The Ordinances of the Church

Good evening.

We are in the middle of our 25-lesson unit on eschatology. We're on lesson number 14. And tonight we're looking at what we call the ordinances of the church.

Some churches have what they call sacraments. Some churches have what they call ordinances. They're the same thing. But how many of them are there and what are they? And what's the difference between a symbol and a rite? And an ordinance. And why do some churches have more than just two, such as what we have — two that we recognize as Baptists? Why do they do so? And then next week, we're going to have a continuation of this and we'll be looking at the ordinance of baptism, talking about what baptism symbolizes, what it actually means, what it points to. And we'll look at other Christian churches, the way that they interpret it. There are many churches that baptize infants. Why do they do that? And it's not a uniform answer. Lutherans have one reason. Catholics have another reason. Presbyterians have another reason. And so we'll be going over all that next week. And then the following week, we'll be looking at the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. And as you know, many different denominations have different views of the Lord's Supper. Some are what we call a memorialist or symbolic approach to it. Others such as the Catholic Church have what they call transubstantiation. The Lutheran Church has consubstantiation. We'll be looking at all that. That way you'll have a really good overview and understanding of what that is. But tonight we're going to look at the concept of the ordinances or the sacraments and hopefully you'll find this to be very edifying tonight. So let's begin with Bible point number one here on our handout.

The church is the great company of persons who Christ has saved, in whom He dwells, and to whom and through whom He reveals God, and in whom He exercises spiritual dominion. This is the definition we've been working on this entire time. And it's simply the church is the redeemed people, right? The church is not just a building, but it is a group of people whom Christ has saved, in whom He dwells. We believe that the moment that you put your faith in Christ, that God comes to live within your heart — His Holy Spirit. And not only is it whom He dwells, but whom He's revealed Himself to. It takes God to reveal Himself to us, right? And whom He reveals Himself through. We're supposed to be ambassadors for Christ, right? The church is supposed to be a missional people to proclaim God's faithful love. And also in whom He exercises spiritual dominion. We believe that God is God, which means that He's boss and we're not, right? And we need to walk according to His ways and follow after Him in gratitude, not for fear of retribution. Christ paid every debt that we could ever incur on the cross, but we obey God simply out of love and gratitude for Him laying down His life for us.

The church is the temple of God's indwelling. Ephesians 2:21–22. Christ as head nourishes and cherishes — cherishes is the first blank — cherishes His body. What does cherish mean? Treasure.

Yeah, treasure, love, right? We say that in our wedding vows, right, that we promised to cherish. Right. And Christ not only nourishes, but He cherishes the church. We find that in Ephesians 5:29. It's a great passage that talks about marriage. But Paul's not just talking about marriage. He's saying that marriage is a figure that points us to the love of Christ for His church.

Christ edifies the church through the word of God. Edifies means to feed, to build up, to nourish. The word of God is at the heart of what we sometimes call the ordinary means of grace.

God regenerates — regenerates and sanctifies His church through His word — word is a second blank — and Spirit. Spirit is a third blank. It's through His word and His Spirit that we are saved, right? We hear the gospel proclaimed, repent and believe, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Pastor read that from Mark 1:15 earlier tonight. That's the gospel in a nutshell, right? But just hearing those words isn't enough. The Holy Spirit has to turn our hearts, right? Because apart from His grace, we would resist Him, right? We'd be stubborn mules and back away every time. But the Holy Spirit works together with the word to regenerate us, and not just to give us a new heart and a new disposition and a new love, but also to sanctify us, to continue to conform us into the perfect image of Christ. All of our Christian lives, we're just sinners that have been forgiven, right? And we're in the process of being made more Christ-like every day through His word and Spirit.

The ordinary means of grace is the word of God read, preached, prayed, sung, fellowshiped over, pictured in baptism — pictured is the fourth blank — and tasted — tasted is the fifth blank — in the Lord's Supper.

In other words, it's the word of God that underlies our prayers, right? That underlies our preaching, that underlies us listening, that underlies what we do when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. It's a picture of Christ's sacrifice for us. The same with baptism. It's a symbol of our union with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

Oftentimes, Baptists are picked on a little bit by other denominations that have more pageantry in their worship. You go into some churches and they have icons and stained glass windows and they may have drama in their worship. Some churches even have liturgical dance. Different things like that. And they'll say, Baptists are kind of plain vanilla people, right? You know, you don't have a lot of pizzazz there.

And I beg to differ.

