A businessman once overtook a black gentleman trudging through the snow, humming to himself. He talked with him and found that he was very poor. Finally he asked him if he did not think he would be happier if he were rich. "No, sir, all the rich men I work for never laugh."
This story illustrates a number of very important points. First, that money does not bring happiness. Second, that happiness is not dependent upon the outward circumstances of life. And third, that happiness depends on something inward.
Last time, if you remember, we looked at comfort. Today, in Q&A 2, we go a step further. But note what Q&A 2 actually deals with. It does not deal with how to get comfort, but how to enjoy comfort. It does not ask how you become a Christian but how you live out the riches of Christian comfort. It deals with the joy of comfort or with happiness. It asks, "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" "What does it take to make you happy?" That's what Q&A 2 is asking us.
I Three Important Words: Know, Joy, Comfort
A There are three important words that we need to understand in Q2: know, joy, and comfort. I like to look at them in reverse order.
The first word is "comfort". "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?"
Last time, if you remember, we looked at that word comfort. We said it is a Biblical word that is the theme of the Catechism. We said it means fortress, strength, security. We said that in our fight against sin and evil and Satan and death we need comfort so that we are able to keep on fighting and don't give up and don't give in. We said that our comfort – our fortress, our strength, our security – lies in the fact that we belong to Jesus. We said that most people today look for comfort in money and the things of this life, but the Christian finds comfort in belonging to Jesus. We said Jesus does everything for those who belong to Him. That's what it comes down to. Nothing is too much for Him or too little for Him. I belong to Jesus so He moves heaven and hell for me. That is my comfort.
B The second word is "joy". "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" As I have already indicated, a more contemporary word that we can use is happy.
Whatever word we use, we need to understand it as the Bible understands it. We find the words "joy" and "rejoice" scattered throughout the Old Testament, but especially in the Psalms. The psalmists rejoice in God and reflect that joy in their praise, worship, and thanks. They celebrate God's goodness. In fact, man's purpose or calling is to rejoice in the Lord His Maker:
(Ps 32:11) Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
(Ps 33:3) Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
(Ps 100:1-2) Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. (2) Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
The New Testament also calls upon God's people to rejoice or to show joy.
(Phil 4:4) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
When we look at the New Testament we see that joy is the response to what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. I think of when Philip went to a city in Samaria. He proclaimed Christ. Paralytics and cripples were healed. Evil spirits were cast out. What was the result? "So there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:8).
Remember when Philip proclaimed the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch? Starting with Isaiah 53 the eunuch was told the good news about Jesus. Philip then baptized the eunuch. When they parted ways we are told the eunuch "went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39).
The city in Samaria and the Ethiopian eunuch are held before us as examples. Like them we should rejoice and be filled with joy because of what God has done for us in Christ. Our lives are to be filled with laughter and smiles and songs and praise. God does not want us to go through life with grim looks on our faces.
Let me be so bold as to say that smiles and laughter are as much a sign of faith as is care and seriousness. It isn't only earnestness that is pleasing to God.
How do you respond to the gospel? Do you rejoice in the Lord? Or, in your life is religion and faith and God's grace nothing but a deadly seriousness?
The purpose of Q&A 2 is to tell us how we can get joy. Of how we can live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus.
C The third word is "know". "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" Many people, if they think about it, would find the use of "know" here to be strange. They usually don't think that joy or happiness depends upon knowing something. Rather, most people today think that joy or happiness depends upon having something. "What must you have," they ask, "to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" Their answer: health, money, smart kids, beautiful wife, handsome husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, being a starter on the volleyball or soccer or basketball team, straight A's in school, Nintendo 64, a Pentium III 800 MHz computer, new furniture, a big bank account, winning the $10,000,000 prize from Publishers Clearing House. That's what most people think they need to have in order to be happy. Unfortunately, many Christian think they need things too before they can be happy.
Even the more godly among us might think they need certain things – certain spiritual things – before they can be happy. To be happy, says these Christians, I need to have a strong faith life, a good prayer life, an active church life, an extra measure of the Spirit, Christian reading material, a Christian radio station to listen to, Christian music CDs, Christian retreats, and certain gifts of the Spirit. When I have these, then I am happy.
But the Catechism, as I already said, asks "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" Happiness or joy, according to the Catechism, depends upon knowing something and not upon having something.
What does that word "know" mean? The Catechism has two kinds of knowledge in mind.
The girls on the high school basketball team know the game of basketball. First, they know all about basketball. They know the rules, the size of the court, the height of the basket. Second, they know how to dribble, how to shoot, and how to pass. When it comes to basketball, theirs is both a head knowledge and a heart knowledge; their knowledge is a combination of intellect and experience.
