Tom Groelsema | Christ and His Church

Sunday Evening, May 10, 2026

Given by Tom Groelsema | Executive Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

Christ and His Church
Heidelberg Catechism—Lord’s Days 19 and 20

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Well, we have the privilege tonight to continue our study in the Heidelberg Catechism and particularly the place we were at and the place where we have been at for the last few weeks and will continue to be for the next few weeks, as we're studying kind of line by line of the Apostles’ Creed. So, what is it that we believe when we say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” and so on. And tonight, we look at these lines particularly. What do we believe when we say, “I believe that Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, that he is coming again to judge the living and the dead,” and then, we're taking two Lord's Days tonight, so also, what do we believe about the Holy Spirit? So those three things, and you can turn in the back of your bulletin, you'll see the questions that are found in Lord's Days 19 and 20. We'll be looking at various Scriptures tonight, so I just encourage you to keep your Bible open, but let's look at these questions together first, and let me read the questions, and then we'll respond together in unison with each of the answers. So, first of all, question 50. 

Q: Why the next words “and sits at the right hand of God”?

A: Christ ascended to heaven there to show that he is head of his church, the one through whom the Father governs all things.

Q: How does this glory of Christ our head benefit us?

A: First, through his Holy Spirit, he pours out gifts from heaven upon us, his members. Second, by his power, he defends us and preserves us from all enemies. 

Q: How does Christ’s return to judge the living and the dead comfort you?

A: In all distress and persecution, with uplifted head, I confidently await the very judge who has already offered himself to judgment of God in my place and removed the whole curse from me. Christ will cast all his enemies and mine into everlasting condemnation but will take me and all his chosen ones to himself, into the joy and glory of heaven. 

Q: And then what do you believe concerning the Holy Spirit? 

A: First, that the Spirit, with the Father and the Son, is eternal God. Second, that he is also given to me so that through true faith he makes me share in Christ in all his benefits, comforts me, and will remain with me forever.

Let's turn to God in prayer and ask for his help as we study these things tonight. 

Father in heaven, we do humble ourselves. We call upon you, Lord, to help us as we study these truths from your Word, which are explained to us here in the Heidelberg Catechism. We make our prayer the prayer of the psalmist. Lord, open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things from your law, from your Word. Help us tonight, Lord, to see the glory, the beauty, the majesty of Jesus’ reign, of his return, of his gift to us, of the Holy Spirit. And we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Well, dear people of God, if you were here last week, remind you of something. If you weren't here last week, we'll tell you about something from last week's sermon. Pastor Kevin was preaching for us on the ascension of Christ – of course, the piece of the Apostles’ Creed that comes just before what we're thinking about tonight. And we studied the ascension of Jesus by asking this simple question: where is Jesus? And we learned that, as to his divinity, that we can say Jesus is everywhere. He is with us, as he promised, to the very end of the age. He is with us now. He is with us tomorrow. He will be with us always. But then we said, “But wait a second. Isn't Christ – hasn't he ascended? Isn't he in heaven?” And the answer was yes. He is with us to the very end of the age, as to his divinity, but as to his humanity, bodily, he is in heaven. And so, where is Jesus? 

Well, tonight we want to ask another simple question – really, I think, based upon the one that we looked at last week. And the question tonight is this: what is Jesus doing? Alright, he has ascended into heaven. What is Jesus doing? How is Jesus as the ascended Lord ministering to us, his church? And it's a question that we might ask out of simple curiosity. Maybe we haven't really thought about that before, what this period of time, this age that we're living in, is like for Jesus. We often think about his death, of course, his resurrection. We might think some about his ascension, and then we kind of jump over, and we think about his return, but what about now? What is Jesus doing now? Or it's a question that we might ask out of a sense of need. You may remember that the thought of the ascension, more than a comfort for the disciples, was troubling to the disciples, right? So, Jesus promised that he was going to leave them, and he says to them in the context of his ascension, in this context of his leaving, he says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled.” I mean, it was bothersome to the disciples, and maybe it is to us as well, that Jesus has gone away. And we think to ourselves, if only Jesus were here – if only he was still with us here on the earth to help us with our marriage struggles. It'd be great to have him be here to help me through a career choice that I have to make, to walk with me through cancer, or to stand with me as I fight against sin. 

