Sing the Catechism!

This is a book of songs I wrote using the text of much of the Heidelberg Catechism. Many Reformed youth are taught this catechism and required to memorize it. As one who taught the catechism for many years to the youth of several congregations I know that some youth find it difficult to memorize text whereas they can memorize songs. Perhaps these songs will be helpful to them. "Sing the Catechism!" consists of songs based on the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. But this book is meant not only for instruction; rather, these songs are written for anyone who wants to sing the comforting truths of the catechism. The overall theme of the Heidelberg Catechism is "comfort," and these songs are written with that theme in mind. May all who sing them know deeply the comfort that comes with belonging to Jesus Christ, body and soul, both in life and in death. Order here, for $6.

Heidelberg Catechism online resource

At http://www.heidelberg-catechism.com/en/ you will find an extensive online library of sermons, lessons, outlines, studies, articles, and more, in several languages, on the most beloved catechism of all time. Most recently completed are 120 sermons by the late Rev. W.W.J. van Oene.

Song on Art. 11, 12 of the Apostles' Creed (QA 57, 58 of the Heidelberg Catechism)

"When my Mortal Life is Over, and my Soul to Christ has Flown" by George vP

Song on Art. 9, 10 of the Apostles' Creed (QA 54-57 of the Heidelberg Catechism)

"The Son of God is Gathering out of the Human Race" by George vP

Song on Art. 8 of the Apostles' Creed (QA 53, Heidelberg Catechism)

"I Believe in God the Spirit" by George vP

Song on Art. 7 of the Apostles' Creed (QA 52 of the Heidelberg Catechism)

"My Comfort is that Jesus Christ Will Come Again for Me" by George vP

An Ascension Hymn

Based on Article 6 of the Apostles' Creed ("... he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty") and Lord's Days 18 & 19a of the Heidelberg Catechism.

"Our Lord Ascended from the Earth" by George vP

Alleluia! When Christ Arose

This is the next and fifth hymn based on the Heidelberg Catechism's elaboration of the Apostle's Creed, specifically Article 5 of the Creed, "On the third day he arose from the dead." This new hymn puts to verse and tune the prose of Lord's Day 17.

"Alleluia! When Christ Arose" by George vP

Jesus Christ alone is God's Eternal Son

This song is based on the Heidelberg Catechism's explanation of the Biblical teaching of Articles 2b and 3 of the Apostles' Creed. It is is set to an old (14th c.) tune of a Dutch Christmas carol.

"Jesus Christ alone is God's eternal son" by George vP

I Believe in Jesus Christ

This hymn is part of the continuing effort to put to song the questions and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism that address the 12 articles of the Apostles Creed.

"I Believe in Jesus Christ" by George vP

The pertinent questions and answers are:

LORD’S DAY 11

29.   Q. Why is the Son of God called Jesus,

            that is, Saviour?

        A. Because he saves us from all our sins,¹

            and because salvation is not to be sought or found

            in anyone else.²

                    1 Mt 1:21; Heb 7:25.

                        2 Is 43:11; Jn 15:4, 5; Acts 4:11, 12; 1 Tim 2:5.

30.   Q. Do those who seek

            their salvation or well-being

            in saints, in themselves, or anywhere else,

            also believe in the only Saviour Jesus?

        A. No.

            Though they boast of him in words,

                 they in fact deny the only Saviour Jesus.¹

            For one of two things must be true:

                 either Jesus is not a complete Saviour,

                 or those who by true faith accept this Saviour

                 must find in him all that is necessary

                 for their salvation.²

                  ¹ 1 Cor 1:12, 13; Gal 5:4.

                        ² Col 1:19, 20; 2:10; 1 Jn 1:7.

LORD’S DAY 12

31.   Q. Why is he called Christ,

            that is, Anointed?

        A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father,

            and anointed with the Holy Spirit,¹ to be

            our chief Prophet and Teacher,²

                 who has fully revealed to us

                 the secret counsel and will of God

                 concerning our redemption;³

            our only High Priest,⁴

                 who by the one sacrifice of his body

                 has redeemed us,⁵

                 and who continually intercedes for us

                 before the Father;⁶

            and our eternal King,⁷

                 who governs us by his Word and Spirit,

                 and who defends and preserves us

                 in the redemption obtained for us.⁸

                        ¹ Ps 45:7 (Heb 1:9); Is 61:1 (Lk 4:18); Lk 3:21, 22.

