11th February 2025

11th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Psalm 32)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I can’t remember when I first discovered the Heidelberg Catechism but I do remember the blessing it was to my soul. I know that any sort of catechism is often viewed poorly in modern Christianity but whether you know it or not all of us have our own in-built catechism. What do I mean? Imagine coffee with your unbelieving friend who asks you the question “Why did Jesus die?”. I hope you would be able to give some sort of Biblical answer. That’s essentially a catechism in a nutshell, a question about the faith and a Biblically rooted answer.


The Heidelberg Catechism opens with the famous question “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” Which is answered by the beautiful statement “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”


Such an answer is worth meditating upon and committing to memory. What often gets lost in the sweeping majesty of question one is that it is followed by an incredibly practical question two which asks “What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?” If you and your friend were still drinking coffee and time was running out to give a useful description of the Christian life then the answer to question two is gold, it states “Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.”


The “three things” of question two can be usefully stated as guilt, grace and gratitude, and these categories are then used to structure the entirety of the Heidelberg Catechism. The Christian knows guilt for their sin, flees to Christ for grace and then lives in humble gratitude as our only right response.


Sin is a rotten thing and the worst of all things. It is corrosive, wretched and nasty. Everyone born by natural means is conceived and born in sin and this sin is an affront to a holy God. Paul would say “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3v5-6). Did he cover the entirety of sin? By no means but God’s wrath burns against all manner of sin and His wrath is coming and that right soon.


David knew sin’s ugly face and when he kept quiet it started to eat him from the inside out. He said “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” (v3-4) David knew his guilt and his misery and it left him in a wretched spiritual condition. The weight of guilt is heavy indeed and made only worse if we believe that there is nowhere to turn. 


Thankfully as he was weighed down by his guilt, David turned to the Lord saying “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” (v5). You may have heard this described as repentance and it is a wonderful word. Perhaps you find yourself reading this and bear sin’s heavy burden upon you, what is to be done? My friend call upon the Lord and seek His forgiveness. To know Christ’s comfort you must know your guilt which in turn leads you slowly but surely to Jesus Christ our Lord.


Will He forgive you? Will He forgive me? Thursday’s devotion will speak of God’s grace but allow me to give you a little spoiler. The Lord will save to the uttermost the guilty who turn to Him for grace.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q4 What is God? God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
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