Well, Lord's Days 19 and 20 – think about this – Lord's Days 19 and 20, they cover the entire period from Jesus’ ascension to his return, the last 2,000 years of history. And how many more years of history? We don't know. We don't know when Jesus is coming back. But these two Lord's Days cover that entire span – yesterday, today, and tomorrow, right up until the end of the age. And I think they help us answer this question. What is going on with Jesus? We could say right off the bat, we know he's interceding for us. How do we know that? Well, the Scriptures tell us that, and that was actually covered last week in Lord's Day 18. He has ascended to intercede for us. But is that all? Well, people of God, there's much more – much more that he's doing for us. And let me give you three things, sort of three emphases tonight, in these two Lord's Days. Number one, Jesus is ruling over us. Number two, Jesus is coming for us. And number three, Jesus is present with us. Ruling over us, coming for us, and present with us. 

So, the first, he's ruling over us. That's what we see in those words from the Apostles’ Creed when we say, "I believe that he is seated at the right hand of God.” If you're taking a look at your Heidelberg Catechism questions tonight, this question (question 50) is kind of a unique question, because look how the question goes: “Why the next words ‘and sits at the right hand of God’?” Not what do those words mean, although that's what the answer gives us, but why these words? Why these next words “sits at the right hand of God”? It's almost as if the Heidelberg Catechism is saying to us tonight, “Those words don't hardly seem necessary.” We could almost go, as it were, from the ascension of Jesus to the return of Jesus and just sort of leave it at that. Why these next words? And I think the reason for it is this – because of where Jesus is and what he's doing, those two things are vital to us as Christians. And what is the answer to the question there? Question 50. The answer is this: he's reigning. What is Jesus doing? He's reigning. Why those words? The answer: Christ ascended to heaven, there to show that he is head of his church, the one through whom the Father governs all things. 

He is seated. Seated does not mean resting. I'm very grateful you guys are going to give me a sabbatical in a couple of months. Jesus is not seated, meaning he is on a sabbatical. He's just sort of waiting, time out, until his return has been scheduled. But seated simply means this, that he is finished with his redemptive work on earth. After a long day of work, right? We sit down. We are not to sit down on the job. When we are working, we're not to sit, but when the day is over, that is the time to sit. And that's what it means that Christ is seated. His work has been accomplished, his earthly work of redemption. The book of Hebrews reminds us of this. Listen to Hebrews 10:12, “When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” When Christ had offered the single sacrifice, when Christ had completed the work that the Father had given him to do, he sat down. And he sat down at the right hand. The right hand is a strong hand. Sorry for all you left-handers here tonight, but that's the idea. The right hand is the strong hand. Sometimes we might think if we're a business owner, or maybe we're a coach, that we have a right-hand man. This person is my right-hand man. They're right next to me. They have they have my authority. They serve in my place. They're the one that I have given power to. And you see, the right hand is a place of recognition and praise and honor because of that, but even more than that, the right hand is a place of power. Where is Jesus seated? He is seated at God's right hand. As the catechism says, the Father rules all things through him. Hear that again: the Father is ruling all things, but he does it through Christ, who is at the right hand. Jesus is seated not to relax, but Jesus is seated to reign. He’s seated not to relax, but he's seated to reign. 

When we think about his reign, sometimes we call it the session of Christ. So, same word that we think about our ruling body in the church, the session. His reign is his session. Session is simply a Latin word for sitting. And friends, this is the testimony of Scripture all throughout, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. So, we read tonight from Psalm 110, especially that first verse, “The Lord said to my Lord” – this is a psalm of David – “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” It's a passage that the Apostle Peter came back to on Pentecost. In his sermon, he says, "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing." Peter says, "As the exalted Lord, all the stuff that you're seeing here on Pentecost, hearing on Pentecost, the Lord Jesus, the exalted Lord has poured out the Holy Spirit, for David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ Let all the house of Israel, therefore, know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ." This Jesus whom you crucified, you crucified him. Peter says, "God has crowned him. He is Lord and Christ." Jesus spoke about himself before the council just before he was crucified. He said to the Jewish council, "You will see the Son of Man seated with power at the right hand." Paul speaks about this in Romans 8:34 and other places. Peter can speak about it in 1 Peter 3:22. This reign of Jesus, friends, is universal. All things, every nation, every leader, every spiritual being, every person, every planet under the feet of Jesus. But his reign is especially significant for the church. Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:20-23 says, "God raised him from the dead, seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Friends, why is Jesus reigning? For our sake. The blessings of his reign are for us, especially. He is Lord of all. He is the sovereign one for the sake of his people, the sake of his bride. 

