What is Thy Only Comfort?

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?


 Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, (a) am not my own, (b) but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; (c) who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, (d) and delivered me from all the power of the devil; (e) and so preserves me (f) that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; (g) yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, (h) and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, (i) and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him. (j)


 (a) Rom.14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Rom.14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.


(b) 1 Cor.6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?


(c) 1 Cor.3:23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. Tit.2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.


(d) 1 Pet.1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 1 Pet.1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.


(e) Heb.2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.


(f) John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 2 Thess.3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 1 Pet.1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.


(g) Matt.10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matt.10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt.10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.


(h) Rom.8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.


(i) 2 Cor.1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Cor.1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 2 Cor.1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor.5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Eph.1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Eph.1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Rom.8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:


(j) Rom.8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.




http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/heidelberg.html

Jesus' example in the middle of the Greatest Trial

Psalm 22:22 - I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

I have been HUGELY encouraged by studying Hebrews the last few weeks. There is a verse in chapter two that talks of the immense privilege we are given as our Perfect High Priest becomes a Brother that fully identifies with our weakness.

He says,
"I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." Heb. 2:22

The footnote tells us that this is from Psalm 22.

Both Matthew 27 and Mark 15 tell us that in the midst of Jesus work on the cross he cried out "My God, My God why have you forsaken me." Jesus was not the first person to say this, He was actually quoting from the Psalm 22. Christ was thinking on this psalm. Hebrews 12:2 also tells us that he was looking past the cross toward another joy.

Hebrews 12:2 - "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame..."

Reading this Psalm with these thoughts in mind gives a new depth to experiencing the 22 Psalm, but even more importantly it gives an example for us to follow in trial. The Example to follow is that of Christ.

Look to God's Word, His promises, and a future joy. Even at the the darkest time, call out to Him.

Psalm 22 doesn't end in darkness. The darkness opens to beautiful light. I encourage you to read it and see one of the Scriptures in Jesus' mind on the Cross as He anticipated His completed work.

2 Peter 1:5-9

Tough times are not the time that you want to be developing a robust theology. 2 Peter 1:5-9 says "...[M]ake every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." I would encourage anybody I interact with who has a love for theology or desire to study, to grow while you can, as you don't know what lies ahead. I know that I am grateful for the truths on which I now stand and for those one whose shoulders I depend.

Faith, virtue, knowledge, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love.

I know that weeks and months like the past few show my faith to be weak, yet show our Savior to be strong, and show the body (His church) to be His instrument of love - primarily through my wife, lastly I'm so grateful that if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself (1 Tim 2:13).

I've debated the helpfulness in journaling over the last

Six months and have deliberately not written as I have had significant struggles. Have you ever had trouble pushing through something? No, not just something hard, but something simple. Everybody is supposed to struggle when running a marathon. But were you supposed to struggle writing that last sentence? Not everybody gets to go through this one.

I was reading from my favorite series The Chronicles of Narnia to the kiddos last Saturday night... We're in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I like the book, not in my top three, but I like it a lot. Well, chapter 12 The Dark Island now has a special place in all our hearts.

Oddly enough, this is the verse that the family guide to Narnia had as the beginning of that chapter...

Job 4:12-14 "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake."

Lucy is fearful as they enter into a dark and mysterious misty island, which they find to be an island where nightmares come true. When they try to escape, they row in vain. At the point when all seems lost,

Lucy whispered, "Aslan, Aslan, If you ever loved us at all, send us help now." The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little - a very, very little better.

At this point an albatross comes and lights the ship with radient lights, whispers words of comfort to her alone, and leads them from the darkness.

Also, at this point, I go into an episode which effectively ends my reading for the night and traumatizes my three and four year old for a day. They get over stuff so fast (I'm so grateful for that!) My son Hudson and daughter Emma were regular EMT staff and took care of the rest by getting the help necessary. We are blessed by great neighbors and friends. Thanks to Dave and Jen, Brian and Kristin, Isaac, Ed, Mike, Ken, and the Laytonsville FD.

We were able to put these connections together between the story in the book and Christ and his nearness to all of us who are going through suffering in whatever form it may take. For my kids, it may just be a bad dream at night, or a mean neighbor. For me, it may be a time of physical pain, dreading an upcoming medical test, or pushing through another week of medication. For my dearest wife she has to put up with all of us(which is by far the hardest job) and exhort through it all! We thought it cool enough to share with anyone else who might want to read it.

Matt