Because the common means or the ordinary means of grace is the word of God that reaches all of our senses. It's the word of God read, right? It's the word of God preached, spoken. It's the word of God prayed, where we pray. It comes from our own lips, right? It's the word of God sung. These hymns are based upon scripture. We often sing songs that are based on the Psalms or other passages in the scripture. It's the word of God observed in baptism, right? And the word of God tasted in the elements, right?

It takes all of our senses and it focuses them on Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, right? So what we call the ordinary means of grace are not so ordinary. They're extraordinary, aren't they, right? Because they point to an extraordinary Savior.

These constitute the elements of Christian worship and are the key to faithful discipleship. That's why it's so important that we meet together physically as a church. I know during COVID, it weaned a lot of people off the church. "I'll stay home and watch it on YouTube," or whatnot. But there's no substitute for being together with the people of God, to be able to fellowship together over the word, to sing in unison together, to pray, to witness baptisms, and to partake of the Lord's Supper — a shared meal together. Right?

The application for number one is: can ordinary means produce extraordinary change? Change is the blank in us.

Yes. The word of God may seem ordinary to most folks, but it produces extraordinary results. It's the word of God that can take a man like Saul, who was spitting out threatenings and separating families, who stood by while they stoned Stephen and consented to his death, and turn him around and make him into St. Paul, right? A man who loved Christ and loved the church and loved the poor and loved the sick and dedicated his very life to it and even gave his life for it. Right? That's what the word of God can do. It can take the most miserable, vile sinner and turn them into a sweet saint. Right? The word of God may seem ordinary, and it is part of what we call the ordinary means of grace, but it can produce extraordinary change in the most wretched soul.

But when — number two — a symbol. Symbol is a blank.

A symbol is a sign or visible representation of an invisible truth or idea. For example, a lion symbolizes strength and courage. Many kings would have a lion on their crest. Right? What is Jesus called in the scripture but a Lion of the tribe of what? Of Judah. Right? A lamb symbolizes gentleness. Right? We talk about gentle lambs, and Christ also — not only was He lion, but He was lamb. Right? As He stood before His accusers, He didn't say a word and He laid down His life voluntarily for us, enduring the suffering and the torment. Right? Led as a lamb to the slaughter. An olive branch symbolizes peace. Right? It goes all the way back to Noah. The storms of chaos and judgment had passed. The waters were receding and an olive branch was letting us know that things had settled down. Peace is here. Right?

A wedding ring symbolizes marriage. We all know that.

Symbols can teach great truths. Jesus' cursing of a fig tree taught the doom of unfruitful Judaism. Remember, as He was coming into Jerusalem in His last week, He saw a tree that had no fruit on it and He cursed it. Right? It was symbolic of what He does for an unfruitful people. Right? And Judaism was unfruitful. It was not producing fruit. Instead of embracing the prophets, they stoned and killed the prophets, and Jesus wept over them and He died for them.

Jesus' washing the disciples' feet taught His loving condescension to purify and save, and also the humble service He requires of us. That was a symbolic act there in the upper room when He washed His disciples' feet. Right? They had been dirty on that road and He washed them, cared for them as a humble door servant would do. Right? To show them, A, their need for forgiveness and cleanliness — but to have their soul saved and their sin wiped away — but also to be a model for us that just as Jesus laid down His life for us, we lay our life down for others. So symbols can be powerful tools for teaching.

A rite — R-I-T-E — that's the second blank. A rite, R-I-T-E, is a symbol which is employed with regularity and intent. Intent is the third blank. A rite is a symbol that's regularly employed for an intended purpose. Symbols become rites when used this way in the church. For example, the laying on of hands in ordination. If you've been here over the last few years, you know we've ordained deacons. A few years ago we ordained some elders. And when that's done, we symbolically lay our hands on that person. We are not imparting some power to them. You know, it's not like we're a wizard and we have some power — you'd see that in a fantastical movie, you know, giving someone power. No, it's symbolic that we approve them. That they are an extension of the gospel ministry and that we're commending them to the congregation for service. It's a symbol, but it's a symbol that is practiced regularly with intent. That's what a rite is.

Another example is the giving of the right hand of fellowship. When someone joins the church, we often say, "Come on, let's give them the right hand of fellowship." Let's accept them, embrace them as members of our congregation. Even in secular fields, we do that, right? Don't we shake someone's hands, right? We seal the deal with a handshake, right? A handshake agreement. You've heard that before.

Other rites in secular circles derive their same history from the church. And that's one of them.

Symbols become rites when used this way.