And friends, this is what question 51 – question and answer 51, that second question there – highlights for us. How does this glory of Christ our head benefit us? And it gives us two ways. He gifts and he guards. He gifts us as the reigning king. He graciously pours out gifts upon us. Think about the picture of a king, and a king goes out to conquer a country, and he wins in battle, and what does he come back with? What does he come back to his own country with? He comes back with the booty, right, that he won – all the possessions that he's taken over. He comes back to his people with those, and all of these possessions and prizes and booty, what he does is he gives it out to his people. Here are the blessings of victory. Pouring them out. The Bible tells us as the ascended Lord, who has accomplished and won salvation for us, as he ascends back into heaven and takes his place at the right hand of the Father, what does he do? He begins to pour out his gifts of victory upon the church. That's what the apostle Peter was saying, right, on Pentecost. This one who has been exalted as Lord in Christ – all that you're seeing, all that you're hearing, all this manifestations of the Holy Spirit – this is the ascended Lord, who has poured out his Spirit as a gift upon the church. Paul in Ephesians, he can say that as the ascended Lord, he also gave the apostles and prophets and evangelists and shepherds and teachers. He pours out on the church leaders and servants, shepherds, pastors, elders, deacons, teachers. By the way, you probably don't know this, but tomorrow night and Tuesday night and Wednesday night, eight men will be coming to be examined to be new elders and deacons. There it is. Christ pouring out upon us, his church, those who would serve as officers among us, as the ascended Lord. And so, he gifts. He's reigning, and he gifts. 

And then he also guards. He defends us, and he keeps us safe from all of our enemies. He protects, and he preserves us in our salvation. He watches over us and keeps us in the redemption that he has bought for us. Because he is king and sovereign, we are secure. I don’t know if you’ve ever made a trip to Washington D.C., but if you go to D.C., and you see the White House, there's a flag that flies on the top of the White House. And when the flag is flying, it means that the president is in residence. He's in Washington D.C. If the flag is down, the president is somewhere else. People have thought about that and said, you know what, for the Christian, joy is – our confidence in joy is the flag that flies over our hearts and over our lives because the king is in residence. The king is on the throne. The flag is flying, and so we can have joy, confidence, trust, see our salvation being secure. Maybe some of you saw the interview with Ben Sasse, the former senator from Nebraska, just a couple of weeks ago on 60 Minutes. Ben has four kinds of cancer, I believe, given three months to live. The Lord has given him some extra time. And the one who's doing the interview says to him, "You know, Ben, you're a Calvinist. Do you believe God has a plan?" And he says, "Absolutely. There are no maverick molecules in the universe.” God is sovereign. Jesus is on the throne. He is reigning. There are no maverick molecules. There are no maverick seconds. There are no maverick moments. As our king, he gifts, and he guards us. We are secure. 

Second, he's coming for us. And so, he's going to return. This is what he's doing. He's coming. We don't know when, but we have his promise. He is coming. And the question here, how does his return to judge the living and the dead comfort you? Friends, this is the first time the word “comfort” has been used since Lord's Day 1. The catechism has been talking often – many, many different times – about benefits. Benefits we receive from the resurrection, benefits we receive from Christ's death, benefits we receive from his ascension, but here, for the very first time since Lord's Day 1, the word “comfort” is used. And I wonder if it's used here because the thought of Jesus coming to judge the living and the dead and the idea of comfort just don't go together, right? Jesus is coming to judge. You find that comforting? Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And our hearts say, "Well, that's not very comforting at all." And I think that's the reason why the Heidelberg Catechism intentionally comes back to the word “comfort,” because the catechism wants to say to us tonight, "Oh, people of God, children of the king, there is great comfort in the fact that Jesus is coming back to judge." What does it mean? How is that so? 

