INTRODUCTION
Good morning I'm so glad to see you all here today as we continue with our foundations for faith series using the Bible engagement project. If you're joining us for the first time today you can find my notes on you version Bible app under events or you can ask me at the end, and I would be happy to give you a printed copy.
And for those joining us online you can also find a link to the notes in the description of YouTube.
Last week it was so great to have pasture mill talk about the necessity of baptism of the Holy Spirit as a distinct separate act to the infilling of the Holy Spirit that we receive when we believe the baptism the Holy Spirit is here to equip us to do the work of ministry.
This morning we're going to talk about the two ordinances of the church. I grew up on the East Coast and many of my friends were Catholic I went to a Lutheran school from 1st through 3rd grade and these churches talk about 7 separate traditional sacraments or ordinances of the church, but we believe that Jesus himself established for us 2 specific ordinances.
WE BELIEVE that the Bible directs all believers to participate in water baptism by immersion and in Holy Communion (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4;
1 Corinthians 11:26).1
So, this morning we're going to talk about Holy Communion and water baptism as commands directly establish for the church to continue until he comes back as acts that we are to do.
The Catholic Church actually believes in seven separate sacraments and while these aren't bad in and of themselves we don't believe that these were things that were established specifically for the church to continue to do as ceremonies that were established by Jesus. So, these sacraments are first the Eucharist sacrifice of Christ body and blood we call that communion, water baptism, confirmation, penance which is now called reconciliation, anointing of the sick formerly called extreme unction, holy orders or ordination and then finally last marriage. In the assemblies we believe that Jesus directs us to follow 2 main things that we call ordinances or sacraments.
At the end of our service today we will celebrate communion which is the Lord's supper, and it is one of these sacraments that was established by Christ. Now before I go into either of these it is important to recognize that these ordinances are for believers for those that are already saved and I'll talk about that specifically as we discuss each one of them but the reason I'm mentioning this now is that both of these acts are acts of obedience for us to continue on as the church and not Rituals that bring about salvation.
1) Communion
During communion we take the time to remember the sacrifice that Christ did for us on the cross good in fact it was specifically his death on the cross that we are meant to remember: 1 Corinthians 11:25b-26
Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
Jesus commands us to continue to take communion to remember what he did for us. Communion is commemorative, instructive, and inspirational; It promotes thanksgiving and fellowship; It proclaims the covenant sealed by Christ blood and it carries with it every responsibility to remember what he did for us.
Turn with me to Luke 22:1-20
History of Communion
The Passover meal was celebrated by the disciples in the upper room before Jesus was crucified on the cross. This meal was a reminder for the children of Israel when they were in Egypt, and they had to sacrifice a pure unblemished lamb and paint the doorposts with the blood of the lamb.
When the Angel of death saw the blood on the doorpost he passed over that house saving the first-born Sons. When the disciples celebrated this meal with Jesus they were taking part in the ritual to remember what their ancestors went through when God freed them from Egypt an ordinance if you will that was established by God to help Israel remember what he did for them.
In the same way it is the blood of Jesus That not only confirms the covenant that we have between God and man, but it is the blood that covers us and cleanses us from our sins it is the blood that redeems us. God met for us to draw the parallel between the Passover lamb that was sacrificed so that the first borns would be spared and the first born of God Jesus who was sacrificed who took our place so that we could be spared the price of our sin.
1 Peter 1:18-22
And so, when we take communion we are not only remembering his death and his sacrifice but we're also looking forward to his promise that he is coming back again. For this reason, it's not just a time that we do this flippantly but a time to examine our hearts and be sure that we're ready for Jesus to return!
Jesus becomes our Passover lamb!
When we take communion we are to reflect on our lives to see if we are living a life that lines up with the word of God. If things aren't lining up this is the time for us to repent again and bring things back into alignment for what God has for us.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32
This is one why I only allow my children to partake of communion once they're able to understand and fully participate in the meaning behind the symbolism of the bread and the cup. I want them to be ready and to approach the Lord's table with reverence. And so right now all but Josiah watch and look on and wait to join in participation of communion.
The second ordinance established by Jesus is another one he also participated in and that is water baptism.
In the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus gives us this command: 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Dsa
2) Water Baptism
Water baptism is a ceremony that symbolizes the beginning of our spiritual life. It is a public declaration of what Christ has already done on the inside, and it declares our identity with Jesus in his death and our resurrection that has been made possible for our new life in him:
Romans 6:1-4
When I was a kid’s pastor one of the first things I would ask a kid that wanted to be baptized is what does baptism mean? Because I really wanted them to understand I would also ask them does baptism wash away your sins?
