The Christian’s Only Comfort in Life and Death The Christian’s Only Comfort in Life and Death An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism Volume 1: Lord’s Days 1–26 by Theodorus VanderGroe Translated by Bartel Elshout Edited by Joel R. Beeke REFORMATION HERITAGE BOOKS and DUTCH REFORMED TRANSLATION SOCIETY Grand Rapids, Michigan The Christian’s Only Comfort in Life and Death © 2016 by Reformation Heritage Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quo- tations embodied in critical articles and reviews. 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Contents Preface ......................................................... vii Translator’s Preface .............................................. xi Biographical Introduction ........................................ xiii Introduction to the Dutch Further Reformation ...................... xxix Lord’s Day 1: Man’s Only Comfort ................................. 1 Lord’s Day 2: The Knowledge of Misery from the Law ................ 15 Lord’s Day 3: The Origin of Man’s Misery ........................... 29 Lord’s Day 4: God’s Wrath and Avenging Justice ..................... 43 Lord’s Day 5: General Observations Regarding the Mediator ........... 57 Lord’s Day 6: The Mediator, Jesus Christ ............................ 71 Lord’s Day 7: Saving Faith (1) ..................................... 87 Lord’s Day 7: Saving Faith (2) .....................................105 Lord’s Day 8: The Division of the Apostles’ Creed and the Trinity. 123 Lord’s Day 9: Creation ............................................137 Lord’s Day 10: The Providence of God (1) ............................151 Lord’s Day 10: The Providence of God (2) ............................165 Lord’s Day 11: The Name Jesus (1) ..................................177 Lord’s Day 11: The Name Jesus (2) ..................................191 Lord’s Day 12: The Name Christ ....................................207 Lord’s Day 12: The Prophetic Office of the Christian ..................223 Lord’s Day 12: The Priestly Office of the Christian ....................239 Lord’s Day 12: The Kingly Office of the Christian ......................253 Lord’s Day 13: The Eternal Sonship or Generation of Jesus ..............265 Lord’s Day 14: Jesus Conceived by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Virgin Mary (1) ..................................279 Lord’s Day 14: Jesus Conceived by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Virgin Mary (2) ..................................293 vi Contents Lord’s Day 15: Jesus’s Suffering Under Pontius Pilate and His Death on the Cross ........................................309 Lord’s Day 16: Jesus’s Death, Burial, and Descent into Hell ..............323 Lord’s Day 16: The Efficacy and Benefit of the Death of Jesus ............335 Lord’s Day 17: The Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead ................349 Lord’s Day 18: The Ascension of Christ ..............................363 Lord’s Day 19: Christ’s Session at God’s Right Hand ...................379 Lord’s Day 19: Jesus’s Coming as Judge ..............................395 Lord’s Day 19: The Last Judgment ..................................411 Lord’s Day 20: The Holy Spirit (1) ...................................429 Lord’s Day 20: The Holy Spirit (2) ...................................447 Lord’s Day 21: The Holy Universal Church of Christ ...................459 Lord’s Day 22: The Resurrection of the Body, and Eternal Life ...........477 Lord’s Day 23: Justification by Faith .................................493 Lord’s Day 24: The Doctrine of Justification Defended .................513 Lord’s Day 25: The Work of the Holy Spirit and the Strengthening of Faith. ...............................529 Lord’s Day 26: The Sacrament of Holy Baptism ........................543 Preface Ever since the 1618–1619 Synod of Dort stipulated in Article 68 of its church order that “the Ministers everywhere shall briefly explain on Sunday, ordinarily in the afternoon sermon, the sum of Christian doctrine comprehended in the Catechism,” written expositions of the Heidelberg Catechism have been pub- lished regularly in the Netherlands—a practice that is continued until today. Such sermonic expositions of the Heidelberg Catechism were also published during the Dutch Further Reformation (Nadere Reformatie). Historically, this movement ran parallel to the Puritan movement of the British Isles. The theo- logical and experiential kinship between these two movements is such that the men of the Dutch Further Reformation are often referred to as “Dutch Puritans.” In light of the great kinship between these two movements, church historians have recently coined the intelligent and experiential piety promoted by both movements as “North Sea Piety.”1 Among the better known expositions of the Heidelberg Catechism by Dutch Further Reformation pastors, are those by Johannes VanderKemp (1664–1718) and Bernardus Smytegelt (1665–1739). The work of VanderKemp has been translated into English and was republished by Reformation Heritage Books in 1997 in two volumes, and a new edition of Smytegelt’s catechism exposition has recently been published in the Netherlands in two volumes (Zwijndrecht: De Roo Boeken, 2014). In addition to these works, Theodore VanderGroe’s The Christian’s Only Comfort is also one of the most prominent sermonic exposi- tions of the Heidelberg Catechism dating from this period. Theodore VanderGroe (1705–1784) was one of the most distinguished rep- resentatives of the Dutch Further Reformation. Scholars generally consider VanderGroe to be the last major representative of this movement.2 After his 1. For an introduction of this movement, see pages xxix–liv in this volume. 2. For a biographical summary of VanderGroe’s life, see pages xiii–xxviii in this volume. viii Preface death, the historic Reformed Church of the Netherlands continued its precipi- tous decline due largely to the pernicious influence of the Enlightenment. In 1740, VanderGroe accepted a pastoral call to Kralingen, where he preached the whole counsel of God for the remaining forty-four years of his life. This included preaching through the Heidelberg Catechism numerous times. In both his expositional preaching of texts and his topical preaching of the cat- echism, VanderGroe proclaimed an unfettered gospel, but also warned against sin, worldliness, and divine judgment. He was a watchman on Zion’s walls, heralding forth law and gospel, breaking down the work of man and building up the work of God, separating saving faith from false forms of faith. These themes permeated his preaching, often bringing him considerable opposition. VanderGroe’s exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism (Des Christens eenigen troost in leven en sterven of Verklaring van den Heidelbergschen Cat- echismus) is his magnum opus, and in some ways it was esteemed nearly as highly by the godly in the Netherlands as The Christian’s Reasonable Service of Wilhelmus à Brakel.3 In his able exposition of the Heidelberg catechism, we find the unmistakable distinctives of the Dutch Further Reformation: it is steeped in Scripture; it is very pastoral; and it promotes a healthy form of spiri- tuality. Like à Brakel, VanderGroe avoids a mystical strain that runs through some of the other late writers of the Dutch Further Reformation. This is beautifully illustrated in VanderGroe’s description of saving faith: However weak or feeble faith may be, and however much it may be accompanied by strife, opposition, distrust, and carnal doubt, there will nevertheless always be, by the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, something in the heart of a Christian that constitutes the essence of true faith—all of which will not be found in an unbeliever. This continually prompts the believer, in spite of all doubt and opposition of flesh and blood, to lift up his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit and to approach God as His Father, doing so in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, relying continually upon His grace. He does so by trusting in God’s immutable promises that He, in Christ, is to him a reconciled and gracious Father, and that for the sake of the sacrifice of Christ, He has most surely pardoned all his sins and will never be wroth with him again (Lord’s Day 7, second sermon). 3. Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 4 vols., trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 1999). Preface ix VanderGroe was a prolific author. Throughout his writings, he emphasized the need for the personal application of the three great truths expounded by the Heidelberg Catechism: conviction of sin, deliverance in Christ, and growth in sanctification. By publishing the translation of VanderGroe’s exposition of the Heidel- berg Catechism, thereby making another primary Dutch Further Reformation writer accessible to the English-speaking public, we are continuing