Well, the answer is because of the one who is coming to judge. How can we find comfort in the fact that Jesus is coming to judge the living and the dead? Our comfort is this: it's Jesus who's coming. It's who is coming. It's our savior who is coming. Revelation 19 reminds us of sort of the ominous nature of his return. He's coming to judge and make war, the Apostle John saw in his vision. He comes with eyes of flaming fire. His clothes are dipped in blood. From his mouth is a sharp sword to strike down the nations and rule over them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God almighty. And the Heidelberg Catechism says in all of that which is true, we have to remember something – that this savior who is coming to do all of that, that the judge is our savior. The judge is our savior. We confidently await, then, the catechism says, as judge the very one who has already stood trial in my place before God and has so removed the whole curse from me. You see what his coming means? It means acquittal. The verdict on our life was rendered at the cross when Jesus bore the guilt of our sin. People of God, does your sin weigh you down? You hate it. It sticks to you like glue. Can't seem to overcome it. And you start thinking, it's there day after day. It's there moment by moment. I don't sometimes seem to hardly ever make any progress in the Christian life. We start thinking about that, and sometimes it makes us worry, doesn't it? Am I really forgiven? Will God really be gracious to me? I've trusted in Christ my whole life, but when it comes to that final time, either when I take my last breath or Jesus comes back again, will it be well with my soul? Well, we are going to be acquitted at the judgment day of guilt, because Jesus was not acquitted. But he stood trial in our place. Friends, the Bible tells us that he suffered at this place called Gabbatha. It means the stone pavement in the court of Pontius Pilate. There, Jesus stood in front of the bench, in front of this earthly ruler, and there at Gabbatha he was condemned – the innocent one condemned to death so that the guilty one may go free. We want Jesus, they said. We want Jesus. Let Barabbas go. And that becomes a tale, doesn't it, for us – that the guilty one, Jesus, suffered so that we who are innocent – Jesus the innocent one, rather, suffered so that we, the guilty ones, may go free. And then he died at Golgotha, hanging from a tree. Cursed by God is everyone who was nailed to the tree. Forsaken by the Father, forsaken so that we will never be forsaken by God. Calvin put it like this. He said, "Christ is far from mounting his judgment seat to condemn us. How could our most merciful ruler destroy his people? How could the head scatter his own members? How could our advocate condemn his clients?” We are going to be acquitted one day, because Jesus has already taken our place. 

We don't have to fear the return of Christ. We find comfort in the return of Christ, because when that day comes, and we are acquitted, we realize this is not going to be true for everyone. The judgment will mean destruction for our enemies. Not our petty, personal enemies. The catechism points it out – those enemies who are enemies of Christ and us. Those who are his enemies and mine, he will condemn them to everlasting punishment. Friends, we don't find glee in that, but we can be grateful for it. As one little conference I went to said, “Hell is real. Time is short. We must go.” Right? Our mission is to proclaim the gospel to anyone who will hear, because hell is real, and time is short, and judgment is going to come. “But for me,” the catechism says, "and all his chosen ones, he will take with him into the joy and the glory of heaven." Friends, do you find that to be a personal comfort? It is. Do you hear how the catechism puts it? Me and all his chosen ones he will take into glory. Think about that tonight. He's coming for you. Pray he's coming for the person next to you, right? But he's coming for you. And yes, all of his chosen ones, but for you. The only person in the world, he's coming for you. He's coming. He knows you. You're his child. He knows you by name. It's not just a personal hope. It's a precious hope, because he's going to take us to himself. When he comes, what is he going to do? He's going to take us to be with him, to be with Jesus in his presence forever and ever. We will see him, Revelation says, face to face. John Piper asked a great question. He said, "If you could have heaven with no sickness, with all the friends you ever had on earth, all the food you ever liked, all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ were not there?” This is the best part, right? Jesus is there, and he's going to come and take us to himself. 

A precious hope and a preoccupying hope, because he will take us to the joy and glory of heaven, where we will never get enough of Jesus. More and more and more of Jesus. We sing about it in a hymn sometimes: “The sands of time are sinking” – I love this verse – “The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but on my king of grace, not at the crown he gifteth, but on his pierced hand, for the Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land.” I don't think we're going to be looking at all of the beauties – the golden streets, the crystal sea, the gates of the city – they could all be wonderful, but the thing that's going to catch our eye is not those things. The thing that's going to catch our eye forever and ever is Jesus, the King. He's coming. He's coming for us. He's coming for you. And so, turn your eyes to heaven. In all of your distress and all of your persecution and all of your suffering and all of your trouble, all of your trials, lift up your eyes and your heads, for your redemption is drawing near. Jesus is coming. 

