January 7 – LD 1, Day 7: What We Must Know to Have Comfort
by Prof Herman Hanko

Read: Luke 24:47; I Corinthians 6:10, 11; John 17:3; Ephesians 5:8-10.

To be able to confess that we belong to Jesus, there are certain things we must know about ourselves.

Question and answer 2 of Lord’s Day 1 bring another question to our attention which tells us the things we must know. Notice again how personal the HC is: How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest life and die happily?

Three things are important to know. They are so important that without knowing them, we cannot have comfort.

The first is that we must know how great our sins and miseries are. This is understandable. I cannot know the blessedness of having good health unless I know what it means to be sick to death. I cannot know the joy of comfort unless I know the horror of sorrow at the loss of one I love. Likewise, I cannot know any comfort if I have no sorrow. People who are happy and without sorrow do not need comfort.

We are told an important truth in this Q & A. The real misery that makes us long for comfort is not sickness or disappointment or death; it is sin. All these other reasons for misery are all present in our lives because of sin. If we had no sin, we would not have misery. If we were perfect, we would not have pain and trouble. Sin is the great reality that makes us miserable. We must understand, therefore, how great our sins are.

Second, we then are ready to know the great work Christ did for us to deliver us from our sins. Only through tears clearing the blindness of our sins can we see clearly the need of Christ’s cross. We can walk the way to Calvary only in a path wet with the tears of shame over our sins. There is no other way.

Finally, we have to have knowledge of how in our lives we express gratitude to God for what He has done for us. We show our gratitude by walking in obedience to His law. Disobedient children are unthankful children. We will not know any comfort when we live wickedly.

Those three things are the three chapters of the HC, in which the HC will teach us our comfort.

May we humbly learn these lessons.