Baptist Catechism

Catechism • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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"I am convinced that the use of a good catechism in all our families will be a great defense against the increasing errors of the times. ".... C.H. Spurgeon

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Spurgeon’s Catechism

We will begin a series of 82 sermons working through the Spurgeon Baptist Catechism. Developed using the Westminster Assembly’s and the Baptist Catechisms that are based on the 2nd London Baptist Confession.

I have one goal in doing this as a series. That we see the value in catechizing our children. I am recording this on line hoping the future generations will progress further.

Part 1

Catechize your Children

What is a Catechism?

A text summarizing the basic principles of the Christian faith, usually in question and answer form.

This is a convenient tool used to teach ourselves and our children.

The term is not as familiar to protestants today as it once was. Generally thought to be a Roman Catholic practice. However that is far from the reality. This is a Biblical practice seem in the instruction to God’s people.

Deuteronomy 4:9 (NKJV)

Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,

This will be a long ongoing series. It will take more than a year to complete. We will have breaks in the series but will gravitate back to this series as a norm for the foreseeable future. I am convinced from Scripture and Scripture alone that we MUST train our minds and the minds of our children. My prayer in focusing here is that the people of God here at Fairfield Baptist might spark the smallest of fires that God will use for revival in our community to the glory of the MOST HIGH GOD!!

So let us begin this journey trusting the LORD.

1. What is the main reason a person exist?

Or you may ask it this way.

Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why do I exist?

Answer: The main reason a person exist is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

*Glorify means to praise, honor in worship, honor in thoughts or words, adore, give thanks to

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Psalm 73:25–26 (NKJV)

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

What does this mean?

Genesis 1:25–28 (NKJV)

And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 9:1–7 (NKJV)

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”

Genesis 1:31 NKJV

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 4:7 NKJV

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

So What?

Sin is the obstacle, our job is to rule over it as we image our maker. IMAGO DEI.

Sin has marred our ability to think rightly, to worship rightly, to praise rightly, to give thanks rightly etc.

This is the beauty of the Gospel, the things we can’t do He has done, it is finished, Christ has filled the void, closed the gap that sin caused in our relationship with our creator.

This is why as we progress through this catechism you’ll see the focus point more and more to our need of Christ to be able to fulfill this goal.

We were created to image our creator and to enjoy that. In order to do this to really fully enjoy our God, our minds must MUST be pointed at the source of life.

Do you want to enjoy God?

Do you want your children to glorify and enjoy Him?

Catechize your Children

PART 2

What rule has God given to teach us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?

Answer: The Word of God that is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule to teach us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

I want us to notice a theme in several different areas of Holy Writ

Ephesians 2:19–20 (NKJV)

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NKJV)

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

given by inspiration of God

1 John 1:3 (NKJV)

that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

we have seen and heard we declare to you

Other Scripture for consideration

Acts 7:51–52 (NASB95)

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One

Revelation 21:12–14 (NKJV)

Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel (Gates)

the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Foundations)

Little harder to see here as an example without unpacking the context of the passage.

Hebrews 1:1–4 (NKJV)

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

in these last days spoken to us by His Son

John 5:39 (NKJV)

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

John 5:46 (NKJV)

For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

Acts 28:23 (NKJV)

So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

So What?

We exist to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

We can’t make up how that works because of our sinfulness and need to be reconciled to what we are created to be. Our thinking is marred

The only way we can know how this works is by following what our Creator has revealed.

Ps 19 says the heavens declare His glory (General Revelation) We know He exist see RM1.

Scripture is the map (Special Revelation). It’s the details to glorifying and enjoying Him.

It is the inexhaustible well of information about THE RIGHTEOUS ONE. (Christ)

Do you want to enjoy God?

Do you want your children to glorify and enjoy Him?

If the answer is yes, you can’t make it up, you need the source.

Without the source of knowledge you are making it up.

You may find what you think is joy for a short time, but it will collapse in onto itself.

Catechize your Children

Part 3

What do the Scriptures teach people above all else?

Answer: Above all else the Scriptures teach people what to believe about God and what commitment God requires of them.

2 Timothy 1:13 NKJV

Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 NKJV

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

Psalm 119:1–8 NKJV

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!

Psalm 119:15–16 NKJV

I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

How does the Scripture teach us what to believed about God?

When received as the words of the living God it teaches us on several ways. One is straight out description, others its how He interact and what He expects from His people.

The attributes of God are unpacked in many different ways. Some by how He responds to His servants and His enemies.

Use a couple examples. Zech 7, Updated references of same action

John 7:37–39 (NKJV)

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

It’s either Thus sayeth the LORD or you are making it up. We can distort the Thus sayeth part this is why we must must be careful handling the WORDS of the LIVING GOD.

THe only way to fulfilled this command of the LORD is to

What for it

Catechize your children

Part 4

What is God?

Answer: God is Spirit. He is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

John 4:24 (NKJV)

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Job 11:7 NKJV

“Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?

Psalm 90:2 NKJV

Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

1 Timothy 1:17 NKJV

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

James 1:17 NKJV

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Exodus 3:14 NKJV

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

Psalm 147:5 NKJV

Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

Revelation 4:8 NKJV

The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

Exodus 34:6–7 NKJV

And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

Catechize your children

Part 5

Is there more than one God?

Answer: There is only one God, the living and true God

Deuteronomy 6:4 NKJV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

The New King James Version Chapter 10

10 But the LORD is the true God;

The New King James Version (Chapter 10)

10 But the LORD is the true God;He is the living God and the everlasting King.At His wrath the earth will tremble,And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

YHWH

Unpack that

Catechize your children

Part 6

How many persons are there in the Godhead?

There are three person in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, same in essence, equal in power and glory.

Matthew 28:19 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

How is one three or three one?

Catechize your children

Part 7

What are the decree’s of God?

The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His own will, where for His own glory He has foreordained whatever happens.

Ephesians 1:11–12 NKJV

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Catechize your children

Part 8

How does God carry out His decrees?

God carries out His decrees through the works of creation and providence.

Revelation 4:11 NKJV

“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

Daniel 4:35 NKJV

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

Catechize your children

Part 9

What is the work of creation?

The works of creation is God’s making all things from nothing, by the word of his power, in six days, and seeing that it was good.

Genesis 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Hebrews 11:3 NKJV

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Exodus 20:11

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Catechize your children

Part 10

How did God create man?

God created man male and female, after His own image in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with supreme authority over His creation.

Genesis 1:27 NKJV

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Colossians 3:10 NKJV

and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Ephesians 4:24 NKJV

and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Genesis 1:28 NKJV

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Part 11

What are God’s works of providence?

God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful upholding and ruling over all His creatures, and all of their actions.

Psalm 99:9 NKJV

Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 145:17 NKJV

The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.

Isaiah 28:29 NKJV

This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

Hebrews 1:3 NKJV

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Nehemiah 9:6 NKJV

You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.

Psalm 103:19 NKJV

The Lord has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.

Matthew 10:29 NKJV

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.

Part 12

What special command did God give man when He created Him and put Him in the garden of Eden?

When God created man, He entered into a covenant of life with Him on the condition that He would obey perfectly; He banned him from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, on pain of death.

Galatians 3:12 NKJV

Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

Genesis 2:17 NKJV

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Part 13

Did our first parents continue to live in the condition in which they were created?

Our first parents were left to the freedom of their own will, but fell from their position by sinning against God, by eating the forbidden fruit.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 NKJV

Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”

Genesis 3:6–8 NKJV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.