Signs 4 “No-U-Turns”
by Pastor Donny Granberry
This morning we return to our Summer Message Series, “Signs.”
Our thought of focus today is “No-U-Turns,” and we will be studying the ordinances of the church.
Ordinance – command, order, law, constitution, statute, standing order. (Greek – the New Testament was written in Greek) A configuration by God where provision is made.
There are two ordinances of the church, and each fit this description.
• Water Baptism
• Holy Communion
Let’s take a look at the two and their significance.
WATER BAPTISM
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Mark 16:16-17 NIV
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Baptism – Greek word Baptizo
The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C.
It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be “dipped” (bapto) into boiling water and then “baptized” (baptizo) in the vinegar solution.
Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution.
But the first is temporary, but the second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change.
• A wedding ring is an outward sign that a person is married.
• A military uniform is an outward sign that a person is involved in that particular branch of service.
• Similarly, water baptism is a symbol designed by God to identify a person as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Water Baptism is an outward sign of an inward experience.
ILLUSTRATION
Radio personality, Paul Harvey, said that even though he had received almost every reward possible for his broadcasting ability that he still felt empty inside.
Paul Harvey said this about his experience being water baptized.
The preacher had said there was nothing magic in the water. Yet as I descended into the depths & rose again I knew something life changing had happened - a cleansing inside out. No longer did there seem to be two uncertain contradictory Paul Harvey’s, just one immensely happy one. I felt the fulfilling surge of the Holy Spirit in my life.”
Paul Harvey went on, "The change this simple act made in my life is so immense as to be indescribable. Since totally yielding to Him in baptism, my heart can’t stop singing.
Tell the story about Johnny:
Driving past the church and read the sign, “Water Baptism Tonight.”
He thought, I have been baptized in water.
As a matter of fact, Johnny had never become a Christian.
He accepted Christ in the class, was baptized in water that night, and was filled with the Holy Ghost in the altar service.
• The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded by the Scriptures.
• All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized.
• Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life.
SONG:
I’ll tell the world that I’m a Christian, I’m not ashamed His name to bear, I’ll tell the world …, and go with Him anywhere.
The second ordinance of the Church is …
HOLY COMMUNION
Luke 22:19 KJV
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
To really understand Holy Communion, we must look at its past, present and future significance.
[PAST] What is the History of Holy Communion?
It comes from the Passover
• Israel had been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years, and they cried out unto the Lord for deliverance
• God sent a deliverer to Egypt, Moses and his brother Aaron.
• God brought 10 plagues on Egypt because of their treatment of Israel
• Pharaoh wouldn’t listen
• The last plague was the death angel that killed all the first born in Egypt
• God told Moses to put blood on the door posts of all Israelite houses to keep the death angel away
That night they were to have this feast in celebration of their deliverance the next day from Egypt
Exodus 12:17
"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
Today, we still celebrate the Passover, but we call it Holy Communion, and it has been changed because of the blood covenant that God made with man.
[PRESENT] Meaning of the Elements
Jesus reminded them, “This do in remembrance of Me.”
Bread: wafer
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, meaning "The House of Bread"
Bread is one of life’s most common things at any meal.
On earth Jesus was to be "common,” because God wanted Jesus to be available to all.
Bread of communion is a very similar
- It is a staple item
- It is easily shared with others, you just cut it or tear it
- In the Passover meal it was unleavened to symbolize a lack worldly influences
We use a wafer made from unleavened bread.
It doesn’t really matter because the meaning doesn’t change.
The bread is a reminder of his body which was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, He bore our sorrows, and because of His stripes we are healed.
CUP
In this church we take communion with grape juice, not wine.
• Frementation - an enzymatically controlled anaerobic breakdown of an energy-rich compound. Fermentation destroys the oxygen in a compound. To decay.
The fruit of the vine is a symbol that illustrates that Christ used for His blood.
And just how do you get wine out of the grape?
- You crush it!
- You have to literally smash it
• Jesus was literally crushed,
• His flesh was so marred he was unrecognizable
• His hair pulled out
• And then his blood was spilled out and he suffocated
So when we partake of the cup, we are remembering how much Christ suffered for us.
[FUTURE] Heaven
Jesus reminds tem that they will one day partake of the Lord’s Table together again, in Heaven.
What is He reminding them?
I’m coming back?
Song:
This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through,
My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue,
The angels beckon me, from Heavens open door,
And I can’t live at home in this world anymore.