                        ² Deut 18:15 (Acts 3:22).

                        ³ Jn 1:18; 15:15.

                        ⁴ Ps 110:4 (Heb 7:17).

                        ⁵ Heb 9:12; 10:11-14.

                        ⁶ Rom 8:34; Heb 9:24; 1 Jn 2:1.

                        ⁷ Zech 9:9 (Mt 21:5); Lk 1:33.

                        ⁸ Mt 28:18-20; Jn 10:28; Rev 12:10, 11.

Christ Jesus for us Suffered

This Good Friday hymn is based on Lord's Days 15 & 16 (Article 4 of the Apostles' Creed) of the Heidelberg Catechism. It is set to the tune of "O Sacred Head now Wounded" (Passion Chorale).

"He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, he descended into hell."

"Christ Jesus for us Suffered" by George vP

I Believe in God the Father

The Heidelberg Catechism, a reformational confession, was written in 1563. It elaborations on four blocks of material: the Apostles' Creed, Word and Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. This hymn is based on Lord's Days 9 & 10 which treat the first article of the Apostles' Creed. 

"I Believe in God the Father" by George vP

Catechism sermons

This is an editorial I wrote for Clarion in 2005. I'm republishing it here because the topic came up somewhere. ~gvp

Editorial

Why all those catechism sermons, anyway?

By George van Popta

Recently I began again with Lord's Day 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism in the afternoon services. This made me reflect upon the custom of "catechism preaching" and "catechism sermons." Ever since the late 1500s, Reformed ministers of the Word have, once per Sunday, preached and taught the Word of God with the help of the Heidelberg Catechism. As churches we have even agreed that: "The consistory shall ensure that, as a rule, once every Sunday the doctrine of God's Word as summarized in the Heidelberg Catechism is proclaimed" (Art. 52, Church Order).

Why do we have this custom? Is it a valid custom? Is it correct? Is a "catechism sermon" a proclamation of the Word of God? Why do we have regular catechism preaching, as a rule once per Sunday, year after year?

In several of his letters the apostle Paul wrote that in addition to bringing people to confess their faith in Christ, he also wanted to present every man mature in Christ. He wanted to establish every member of the church firmly in the true faith. In Eph. 4:11ff  Paul stated that the task of ministers of the gospel is to equip the saints, to build up the body of Christ, and to perfect the children of God. The congregation is to be well instructed so that it will not be thrown around by every wind of doctrine. Some people think that "doctrine" is a dirty word. It is not. It is used often in the Scriptures. Further, a church without doctrine (and there is no such church) is no church. The church needs to formulate its doctrines carefully—for three reasons. It holds up its doctrine as a banner stating what it believes. These doctrinal formulations (creeds and confessions) are also a defence against heresy. Furthermore, the church summarizes the biblical teaching so that it can teach it to the members and hand it on to the next generation.

According to the apostle Paul, ministers are not only proclaimers of the gospel. They are also teachers, called to teach the people of God, and to confirm them ever more firmly in the different aspects of the Christian faith.

The authors of the Heidelberg Catechism understood well what the apostle Paul was saying. To teach those whom God, in his grace, had released from bondage to the church of Rome, they wrote this catechism.  For about 400 years now, the Reformed churches have been taught the sound and comforting doctrines of the Scriptures by way of catechism sermons.  For 400 years now, Reformed believers have been more thoroughly rooted, more solidly built up in Christ, by means of the doctrines of the Word of God as they have been summarized in the catechism.

We should not make a false contrast between the Word of God and the Heidelberg Catechism.  Some people want to make such a contrast. Although the Heidelberg Catechism was written by men, every word is backed up by Scripture. The many Scripture references you find at the bottom of each question and answer prove that, as do the many lines of the Heidelberg Catechism that are direct quotations from Scripture.

For what is the Heidelberg Catechism?  It is a summary of the Word of God by which the church confesses and says: Thus says the LORD. This is what the Word of God teaches. When Lord's Days of the Heidelberg Catechism are faithfully explained to the congregation, then God's people are being comforted by the Word of God and by Jesus Christ.