And an ordinance is a symbolic rite. This is the fourth blank. An ordinance — O-R-D-I-N-A-N-C-E — an ordinance is a symbolic rite. It is a rite that has particular symbolism. And that symbolism, we'll look at in just a moment, is specific to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Let's look at Galatians 2:9. Here's an example of — is this a symbol or a rite? "They gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship."

It's a rite, right? It's a symbol that has become used with regularity and with intent. And it was basically them commending them into the gospel ministry to go and preach to the Gentiles. Flip over on the back.

Want to look at Mark 7:1–13. We have to be careful that we don't let rites or symbols become mundane and devoid of their symbolism. We see this in Mark chapter 7, verses 1 through 13. "Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him" — to Christ — "having come from Jerusalem. Now, when they saw some of the disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands, they found fault." The Pharisees had all kinds of traditions that they made up that were not in the scriptures. They had certain ways of ceremonially washing their hands. If you read in the Talmud, they were to take an eggshell and scoop up water — I think it was three eggshells — and they were to pour the water from their fingertips down to their elbows and then from their elbow down to their fingertips. And if you didn't do it that particular way, then you were considered unclean and defiled and not worthy of being a godly person and being welcome into the temple. Right. So they were adding all these burdens — extra-biblical burdens — on the people through their symbols and their rituals. Verse three, "for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold like the washings of cups, pitchers, copper vessels and couches." It didn't end with the washing of hands. They had a rule for everything — these traditions that they had conjured. Number five, verse five, "then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, 'Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?'" They thought that they had Jesus right where they wanted Him. "But He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."'" They were doing all these outward symbolic acts, but their heart was vile. Their heart was full of envy and conceit and hatred.

Verse seven, "and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men." So they were saying, "This is what God wants you to do," and they were making it up as they went.

Verse eight, "for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the traditions of men — the washing of pitchers and cups, and many such things you do." "He said to them, 'All too well, you reject the commandments of God that you may keep your tradition.'"

He gives them an example from Moses: "'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'He who curses his father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban' — that is, a gift to God — then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do." Jesus is referring to the idea that if you had a mother or father who was in need, as a good son or daughter you would want to provide for them. You'd want to help them out, whether it's a material need or maybe it's food or maybe they're sick. But they would get around that by saying, "Oh, I've dedicated those funds to God. Eventually I'm going to give them to God. It's Corban. And so I can't help my mother and father because the money in my bank account — I said it's God's." Right. And Jesus is saying that's an abomination. You're breaking God's commandments and you're using men's traditions as an excuse.

Look at Matthew 6:7. "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." Many people think that prayer is about reciting something — maybe something they read in a book or something they heard when they were little — instead of praying from the heart. Right. And it's very easy to rattle off a prayer and not even engage your mind and not even grab your heart. It's not sincere. Right. Flip back over on the front.

Application. Is it possible to observe a ritual but miss its significance? Significance is a blank for number two. The application. Is it possible?

Of course you could. In fact, I would venture to say that in some churches they do the Lord's Supper so haphazardly that you wouldn't even know what it was about.

Toby and I visited a church one time in Texas where the pastor finished the sermon and said, "Oh, by the way, communion is on the back table. Grab it on your way out." You know, is that any way to honor the Lord's Supper? Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of Me." We didn't go back to that church, but I remember that very, very well. It's possible to observe an ordinance but miss its symbolism.

Bible point number three. The ordinances of the church are those outward rites which, as administered in His church, are visible — visible is the first blank — visible signs of the saving truth of the gospel. Gospel is the second blank. In other words, an ordinance has particular meaning. It's not just pointing to something like, say, the passing of the peace or the extending of the right hand of fellowship or the laying on of hands — something to do with affirmation or appointment to service. It's a very specific thing, and it has to do with the enunciation, the proclamation, the celebration of the gospel: that Christ left glory, He took on human flesh, He lived a perfect life for us, to die in our stead — to take on our sins so we may receive His righteousness, His favor, and His love and His standing before the Father. He takes upon Himself all of our shortcomings, our shame, our sin, and we get His righteousness and the very love of God the Father for His Son. That's what an ordinance is. It's a visible sign of the saving truth of the gospel. The ordinances are signs that vividly express the truth of the gospel to all. When we partake of communion,

we herald it. We celebrate it. We explain what it's about, right? Because if you just eat it and drink it with no explanation, you're not setting forth the gospel. But in setting forth the gospel, it's a beautiful picture of His body broken — the bread being broken for us — and the wine, His blood that was poured out for us. It was shed for the remission of sins, right? The same with baptism. Baptism is symbolic of Christ's death, right? He's put into the water, right? We have died with Christ. No longer does sin have dominion over us. No longer are we separated from God. No longer are we considered sinners in the eyes of God. It's buried. That old man is dead. And we're raised along with Christ in newness of life to have His standing and His power working in and through us to transform us, right? That's what an ordinance is. It's one that preaches the gospel.