I think this is a common misconception because we often associate water with bathing and becoming physically clean, but it is important to remember that it's the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from our sin not water.
So, the water of baptism does not cleanse us, but it is our testimony to our faith in the risen Lord a faith that has to happen prior to baptism. Jesus commands us to go and make disciples then baptize them in the name of the father son and Holy Spirit. So, the person must first be a disciple or one who believes in Jesus prior to them publicly declaring that faith through baptism. It is the outward symbol of what has happened inwardly.
In fact, there are only eight people in all the history of the world that were saved by water.
1 Peter 3:20-21
I love this comparison that Peter makes between in the floodwaters of Noah and the baptism in water that we're talking about this morning.
The water of the flood brought judgment to the world because the world was full of corruption and violence. So, in the same way the waters of baptism symbolize judgment that Jesus in his death took upon himself for all times period the water of the flood did not cleanse Noah or his family but instead he and his family came through the waters through the flood and were saved from its judgment with a testimony of what God did for them in his great mercy. It was not the waters that saved but Noah's faith that made him.
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
Noah Believed in God before ever going through the floodwaters and so God saved him from the floodwaters. The waters of baptism represent the grave and the death that Jesus went through, and we are dead and buried the old man is gone the old man was judged found guilty and gone and we are resurrected a new life in him.
Who should be baptized?
All who believe in Jesus should be baptized at the beginning of their spiritual walk with God. We believe do not believe in baptizing infants because they have not been saved and have not yet sinned make them guilty and so by Christ’s mercy he is not holding anything against them in until they can understand and receive the forgiveness for themselves.
In acts 2, Peter said that this salvation was for you and your children but something to remember in 1st century culture infants were not considered to be children yet until they were at the age where they could speak and understand up until that point they were looked upon as kind of like pets loved and cherished but not really part of the family due to high infant mortality rates.
In the Middle Ages there's once again high infant mortality rates and people came to the church wanting some assurances that their children would go to heaven and so infant baptism started as a means to placate the masses, but it is not supported biblically. Some compare infant baptism to circumcision of the old covenant which had to happen on the eighth day but in Galatians 6:15 Paul writes: It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.
And since circumcision did not save the individual, but it was the transformation into a new creation that saves in the same way infant baptism is not what saves it is Christ himself.
Baptism doesn't cleanse us from our sins, and it does not save us only Jesus does this. Peter's sermon given an Acts 2:38 he references baptism for the forgiveness of your sins, but the baptism wasn't what brought about forgiveness but the blood of Jesus as Peter writes in his letter in first Peter 1:18
John's baptism was a baptism of repentance Then Matthew 3:11 he stated “I baptize with water those who repent from their sins and turn to God…” at the same time he refused to baptize the Pharisees and Sadducees until they showed fruit of their repentance and a change in their character:
Matthew 3:7-8
7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.
How do we baptize?
We Baptize through submersion in water in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We do this because the word in the Greek baptismo literally means to submerse. There are certain denominations that sprinkle, and they do this because of Ezekiel 3625 in which God speaks of sprinkling clean water however the tradition of baptizing is established in the New Testament through the word baptismo. And is essential for the imagery to understand what baptism means that we read about in Romans 6/1 through four. If we don't have the submersion in the water we don't see the burial of our old selves with Jesus and the death and then the resurrection as we emerge from the water. We also see in mark 110 that when Jesus was baptized, setting the example for us that he came up out of the water and in acts 8 when Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuchs he went down and came up out of the water again signifying this submersion or immersion in water.
When we baptize someone we do this in the formula supplied by Jesus in his command to us to baptize them in the name of the father son and the Holy Spirit. The word name in the Greek means title and it's here to give the title to each part of the Trinity and it's means to be baptized under the authority of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit and when we do that under their authority we're doing it as a form of worship to the triune God.
CLOSING
If you have received Jesus as savior but have not been baptized my encouragement for you is to do so. Now I don't believe that water baptism saves you, but I do believe in following in the footsteps and commands that Jesus has given us. We are choosing to obey his voice in our lives, so we are choosing to obey him when we are baptized. He is now and has always been Lord and we're simply submitting to him in obedience and we're dying to our old self, our old nature and becoming spiritually alive in Christ. Symbolically all that is bad and sinful in your life is being buried when you are baptized and you rise a completely new person.
As we close today, I want to take communion and go back to that space where we make room for Jesus. Where we take the time to look at ourselves and give everything over to him. I want to invite the worship team back up to sing that song make room one more time and as they sing it I would ask you to examine yourself is there something that has gotten in the way of your relationship with Jesus that needs to be made right.
Is there something that's getting in the way of you being obedient to him in all areas including baptism?
This morning is your chance to repent and start a new with him.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