There is a difference in method between the morning sermon, which is a text-based sermon, and the catechism sermon. In the morning the minister typically takes a few verses or a chapter out of the Bible, and works that out. The sermon is focused on those verses or that chapter. He will show how that text lies in the context of the chapter, the book, the testament, and the Bible, and yet, he focusses on those few words. When the minister preaches the Word of God using a few questions and answers of the Heidelberg Catechism, he and the congregation together look at the entire Scriptures through the lense of a particular biblical doctrine (which ever one that particular Lord's Day summarizes). One, then, does not, strictly speaking, preach a specific text of Scripture, but the Word of God is being proclaimed. When the minister uses the Heidelberg Catechism as text, then he uses a Lord's Day as a window on the Bible. His aim is to proclaim and teach the Word of God as it has been summarized in that Lord's Day, looking at the entire Scriptures through the window of the Lord's Day, and using formulations the church of all ages has accepted as being entirely biblical.

And so, even though I and my congregation had just completed the catechism, it was good for us to begin it again. For, like a faithful map, it will once again take us across the terrain of Scripture. It will guide us to, what we might call, the main points of Scripture. It will, in a summary way, teach us the whole counsel of God.   We will learn what the Bible teaches us about our sinful natures, about salvation, and how to be thankful to God. And doing so, it will comfort us with the knowledge that God has saved us from sin and eternal destruction by the blood of Jesus Christ, and has called us to be his people.

Should we keep preaching the catechism? Yes, we should. It is one of our strengths. The Heidelberg Catechism is part of the great heritage we have received from the Reformation. It is a wonderful tool to keep us closely attuned to the doctrines of Scriptures. As it takes us back and forth through the Word, as we scale the heights and plumb the depths of the teachings of Scriptures, it helps to keep us as people of the Word.

The Lord's Supper and the Papal Mass

This past Sunday I was invited as a guest minister to preach in the evening service at one of the Hamilton churches. I was told that the catechism lesson was to be Lord's Day (LD) 30 of the Heidelberg Catechism (HC). When the brother told me that, I must admit that the first thought to flash through my mind was, “Oh, great! I get to preach about the papal (Roman Catholic) Mass.” And that my second thought was, “How nice of my colleagues to leave LD 30 with its maligned, and considered by some to be infamous, question and answer (QA) 80 for a guest minister.”

Be assured that I am just kidding. LD 30, even with QA 80, contains a lot of gospel and is also a pleasure to preach on. It also gave me the opportunity to think through again the matters confessed here, to do a bit of reading on the topic, especially what John Calvin wrote about it in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book IV, chapter xvii).

Many people stumble over QA 80. It reads as follows:

Q.What difference is there between the Lord’s supper and the papal mass?   

A. The Lord’s supper testifies to us, first, that we have complete forgiveness of all our sins through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all;1 and, second, that through the Holy Spirit we are grafted into Christ,2 who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father,3 and this is where he wants to be worshipped.4 But the mass teaches, first, that the living and the dead do not have forgiveness of sins through the suffering of Christ unless he is still offered for them daily by the priests; and, second, that Christ is bodily present in the form of bread and wine, and there is to be worshipped. Therefore the mass is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry.

1Mt 26:28; Jn 19:30; Heb 7:27; 9:12, 25, 26; 10:10-18.21 Cor 6:17; 10:16, 17.3Jn 20:17; Acts 7:55, 56; Heb 1:3; 8:1.4Jn 4:21-24; Phil 3:20; Col 3:1; 1 Thess 1:10. 

It seems so hard. It has rather strong words against the papal Mass. It calls the Mass, as it is still celebrated today in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), a denial of the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ and an accursed idolatry. That is strong language!

And then when we think about some very fine RC people we know—acquaintances, friends, perhaps even relatives—then we might think: "Wouldn't we be better off without this QA in our catechism?" Why do we save these harshest words for something RC?

It is a good question. In some ways, we are closer to the RCC than to many liberal Protestant churches. The RCC still believes and teaches the doctrines of the trinity, of the divine nature of Christ, of the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit. It has not denied these basic Christian teachings whereas there are many Protestant churches—even churches that go by the name of Reformed—that deny these cardinal doctrines—that deny the trinity, the deity of Christ, the personality/divinity of the Holy Spirit.