These pictures do not replace the word of God, but set it forth in picture — picture is the third blank for number three — picture form, as a complement to the faithful proclamation of the word of God. So both the Lord's Supper and baptism are complementary to the word of God. We preach the gospel alongside them, and baptism and the Lord's Supper illustrate what we're preaching.

They are used with preaching to set forth Christ as crucified and risen. These signs also confirm the gospel to the believer, nourishing — nourishing is the fourth blank — and strengthening their faith. In other words, these signs are not just a proclamation of the gospel, but they are what strengthens our faith, right? Our faith isn't willy-nilly hocus pocus and nothing. Our faith is what joins us to Christ, right? And our faith is grounded in Christ — confidence that His sacrifice was sufficient, right? That He was sinless. He was the perfect Lamb of God. And though my sins are as scarlet, in Christ they are white as snow. And so it is our confidence in Christ, set forth in the ordinances, that nourishes us. When your faith is weak and you feel the condemnation that the devil wants to bring — "God can't love you. You've fouled up again. How many times are you going to do that?" — then we look to Christ in the ordinances, right? Pictured in the Lord's Supper and in baptism. And those things nourish our faith. They strengthen us. And we hear the voice of God through them saying, "This is My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, and you are in Him. Christ is in you. You have eaten of them. You have drunk of them. You have been identified with His death, burial, and resurrection."

Romans 10:17. "So then faith comes by hearing, and" — what?

"And hearing by the word of God." It is the word of God proclaimed that produces faith within us. Right. We hear the good news of Christ's love for us, His death, burial, and resurrection. And He says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart." He tells everybody, "Come. You don't have to have money. Buy without price. Come and drink of Me." It's a free offer to us all. Right. And that's what produces faith.

Flip over on the back.

John 4:23–24 says this — Jesus speaking to the woman in Samaria: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such as worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."

What the ordinances set forth is the truth of Christ — who He is and what He has done for us. They're not about formalities. They are not about rituals to be observed that are just senseless and divorced from reality. They're grounded in the ultimate reality. To worship God in spirit and truth is to worship Him as He is and as He's revealed Himself. And there's no greater revelation of God than the cross of Jesus Christ. There we see His fullness of wrath against sin, His holiness. And we also see His expression of love in Christ, who paid that price and endured the wrath of God so that we might live. Flip back over on the front.

The application for number three.

Why must the ordinances be explained — explained is a blank — when observed?

Why? Well, why should we explain them? If they are a picture of what Christ has done for us, do they need explanation?

Yes, we need to hear it right. We need to hear what they represent. We need to hear the promises of God. Right. And that's why we always accompany the practice or the observance of the Lord's Supper and baptism with the preached gospel, because it's the gospel that saves you.

Bible point number four. An ordinance is a symbolic rite which sets forth the central truths of the Christian faith and which is of universal and perpetual obligation. We already looked at number three — how they set forth the truth of the gospel. But here in number four, we see that they also entail a universal and perpetual obligation on the church. This is something that the church must observe and always observe until our Lord Jesus comes again for us.

These symbolic rites are called ordinances because Jesus ordained — that's the first blank — ordained these. Ordained means commanded or instituted, right? Set forth these to visibly picture our union — union is the second blank — our union with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection. The minute we place our faith in Christ, we are spiritually one with Him. That's the way we can receive His righteousness. That's the way He takes our sin and our shame and our death. It's not a physical union. It's a spiritual union through faith, effected by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes in and gives us a new heart and makes His home within us, seals us forever in Him.

Jesus ordained these to visibly picture our union with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection. These symbolic rites are also called ordinances because Jesus commanded — commanded is the third blank — that these be practiced by the disciples continually until He comes. I'm not going to read all these, but I'll let you read them on your own time. You know that Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of Me," when He instituted the Lord's Supper. Right. And how about in the Great Commission: "Go into all the world, preach the gospel" — the proclamation — "baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." These are something that Christ has commanded His church to do. Jesus commanded baptism — baptism is the fourth blank. His disciples faithfully taught it and His church obediently practiced it. And you can look up these references in your own study. This week will be a very, I think, fruitful thing for you to do, to see how often these are prescribed. Likewise, Jesus commanded the Lord's Supper. This is the fifth blank.

