror in which the Holy Spirit lets us
discover our sins.
Direct and lead us through your Holy Spirit to repent. Lord, guide us
so that we would more and more live according to your will and your
image.
Hear us for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Amen.
Closing hymn: Psalm 119:7
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 4 July 2004 (evening)