jambo
Puritan Board Senior
Question 1. What is your only comfort in life and death?
Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yes, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.
Question 2. How many things are necessary for you to know, that you, enjoying this comfort, may live and die happily?
Answer: Three; the first, how great my sins and miseries are; the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.
Each Sunday morning I like to read the Heidelberg Catechism and think about it prior to the start of the morning service. The introduction to the catechism is a most appropriate one, not just to the catechism but to the whole year ahead. We do not know what will happen in the next 5 minutes nor what can happen before we have driven 100 yards up the street. As the year unfolds before us all of us will pass through all shades of experiences, some may be enjoyable and pleasantly memorable whilst others may be difficult and painful. We may be anxious about health, finances, family members and a host of other things but may we take comfort in the loving providence of our all wise Father and that sense of belonging to His Son.
In his old age John Newton said "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things; that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour." May this reality not just simply be an academic fact but may we be conscious of it in our Christian experience that will make us humble and gracious towards others.
Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yes, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.
Question 2. How many things are necessary for you to know, that you, enjoying this comfort, may live and die happily?
Answer: Three; the first, how great my sins and miseries are; the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.
Each Sunday morning I like to read the Heidelberg Catechism and think about it prior to the start of the morning service. The introduction to the catechism is a most appropriate one, not just to the catechism but to the whole year ahead. We do not know what will happen in the next 5 minutes nor what can happen before we have driven 100 yards up the street. As the year unfolds before us all of us will pass through all shades of experiences, some may be enjoyable and pleasantly memorable whilst others may be difficult and painful. We may be anxious about health, finances, family members and a host of other things but may we take comfort in the loving providence of our all wise Father and that sense of belonging to His Son.
In his old age John Newton said "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things; that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour." May this reality not just simply be an academic fact but may we be conscious of it in our Christian experience that will make us humble and gracious towards others.