His disciples faithfully taught it and His church obediently practiced it. Baptism and the Lord's table or the Lord's Supper set the gospel vividly before our eyes. Look what He says in Matthew 26:26.

"Take, eat, this is My body." He was telling His disciples, "Take, eat it." Right. He didn't say, "You don't have to eat it. You know, just take it."

You have to have Me, so to speak. It's not that there's anything supernatural in the bread or the wine, but it's what they point to. They point to Christ. Right. Unless we partake of Christ through faith, we have none of Christ. Right.

Flip over on the back.

In the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18–20: "Jesus came and spoke to them, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.'" They become disciples first. They become believers in Christ. Then they're baptized. "Teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." So baptism is something that should be continually done upon every time a person is converted. Right. They should be baptized.

First Corinthians 11:23–26, the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it and said, 'Take, eat, this is My body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.'" We're to do it frequently. Does it tell us how frequently? That's up to each individual church, but we're to do it till He comes. Right. And in doing so, we're proclaiming His death, burial, and resurrection.

Application for number four. Should the Lord's table or baptism be considered optional? Optional is the blank. Can a Christian say, "You know what?

I know I'm a Christian. I've expressed faith in the Lord, but I'm afraid to get up in front of people and get baptized."

Maybe when a child is younger and you want to make sure that the child has come to faith and that it's true faith — that's okay to delay. But for a Christian adult, you should get baptized if you have not been baptized. And if you haven't been baptized, talk to myself, talk to Casey, talk to any of the elders, and we will be glad to arrange that. That's a beautiful, celebratory thing. The whole church is rooting for you because we know what it is — your public identification with Christ. We know what it's celebrating, what it's setting forth. Right. Same with the Lord's Supper. I've heard people say before, "You know, I can't partake of the Lord's Supper today. I've had some bitterness in my heart this week. I've said some foul words. I've been angry at my boss. I've done wrong this week. I'm not worthy of the Lord's table."

Don't ever believe that lie.

The Lord's table beckons sinners saying, "Come and receive the forgiveness of Christ." Right? "If you confess your sins, Christ wipes your sins away." And that's what we celebrate when His body is broken and His blood poured out for us on the cross. We're picturing that. We're illustrating that in the Lord's Supper. So don't ever let that keep you. Now, if you have someone in the congregation that you've wronged, go make it right with them — right, of course — but don't ever let your sense of personal unworthiness keep you from the table. In fact, we can take introspection too far. There's only one place in scripture — it's in the Corinthian church — where He talks to the saints about self-examination. But it's because they're eating greedily, right? And they're not recognizing that their brothers and sisters are members of Christ's body just as they are. And they're treating them wrong, right? So we do always need to be cognizant of our brothers and sisters and make sure that we are at peace with one another and that we're recognizing them as brothers and sisters, not trampling on them. But that's part of repentance, right? Any person who is repentant, any person who is truly sorrowful for their sin and has asked God to forgive them should never keep themselves from the Lord's table. It's there for grace, right? It's there as a picture of what Christ has already secured for us on the cross.

Bible point number five. Some Christian churches use the term "sacraments" as synonymous with ordinances. So in some traditions, instead of saying ordinances, they say "sacraments." Okay. That's usually pointing to the same thing. A sacramentum was an oath — O-A-T-H — an oath, kind of like you take a public oath of office. Oath is a first blank. An oath taken by a Roman soldier to obey — obey is a second blank — his commander, even unto death. So a Roman soldier swore that he would follow his captain even to death. If it was a suicide mission and they knew they had no hope of surviving, they were told to go charge and run the gauntlet, so to speak — they did it because of their sacramentum. It was their oath as a soldier.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper can be said to be sacraments in the sense that they are vows — vows is a third blank — of allegiance to Christ our master, whom we lovingly serve. Serve is a fourth blank.

In other words, when we go through the waters of baptism, it symbolizes our identity with Christ, saying, "My old man is dead, and now I'm going to serve Christ. I'm in Christ and I'm going to live for Him." So it's our pledge or our oath to Him of allegiance to Christ. Is it not? How about when we partake of the Lord's Supper — the same thing? It's Christ in you, the hope of glory, right? It symbolizes that Christ is in us. And it's like Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." It's Christ living within us, feeding our faith, encouraging us, beckoning us to follow Him. Right.

John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love Me, what?"