Also when it comes to ethical issues, we often feel closer to RCs than to many Protestants. Think of the abortion issue. The RCC continues to hold the biblical line on this whereas many liberal Protestant churches actively promote abortion on demand. Some years ago, when I was the minister of our Ancaster Church, I stood in the life chain on Main Street in Hamilton, the life chain for the unborn. I found myself standing beside, and having a very pleasant conversation with, the priest of the RCC in Ancaster. (At one point I bade him farewell and said that I needed to return to church to preach. He in turn said good-bye and told me he had a mass to perform. It was a surreal moment.)

It is liberal Protestant churches that are being divided on the same-sex marriage and transgender issues, not the RCC. Why, we might ask, do we reserve our most severe language for the RC Mass?

Well, we need to see this in its historical context. We are not interested in casting aspersions (or throwing bricks, or anything else) at any church today. There are enough bricks and hand grenades being lobbed in the world nowadays, and two Canadian clergymen do not need to add to the fray. Rather, we need to see this in its historical context. And, as always, we need to preach the gospel—and there is a clear statement of the gospel also in QA 80. 

We have here in Answer 80 a comparison between the Lord's table and the (Roman) Mass. Our Lord instituted the Lord's Supper on the night he was betrayed and told the church to eat bread and to drink wine in remembrance of him until he comes. So, it is something we still do regularly as we await the return of our Saviour on the clouds of heaven.

The Lord's Supper testifies something to us. It teaches and makes something clear to us (the first difference), and that is that we have complete forgiveness of all our sins through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all. The passage we read from Hebrews 10 (the New Testament reading) makes that point clearly: v. 12—“When this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

There are other passages in Hebrews that speak the same way:

• Heb. 7:27 says that we no longer need daily sacrifices; rather, Christ sacrificed for our sins once and for all when he offered himself. 
• Heb. 9:12—the blood of Christ has obtained for us an eternal redemption. 
• Heb. 9:26—His one sacrifice did away with sin once for all time. 

Contrary to the clear teaching of scriptures on this the Medieval Church (the church of the middle ages, before the great Reformation of the 1500s) taught that neither the living nor the dead have forgiveness of sins through the suffering of Christ unless he is still offered for them daily by the priests.

The Medieval Church brought the church back to the time of the Old Testament with its endless sacrifices. So that is the first main difference between the Lord's Supper and the Mass: the Lord's Supper teaches that the sacrificial work of Christ is complete whereas the Mass suggests that it is not yet complete but that Christ must yet be offered daily on the altar.

The second main difference has to do with the question of how we partake in the body and blood of our Lord. In 1 Cor. 10:16 the Apostle Paul says that ... the cup of blessing that we bless is a participation in the blood of Christ, and that the bread that we break, is a participation in the body of Christ. That invites the question, How do we participate in the blood and the body of our Lord?

The Medieval Church and the Reformed Church had different answers to that question. The Medieval Church said that the bread is changed into the real body of Christ and the wine into the real blood of Christ. They even had a word for it: Transubstantiation. If we parse the word we will see that it is made up of two parts: trans and substance. The substance (bread and wine) is translated (trans-formed, trans-muted) into something else: the body and blood of Christ. It looks, smells, and tastes like bread and wine but, in fact, it has changed into the real flesh and blood of Christ, and that is what we eat. As our catechism says: that Christ is bodily present in the form of bread and wine....

The Reformed Church rejected this. It looked at all those texts that speak of Jesus ascending bodily into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God. And then it looked at Eph. 2:6—that God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Think of what that means. Do you believe in Christ? Then God has raised you with Christ to be where he is. Not physically yet, but certainly spiritually.

As the catechism says: through the Holy Spirit we are grafted into Christ, who with his true body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father.

It is not that the body and blood of Christ are brought down to us for us to eat physically. Is is that we, by the spirit, are raised up to where Christ is, where we, in a spiritual way by faith, feed on him.*

The Reformed Church said we should not speak of Christ’s presence to the believer in the Supper; rather, we should speak of the believer’s presence to and with Christ. It is not that Christ comes down and makes himself present to the believer, but rather, the believer is lifted up by the Spirit and made present with Christ.** That is beautiful; it's biblical; it's gospel.

