Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 6, question 16. Why must he be a true and righteous man? Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned should make satisfaction for sin. But one who is himself a sinner cannot satisfy for others. Question 17. Why must he also be true God? that by the power of his Godhead he might bear in his manhood the burden of God's wrath and so obtain for and restore to us righteousness and life. Question 18, but who now is that mediator who in one person is true God and also a true and righteous man? Our Lord Jesus Christ who is freely given unto us for complete redemption and righteousness. And finally question 19, whence knowest thou this? from the Holy Gospel, which God himself revealed first in paradise, afterwards proclaimed by the holy patriarchs and prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law, and finally fulfilled by his well-beloved Son." As we continue to look primarily at the questions in the catechism, the actual wording of the questions themselves, even more so than the answers on this particular pass through the catechism. You notice, of course, that questions 16 and 17 are really expanding on what had already been said in the previous Lord's Day. There we learned that our Mediator and Redeemer needed to be a true and righteous man, and now it asks why that is. It's fleshing out that detail. It had also said that he needed to be true God, and question 17 expands on that one as well. And then question 18 is very significant in terms of the way it summarizes the doctrine. Together with its answer, this is a very complete, or surprisingly thorough, maybe it would be a better word for it, statement about the doctrine of Christ. Who now is that mediator who in one person is true God and also a true and righteous man? Well, there you have the truth of Christ's work. He is a mediator. You have the truth of his person. He's one person, and yet you also have the double truth of his natures. He is true God. He is also a true and righteous man. The only thing missing from the question, so to speak, in terms of a thumbnail sketch of the doctrine of Christ is provided by the answer, our Lord Jesus Christ. That fills it out. There you now have a very accurate thumbnail sketch of what the Christian Church believes concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And then question 19 is also interesting because it asks, from where or whence do you know this? How do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator? who is a true and righteous man and at the same time true God? And the answer, of course, is from the Gospel. But think about the significance of that question for just a moment. We've seen already that the Catechism is not afraid to raise hard questions. It's not intimidated by the idea of people thinking about possible objections to what has been said. But here you notice that they drill down further. They don't just want you to know what the church believes. They want you to know and to understand why you believe it. They want you to know where it can be found. They want you to be clear about that. And so the Catechism is not just a learning tool for beginners. It is also inculcating a mindset where we're willing to put all things to the test, to prove all things, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians, and hold fast to what is good. Christians should be scrutinizers, investigators, askers of questions. The Catechism would teach us that, along with the doctrine that it communicates to us, Because it doesn't just say, what is the truth? It then also asks you to be able to back that up, to be able to defend. How do you know that this is the true doctrine of Christ? It's very important for every Christian to know what is true. It's also important for us to be learning and growing in our knowledge of how we come to that. in our ability to articulate and explain it to others. Well may God be pleased to give us grace in this year then to continue learning. Never to forget that part of being a disciple of Christ is learning the information that he has to teach.