"Keep My commandments." Exactly right. Flip over on the back.

Look at 1 John 5:2–3, very similar. "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." It's a joy to keep His commandments, right? He has saved us and we want to please Him, right? Just as we want to please our spouse or please our parents, we want to please our Lord and Jesus, who bought us, died for us, and rose again.

Application for number five. What are the dangers — dangers is the blank — of not keeping Christ's ordinances? What are the dangers if we don't observe the Lord's Supper or if we don't observe baptism? What could go wrong?

What's that?

It could cause us to easily drift away, right? We forget the gospel. They're a picture of what Christ has done for us, right? His glorious death, burial, and resurrection for us. It's God for you. That's what it's picturing. We forget the amazing love of God and we can drift away to sin and selfishness and worldliness, right?

How else can that be a danger in neglecting those ordinances?

Cannot it rob a church of its gospel witness? One of the most beautiful pictures is when someone — whether they're young or whether they're old — is getting baptized. Every time I've seen people here at our church get baptized, what a joy it is, because it's like, "Wow, there's hope for them." Right? That means there's hope for me, and the gospel is being preached. It's being proclaimed.

Bible point number six. Some Christian churches speak of sacraments or ordinances with the language of having a "signing and sealing" — sealing is a first blank — effect. You see this particularly in the Reformed tradition. They speak of the language of having a signing and sealing effect on those who receive them. Such language must be carefully defined.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper can only — only is a second blank — be said to be a sign and seal in that believers who participate in the ordinances ratify and affirm — affirm is a third blank — their faith in Christ, a Savior to whom they are already — that's a fourth blank — already united.

In other words, they are a sign and a seal in the sense that they ratify. When we participate in the ordinances — when, say, a believer goes to be baptized —

is there anything magical in that water that transforms them or washes away their sin? No. But they've already expressed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and they want to be identified with Him, right? And so in that sense, what they are doing is ratifying their previous commitment. They're making it public, right? And they are embracing their identity in Christ. It's not that the water is saving them or is salvific, or that the ceremony saves them. No, they're already saved, right? They're celebrating what God has already done in their life. And the exact same thing with the Lord's Supper.

Some traditions make it sound like Christ is being sacrificed anew every time the Lord's table is observed. That's not the case. We're going through the book of Hebrews on Sunday mornings and we know that Christ is the last and final sacrifice, right? He was offered once and for all. You never have to repeat that sacrifice because He was infinitely perfect — the perfect Son of God. So He satisfied the wrath of God for all who believe in Him.

First Corinthians 6:17, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him."

That means those who are united to the Lord, joined to the Lord, are one spirit with Him. The Spirit comes and lives within us. The Bible says that we are in Christ and Christ is in us.

Flip over on the back.

Second Corinthians 1:21–22, "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God." Who establishes you in Christ? It's God. And He has anointed you. He's poured out His Spirit on you. He's made you one with Christ, "who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." That's the true seal, right? The true sign and seal of our faith is the Holy Spirit. And Christ has given us that as a guarantee — as a down payment, so to speak — a foretaste of what heaven is going to be like.

Flip back over on the front.

Application for number six. "How are we truly" — truly is the blank — "truly sealed?" How are we truly sealed?

With the Holy Spirit, exactly right. I want to read to you from Ephesians chapter one. We went through the book of Ephesians about a year ago on Sunday morning, and what a glorious time that was. In Ephesians chapter one, you probably remember from verses 13 and 14, it says, "In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." And can you hear the word, right? And you trust. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. "The gospel of your salvation. In whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was a guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." The Holy Spirit, who is the sign and seal of our faith.

Bible point number seven. "No" is the first blank. "No ordinance is a sacrament in the sense of conferring grace." Grace is the second blank. In other words, some churches teach that the sacraments actually give you grace, that the sacraments are actually salvific, that if you don't participate in the sacraments of the church, then you are not saved. You can lose your salvation if you miss a mass or if you're not baptized and you die. They believe that the sacraments actually confer grace rather than recognizing the grace already given to us in Christ.

"Ordinances merely express and remind us of the grace of God already" — that's the third blank — "given to us in Christ." Salvation is by faith alone. We read that in Ephesians 2:8–9. Let me read that to you. "For by grace you have been saved through faith." That means it's a gift. "And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." We cannot earn our salvation. If we could, we'd be boasting, wouldn't we? "Oh, I did it. Did it my way. Pulled myself up by my own spiritual bootstraps. I climbed up to the mountaintop and made God like me." Right? Not at all. It's a gift. It's grace.