And so, he's ruling over us. He's coming for us, and he is present with us. And this is what is captured in that confession about the Holy Spirit. The catechism points out two things – really kind of a small question and answer, isn't it, for the third person of the Trinity? You might think, well the Heidelberg Catechism, you know, as we so often do, it's just neglecting the Holy Spirit again. But friends, if you take a look through the Heidelberg Catechism, you take a tour through it, you'll see reference after reference after reference to the person and work of the Holy Spirit, but it's pointed out explicitly here. His person – he as well as the Father and the Son is eternal God. In other words, the Holy Spirit is a divine person. Divine. Fully God, proceeding from the Father and the Son, sent by the ascended Lord, of one substance, power, and eternity with the Father and the Son, and a person. The Holy Spirit is not something like gravity or Star Wars – you know, may the force be with you. The Holy Spirit's just a force. No, the Holy Spirit is a person, a divine person. You can grieve the Spirit. You can lie to the Spirit. All these personal things. That is his person, but it's really his work, here, I want to think about tonight, and the work – again, not a lot said here, but so much packed in these words. He is given to me so that through true faith he makes me, first of all, share in Christ and his benefits. Second, he comforts me, and then he will remain with me forever. Jesus, in John 14, on the eve of his death, in the upper room, he said, “I will ask the Father. He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth.” Another helper, Jesus says. Not another in a sense of just something that's totally different, totally distinct from Christ. Yes, distinct, but not like, you know, I get a car, and then I buy another car, and my first car was a Jeep, and this one's a Ford. I mean, totally different styles. No, I had another car. I got one that's similar to the one that I had before. And Jesus is saying here, this other helper is of the same kind as Jesus. He's a helper. He's a counselor. He is a comforter. And this Spirit that Jesus will send unites me to Jesus so that all that Christ has done becomes mine. His death is mine. His resurrection is mine. His ascension is mine, because I am already seated in heavenly places with him. And he comes to comfort me. He is the one, as Lord's Day 1, way back when we are studying. He is the one who assures me of eternal life. He is the one who reminds me that I am the Lord's when I doubt. He helps me seek after the things that are above, where my savior is sitting. He is a friend who testifies with my spirit that I am a child of God so that I can call out to my Father, “Abba, Father.” 

But then notice this last thing. He is the one who would remain with me forever. Jesus says, “I will send this other helper who will be with you forever.” He goes on, later in that chapter, and says, "If anyone loves me" – hear this, Jesus says – "If anyone loves me, he will keep my Word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make our home with him." The same Spirit who anointed Jesus at his baptism indwells us. As believers, we are the residence of Christ himself. His address is our hearts. We are his temple. We are his home. Jesus has gone away, but he is present with us by his Spirit. And I would say tonight, there is no greater source of fellowship than we can have with Jesus himself than by the Spirit that he has sent to us. He unites us to Christ so that we can know the presence of Christ with us now and always. You see this? We are not alone. What is Jesus doing? He is with us. We are not alone. He is with us forever. It's one of the great promises of the Bible, isn't it? I will be with you. Jacob is running away from his brother. Jacob, I'm going to bring you back to this land. I am with you. Joshua is about ready to lead God's people into the promised land. How am I going to do this? Joshua, don't be afraid. I am with you. David says in Psalm 23, even when you go through the valley of the shadow of death, do not fear, because God says, “I am with you.” And through Isaiah, to Israel and to Joseph: Joseph, you're going to have a son whose name will be Emmanuel, God with us. And then from Jesus to the disciples and to us, “I'm going to send another helper who will be with you forever.” He is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. By his Spirit, not only with us, but in us, so that we might know the fellowship of our savior. What a gift the Holy Spirit is. 

And so, friends, what is Jesus doing anyway? What is he doing? He's reigning, and that means he's protecting and keeping you. Don't be afraid. He's ruling. He's guarding. He's putting down your enemies. He's going to hold you secure. And he's coming. Our faith will be vindicated, and our rest in Christ will be ushered in, and he is with us. So, we are not orphans, for we are beloved children of the king, the living God. This is what we mean when we say, “I believe.” I believe he's sitting at the right hand. I believe he's coming again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. Let's pray together. 

Father in heaven, we praise you tonight that the work of Jesus, while redemptive work here on earth is finished and accomplished, Jesus continues to minister on our behalf in glory, interceding for us, but also reigning on behalf of the church as head of the church, coming again to judge the living and the dead. We will be acquitted because we stand in Christ. We're not awaiting a sentence to be leveled against us. And on that day when he destroys and defeats all of our enemies and his, he will usher us into the glory and the joy of heaven, to be with him forever. And even now, he is with us to the end of the age and with us by his Spirit forever, so that we are not orphans. We are not alone. Oh, we praise you, Lord Jesus, for your ascension and for your reign. We look forward to your return. We say with the church, “Come Lord Jesus; come quickly.” And until that day, keep comforting us by your Spirit and helping us to live for Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.