The Baptist Catechism

    A Commentary on the Shorter Catechism (1883), Alexander Whyte

    Question 90

    We must attend with diligence—Trench, in his seventh lecture on The Study of Words, as if he had had this very answer in his eye, says: “But ‘attentive’ and ‘assiduous’ are words which it is worth our while to realize what they mean. He then is ‘assiduous’ who sits close to his work; he is ‘attentive’ who stretches out his neck so that he may bring the organ of his hearing nearer to the speaker, and lose none of his words. And then what a lesson the word ‘diligence’ contains! How good for all of us to be reminded, as we are reminded when we make ourselves aware of its derivation from diligo, to love, that the only secret of true industry in our work is love of that work!” And what is true of work is true of hearing and reading. Luke tells us that the Lord opened Lydia’s heart so that she attended to the things which Paul spoke. And in the same way Luther recommends us to pause at every verse of Scripture, and shake it as we shake the boughs of a tree when we wish to enjoy the fruit. “The name familiarly given by the people of New England to revivals of religion—‘a religious attention,’ ‘a general attention to religion’—indicates their nature. . . . A revival of religion is nothing but the immediate result of an uncommon attention.”—Jonathan Edwards’ Memoirs.

    preparation, and prayer—The Jews had such reverence for their holy Sabbath that they held the Friday afternoon sacred for its sake, and called the Friday afternoon the Preparation. Josephus tells us in his Antiquities that his fellow-countrymen refused to do any business after the ninth hour, three o’clock on Friday. To this day in many parts of the East the Friday bears the additional designation of the Preparation. And in many well-ordered households among ourselves, the Saturday evening has a special quietness and repose in preparation for the approaching Lord’s day. And the Catechism here teaches that before reading the word of God, and especially before going to the house of God to hear His word preached, the mind should be studiously and habitually put into a state of preparation befitting the solemnity and importance of the occasion. Q. Must a man neglect his duty, if his heart be not duly prepared for it?—A. No; for that would be to add a new sin to the former, and aggravate it the more. Q. Doth unpreparedness for the word always hinder its efficacy on the heart?—A. No; God sometimes is found of them that seek Him not. But it is a sin to neglect it, and needs pardon of God (Flavel).

    receive it with faith and love—“The heritage of Scepticism is rather the settled spirit of doubt than the accumulated store of arguments” (Westcott). (See a noble passage in Stones of Venice, II. ii. 13, 14.)

    lay it up in our hearts—“According to a man’s thoughts so are his affections inflamed. Multiplied thoughts inflame affections, and inflamed affections increase the number of thoughts concerning them” (Owen).

    “Eye of God’s word, where’er we turn,
    Ever upon us! Thy keen gaze
    Can all the depths of sin discern,
    Unravel every bosom’s maze:

    Who that has felt thy glance of dread
    Thrill through his heart’s remotest cells,
    About his path, about his bed,
    Can doubt what spirit in thee dwells?”—Keble.

    practise it in our lives. From the heart are the issues of life, and unless the truth be lodged in the heart, it is impossible it can be practised in the life. Practice is the end of all reading and preaching (Matt. vii. 24–27).

    Use

    “A wise man will make better use of an idle pamphlet than a fool will do of Sacred Scripture” (Milton).

    Questions

    1. Enumerate the four steps here set forth in reading or hearing the word unto salvation, and take note how each successive step is characterized.

    2. Explain Shakespeare’s words, and apply them to the subject of preaching:

      A jest’s prosperity lies in the ear
      Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
      Of him that makes it. (Cf. Matt. xiii. 9, 23b).

    3. Flavel says that there are three duties that belong to the due manner of hearing,—some antecedent, some concomitant, and some subsequent. What are they?

    4. Explain the rabbinical saying: A precept is the reward of a precept.