The ordinances are the external picture of a believer's preceding union with Christ. It is a picture of what Christ has already done for us. He's joined us to Himself, sealed us with His Spirit. In contrast, Roman Catholicism regards the sacraments or ordinances as actually conferring grace and producing holiness in the recipients.

In other words, it is by faithfully partaking in the mass and in the various sacraments — they recognize seven sacraments — that you will hopefully find salvation. Right?

They erroneously teach that the holy acts and rituals known as sacraments bestow God's grace by dispensing divine — divine is a third blank — divine life to the recipients. In other words, instead of being united to the living Christ through faith alone, they believe that you are united to divine life through continuous participation in the various sacraments. Right?

They assert that the sacraments are entrusted by Christ to the Roman Catholic Church and are mediated by their priests. So you have to go to the priest to receive this divine life. Roman Catholicism asserts that these sacraments are the physical means of constituting and maintaining one's union with Christ. Union is the fourth blank. We talked about union with Christ as a spiritual union through faith. Right? Well, they view the sacraments as a physical way of uniting us to Christ. It turns it on its head. In this era, some Protestant churches substantially agree and are known as sacramentalists.

Some Protestant churches and Orthodox churches do the same — they believe that the sacraments confer grace. Give you an example. The Lutheran church believes that baptism is salvific. That's the reason why they baptize their babies. They don't want to risk that the baby may grow up and not be baptized. So you baptize that baby to get them into heaven. Right?

As we've already seen, though — and we'll talk about this next week — baptism should follow faith. Right?

Not precede faith. But they again view it as a physical way of issuing divine life — God's life, the life of Christ — to people.

Flip over on the back.

Second Peter chapter 1:1–4. "Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ." He's calling Jesus Christ God here, and it's the righteousness of Christ that gives us favor with God, right? Christ gives us His righteousness freely. On the cross. Verse two, "grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Peter is saying, if you want to experience the divine nature of God, it's through His promises that are fulfilled in Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of every promise of God. And if we trust in Christ, we become one with God. Divine nature is given to us. That's how we receive the divine life — through faith in Christ as the promised Messiah. It's not through rituals. It's not through getting wet. It's not through eating food. It's not through last rites. It's not through matrimony. It's not through any of these things that some churches call sacraments. It's simply through faith in the living Savior. Flip back over on the front. The application for number seven.

Who is the only giver — giver is the blank — of life? Who's the only giver of life? Jesus. Exactly right. Two reference verses. Let's look these up together. In the gospel of John, John chapter 5, verse 26. So you got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

John chapter 5 is an incredible testimony from Jesus.

And in John 5:26, Jesus says, "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself."

What is it that makes God God?

Part of it is His self-existence, right? We're all creatures, created things. God is the uncreated creator, right? He has life in Himself. It's one of the most incredible attributes of God. We talked about it when we did theology proper three years ago — the aseity of God, that God has life in Himself. He's the author of life, right? Christ is the only one who can give both physical life and spiritual life. People try to attain it on their own. You're in vain if you try to extend your life just a millisecond. You can't do it.

And you're just as much in futility trying to find spiritual life outside of Christ. It can't be found. Nothing in this world will satisfy. Everything is a falsehood. It's a mirage. It'll leave you high and dry and lead only to death. But Christ has life in and of Himself.

In John 14:6 — flip over a couple of pages — I'm sorry, verse six, John 14:6. A passage I know many of you have memorized. It's the famous words of comfort of Christ. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth'" — not a way, not a truth — "'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" Only Christ has life in and of Himself. He's the only giver of life.

The application is: who's the only giver of life? It's Christ.

Bible point number eight. Roman Catholicism holds to seven sacraments or ordinances. I want to explain these to you because I have Catholic family members, right? It's good to know these things. You may have a Catholic neighbor, a Catholic coworker, right? And they may ask you, "Well, why do you only have baptism and the Lord's Supper? We've got seven. You only have two." Right? It's good to know such things, not only for your own assurance of faith, but to be able to lead others and point others to Christ.

Roman Catholicism holds to seven sacraments or ordinances: baptism, the Eucharist — which is the Lord's Supper. Eucharist actually means thanksgiving, right? And it's a very good name to call the Lord's Supper, because it should be a celebratory thing, right? Sometimes the Lord's Supper is doom and gloom, or at least the way it's presented — and it's not. It's celebrating the very life of Christ in us. It should be a joyful thing. Ordination — they count that as an ordinance. And they actually have three different types of ordination. I'm not going to get into that — it's kind of long — but they view that as part of the sacraments. Confirmation, which we'll explain here in a minute — that's when a child, not necessarily a child, it could be an adult, becomes an accepted member of their congregation. Matrimony, which is marriage. Extreme unction, which is also called last rites. And penance. Let's look at each one of these.