And that is why when just before you celebrate the holy supper your minister will:

...in order that we may now be nourished with Christ, the true heavenly bread, we must not cling with our hearts to the outward symbols of bread and wine, but lift our hearts on high in heaven, where Christ, our advocate, is, at the right hand of his heavenly Father. Let us not doubt that we shall be nourished and refreshed in our souls with his body and blood, through the working of the Holy Spirit, as truly as we receive the holy bread and drink in remembrance of him.

There is a third difference between the Mass and the Lord's Supper, and that has to do with where we look when we worship Christ. We must worship him where he is. Part of the Mass is the adoration of the host (“host” here does not mean what you first might think we mean with the word “host;” rather, “host” means “victim.” From the Latin “hostia” which means “sacrificial victim.”) Christ, the sacrificial victim, is worshiped.

The Lord's Supper, contrary to the Mass, teaches that Christ is bodily in heaven, and that we must worship him there. The Reformed Church concluded, on the basis of scriptures, that the Mass denies the one sacrifice and suffering of Christ, and is actually idolatry since it worships bread which the priest holds up high.

Thanks be to God, the Lord brought about Reformation (in the 1500s). Our eyes were opened and we could see once again that the altar did not belong in the church. That's OT furniture. The NT church needs different furniture.

It needs a table:

• from which we eat in celebration of the finished work of Christ and the salvation we have by it; 
• where we are united with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit; 
• and from which we lift our hearts on high to heaven where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 

At the table we are joining him in heaven and feeding on him.

*See also Article 35 of the Belgic Confession:

It is beyond any doubt that Jesus Christ did not commend His sacraments to us in vain. Therefore He works in us all that He represents to us by these holy signs. We do not understand the manner in which this is done, just as we do not comprehend the hidden activity of the Spirit of God.9 Yet we do not go wrong when we say that what we eat and drink is the true, natural body and the true blood of Christ. However, the manner in which we eat it is not by mouth but in the spirit by faith. In that way Jesus Christ always remains seated at the right hand of God His Father in heaven;10 yet He does not cease to communicate Himself to us by faith. This banquet is a spiritual table at which Christ makes us partakers of Himself with all His benefits and gives us the grace to enjoy both Himself and the merit of His suffering and death.11 He nourishes, strengthens, and comforts our poor, desolate souls by the eating of His flesh, and refreshes and renews them by the drinking of His blood.

**See A Spiritual Banquet: John Calvin on the Lord's Supper by Matthew W. Mason.

Hymn on the Ten Commandments

Ten Commandments by George vP

This hymn on the Ten Commandments is based on the explanation of the Decalogue (Ten Words) as found in Questions and Answers 92-115 of the Heidelberg Catechism. (This Reformation catechism can be viewed here: http://www.heidelberg-catechism.com/en/) One of the beauties of this Calvinistic catechism is that it explains the Decalogue as a way for Christians to show themselves thankful for the saving work of Christ. We do not obey the law of God in order to effect our salvation (a works righteousness); rather, we obey the law to show the Lord and our neighbour how thankful we are for the work that Christ fully and freely did for us.

A PDF version can be viewed here.

May 1 sermons

Lord's Day 41 - Holy Marriage - May 1, 2016, pm

Isaiah 55:1-3a - There is no other Stream - May 1, 2016, am

Lord's Days 38 & 39

Lord's Day 39 - Freedom - April 10, am

Prov. 4:10-19; Eph. 6:1-4

Lord's Day 39

Lord's Day 38 - Rest - April 3, am

Deut.12:5-12; 2 Cor. 8:1-15

Lord's Day 38

Sermon for morning of Feb. 28

The sermon for the morning service of Feb. 28, 2016, was based on Lord's Day 36 of the Heidelberg Catechism, dealing with the Third Commandment. You can listen to it here.

Lord's 36 can be read here.
The supporting Scripture passages were Exodus 3:10-15 and John 8:48-59.

January 24 sermons

Mark 10:1-12 - From the Beginning of Creation - Jan. 24, 2016, am

(Please pardon the error I made somewhere along the line in this sermon, 

which I corrected in the pm sermon)

Lord's Day 31 - The Keys - Jan. 24, 2016, pm

January 10, 2016 sermons

Lord's Day 29 - A table, bread, and wine - Jan. 10, 2016, pm
A communion sermon

Mark 9:38-50 - Be at peace - Jan. 10, 2016, am
A continuation of the Mark series