The knowledge we need to live and die in the joy of comfort involves both kinds of knowledge: a head knowledge and a heart knowledge; it is to be a combination of intellect and experience.
In our hearts we all must know and experience and feel certain things before we can have the joy of the Christian's comfort. This knowledge or experience I am talking about comes only from the operation of the Spirit in our hearts and lives. But in our minds we must also know and understand and comprehend certain things before we can have the joy of the Christian's comfort. This knowledge or comprehension I am talking about comes only from God's Word.
II What We Must Know
A Now that we have looked at the question, let us turn our attention to the answer. "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" What is it that we must know to live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus? What is it that the Spirit must write on our hearts and the Word must write on our minds so that we can be happy?
According to the Catechism, we must know three things. These three things represent the three parts of the Catechism: Man's Misery, Man's Deliverance, and Man's Thankfulness. The three things we find together in Romans 7:24-25 which mentions being wretched (which is misery), being rescued (which is deliverance), and thanks (which is thankfulness):
(Rom 7:24-25) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (25) Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!
B "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" "First, how great my sin and misery are."
Those who want to live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus must know their sin and misery. They must know that their misery is so great that neither they nor any other can help them out of it. They need to know they are sinners. They must know that because of sin their life is broken, meaningless, and empty.
The misery and wretchedness of sin is so bad that Paul cries out, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Rom 7:24). What a vivid picture he has in mind when he says this. It was the custom of ancient conquerors to prevent the escape of their prisoners by tying a dead body to their backs. With such a gruesome burden, those poor wretches could not run away. Paul compares sin to this body of death tied to a prisoner's back. It is a stinking, festering, decaying burden. No matter where you go or what you do, there it is. From it there is no escape.
We need to know this about sin, says the Catechism. The Spirit needs to drive us to our knees in confession and repentance. The Word needs to inform our mind and our conscience that we fall short of the glory of God.
The reason we need to know is quite simple. Consider that a sick man who does not acknowledge that he is sick, will not go to the doctor or take medicine. Now, the most grievous, the most deadly, the most terrible disease – which ruins body and soul, both in this life and in the life to come – is sin. Jesus was talking about the sickness and illness of sin when He said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Mt 9:12). What it comes down to is that we need to know we are sick, that we have the disease of sin, so that we will go to the Great Physician and find in Him the healing we so desperately need.
I think here of the tax collector. He knew his sin. He knew it in his heart and in his mind. So he stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his chest and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner" (Lk 18:13). He knew his misery and looked for healing. I think too of the Prodigal Son. Far from home, hungry and poor, the thing he saw the most was his sin against heaven and against his father (Lk 15). He knew his misery and he too sought forgiveness and looked for healing.
To live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus I need to know my sin and misery.
C "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" "Second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery."
Were we only to see how great our misery is, but not how we can be delivered, we would despair and be discouraged and disheartened. Think of Cain after he killed his brother. He knew his sin and misery. He knew the great evil in his life. But he knew nothing of salvation and redemption and forgiveness. "My punishment is more than I can bear," he said. Do you hear the pain and the anguish of knowing sin without knowing deliverance?
The message of the Bible is that I am set free from all my sins and misery by Jesus. He is the only One Who could deliver Paul from the stinking, festering, decaying body of death. And, He is the only One Who can deliver you and me from the same body of death.
You need to know about your Savior. The Spirit must bring you to the point of confessing and believing Jesus as your only Savior from sin. But not just any Jesus. Not the Jesus of liberal theology, the Jesus Who is merely an example. We must know Jesus as God sent Him and as God reveals Him. We must know the Jesus of the Word. The Jesus Who died the horrible death of the cross for our sins.
To live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus I need to know how I am set free from all my sins and misery.
D "What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?" "Third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance."
Every kindness shown to us – making a visit, sending a card, offering a prayer, preparing a meal, fixing up something around the house, taking us out for dinner – deserves gratitude. A good deed followed by a grateful or thankful attitude binds the giver and the receiver tightly together.
This is especially true when it comes to salvation. When we respond to God's grace with a thankful and grateful heart, the relationship between us and God is strengthened.
Think of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. One leper thanked the Lord; the other nine forgot. Which of the ten, do you think, lived in the joy of belonging to Jesus? The one, we would have to say, who gave Jesus thanks.
We need to know how to be thankful. The Spirit must create within us a new heart, a clean heart, a thankful heart. The Word must shape our thankful life so that we mold ourselves to God's ways and God's will and God's commandments.
To live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus I need to know how to thank God for His deliverance.
Conclusion
Q2 What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?