Читать книгу Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther - Martin Luther - Страница 5

Table of Contents

Which is the First Commandment?

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

What does this mean?

We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

1. We all have been baptized. In Holy Baptism God has received us as His children. God is our heavenly Father. A father gives his children his commands. He tells them what they should do and not do, how they should live to please him. So our heavenly Father has given us, His children, His commandments. He tells us what, according to His will, we should do and not do, how we should live and walk in His sight. As His obedient children we will gladly hear and learn His will and try, with His gracious help, to lead such lives as will please Him. It should be our pleasure to fulfil His commandments, for they are the will of our Father, who loves us so dearly.—The Ten Commandments are our heavenly Father's will; they tell us what we should do and not do.

2. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," that is the first of the Ten Commandments. That is the will of God, our Lord and Father, that we are to have no other gods before or besides Him. He who is the only true God should be our God. Him alone, and nobody and nothing besides Him, we are to have and regard as our God. "I am, the Lord, that is My name; and My glory will I not give to another" Is. 42,8. When do we regard God as our God? When is He our God indeed? Our Catechism says: "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." When we fear God, and love Him, and trust in Him above all things, then He is truly our God.

3. "We should fear God." A dutiful child fears his father. He certainly is not afraid of him, but he honors and respects him. In the same manner we should fear God. He says: "I am the almighty God." Gen. 17,7. He has, through His mighty word, made heaven and earth. Because God is so great and mighty, we should fear Him. We should not be afraid of Him,—the almighty God is our Father,—but we should honor and respect Him above all things.

4. A child shows his fear and filial respect for his father by not doing anything wrong, because his dear father might see it or hear of it. He is afraid he might displease his father by disobeying him, yes, cause him grief. God is always with us. He sees and hears everything we do or say, yea, He knows the very thoughts of our hearts. We should always remember that He is present wherever we are, and therefore behave accordingly. We should be afraid to grieve our heavenly Father by doing wrong. The fear of God will keep us from doing anything against His holy will. "By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." Prov. 16,6. Think of Joseph, in Egypt! When he was tempted by Potiphar's wife, he remembered that God was with him, therefore he told her: "How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Gen. 30,9. Remember always: God is with me! and you will not do such great wickedness and sin against your God. "I am the almighty God; walk before Me and be thou perfect." Gen. 17,1.

We fear God, when we honor and respect Him, when we walk before Him, and for His sake keep away from sin.

5. "We should love God," We all love our parents. We esteem them highly, our hearts cling to them, because we know how dearly they love us, and that they are doing all they can for us. God ought to be dearer to us than everything in this world, dearer even than our parents. He is our heavenly Father, our greatest Benefactor. From Him we receive all that we have and enjoy. He loves us first, He has so loved us that He gave His dear Son for us. So we should love Him and cling to Him with our whole heart.

6. "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." 1 John 5,3. If we love God, we shall gladly do as He bids us do. Thus our Lord Jesus loved His heavenly Father. He says: "I will delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy Law is within My heart." Ps. 40,8. Abraham loved God, and therefore he was willing to sacrifice his only son for God's sake. Gen. 22,1-12.

We love God when we cling to Him with our whole heart and from love to Him fulfil His commandments.

7. "We should trust in God." To trust in God means to put our confidence in God and His promises, to be assured that He will give us what we need and what is good for us in this life and in the life to come. We trust in God when we believe that He will not forsake us in the day of trouble, that whatever He sends us, though it seem evil, will be for our good. Our Father can and will give us only good and perfect gifts. Thus David trusted in the Lord when he went forth to conquer Goliath. 1 Sam. 17. Thus, too those three men trusted in God who suffered themselves to be cast into the fiery furnace rather than deny their God. Dan. 3.

We trust in God when we put our confidence in Him and firmly believe that He will give us all we need, that He will never forsake us, and that everything which He sends us will be for our welfare.

8. "We should fear and love God and trust" in Him "above all things," that is, more than in all other men or things. We may, and we really do, fear and love many things besides God. We fear and love our parents, our teachers, our friends, and we trust in them. God Himself bids us do so. For God's sake we fear and love them. But we must fear and love God more than all other things, more than even our parents, or our dearest friends. He must be first in our heart and in our life. If our parents, or friends, or anything else would separate us from God, or prevent us from fearing and loving Him, or from trusting in Him above all things, we must cast them aside. If we fear and love and trust in anything more than in God, we make a creature our god; then we have other gods besides God; then we are worshiping idols (other gods that are no gods), as the heathen do. "Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Matt. 4,10.

9. Fear, love, and trust God demands from us. Fear, love, and trust are to be found in the heart. God claims our hearts in this commandment. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart." Prov. 3,5. Together with our hearts God wants our whole lives, all we are and have. The First Commandment is the greatest of them all. In this all the others are included. Let us daily pray God to grant us His grace to fear and love Him and trust in Him above all things, in order that we may have no other gods before Him.

REMEMBER:—

1. We should fear and love God and trust in Him above all things; then we shall have no other gods before Him; then He, the true God, will be our God indeed.

2. We should fear and love and trust in God above all things. God wants our whole heart and life, all that we are and have.

MEMORIZE:—

I am the almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. Gen. 17,1.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Prov. 3,5.

Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Matt. 4,10.

QUESTIONS.

1. What does God tell us in His commandments? 2. Why has God a right to give us these commandments? 3. Which is the First Commandment? 4. Who should be our God? 5. When is the only true God our God? 6. What does it mean to fear God? 7. How do we show that we fear God? 8. What does the Lord say Gen. 17,1? 9. What does it mean to love God? 10. What shall we fulfil if we love God? 11. What does it mean to trust in God? 12. What shall we firmly believe if we trust in God? 13. How should we fear and love God and trust in Him? 14. Why should we fear and love God above all things? 15. What sin do we commit if we fear and love any one more than God? 16. What does our Lord say Matt. 4,10? 17. What does God demand of us in the First Commandment? 18. Why is the First Commandment the greatest of all?