Ordination is an apostolic practice. We see that in Acts 6:6, where — remember — the widows are being neglected and the apostles realized that. And so they said, "You know what, let's appoint some godly men to look after the widows and minister to their needs so we can give ourselves over to the word of God and prayer." Right? And so they picked seven godly men and laid hands on them. They ordained them, right? So that's a biblical rite — you can say that, because it's practiced with regularity and with intent. But it's not a sacrament or what we call an ordinance, because approving someone for the ministry — does that picture Christ's death, burial, and resurrection? It doesn't, right? It's a rite, but it's not an ordinance. It's not meant for all. Do you ordain everybody? No, you just ordain certain people for a specific purpose. The Lord's Supper and also baptism are for every believer, right?

And it does not set forth the gospel in picture — not is the blank for bullet point number one under eight. Second bullet point, confirmation is a way of public profession of faith. And in the Catholic church — I think you have to be at least seven to be confirmed — but this rite was not instituted by Christ and does not — not is the blank — set forth the gospel in picture. Becoming a member of a congregation is a good thing. We would call that again a rite — extending the right hand of fellowship, welcoming someone to the body, right? But does that in itself picture Christ? No. And not all believers are members of the same local body, right? So it's not universal. It's not for everyone.

Bullet point number three. Matrimony — marriage — is a creation ordinance for anyone. Christ did not institute it. He recognized it. But marriage was founded in creation. We see that in the garden, the very first wedding, where God made Eve out of Adam's side and presented the bride to him. Right? The only words recorded of Adam are there in Genesis — "Whoa, a woman" — "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." It's a beautiful poem. The first poetry of man, right? Recognizing this wonderful creation that God had given him. So that's not something that was instituted by Christ, and it's not something that everybody partakes of, right? Some people never marry — God has given that gift to some, like Paul, for example, in the Bible. As far as we know, he was never married. And he used his life in service to the Lord, right? So it's not something that's universal for everybody.

Extreme unction is also known as last rites. This is where the Catholics would anoint you with oil on your deathbed or in your dying moments. Well, asking the elders to pray and anoint the sick is prescribed in James 5:14. Extreme unction was not — not is the blank, you'll notice all these are "not" — was not instituted by Christ nor practiced in scripture. We don't see anything like last rites being practiced in the first century or in the early church. And it was not something that was ordained by Christ and it doesn't picture the gospel, does it? It's prayer, and it's saying some words and anointing with oil, but it's not a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. So it could be a rite in the sense that if you call the elders to your sickbed to anoint you with oil, that's okay. That's something that scripture recognizes. But it's not an ordinance.

Lastly, penance. Penance attempts to achieve forgiveness through contrition — true sorrow for sin. That's the first element of penance. You may have heard of Catholic guilt before. It's like contrition. They'll say, "Well, do you really feel sorry? Do you feel sorry enough?" I mean, can you ever feel sorry enough for your sins? No — that becomes like a work, right? You're digging a hole that you're never going to be able to get to the bottom of. But part of what we call penance is contrition, true sorrow for sins. Then it's confession, which is specifically disclosure of sin to a priest. Remember in the Catholic church, the sacraments are mediated through the priest. Right. So if you have sinned, that's where you go — into a confessional with a priest. Right.

The Bible teaches us that we have an advocate, right? Christ, the just One, is at the right hand of God, and He has boldly entered the throne of grace and He is interceding for us. Right. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We don't have to go through a man. Love pastor Casey, but you don't need to go to pastor Casey to confess your sins. Right.

You go to God directly. Right.

Exactly right. So confession is disclosure of sin — no priest. And then the third part of penance is satisfaction. And this is penance performed, repairing damage as assigned by the priest, such as prayer, fasting, or almsgiving. The priest will say, "Okay, say ten Hail Marys. I want you to do this or do that." And if you do these things, then you will be absolved, right? Then you'll be forgiven.

Praise God — Christ on the cross said, "It is finished." Right. He paid the price. He took the handwriting of the ordinances that were against us and He nailed them to the cross. Right. Romans 8:1 — "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."

Flip over on the back. I hope — actually, I'm sorry, there's no scripture references for us on the back. The application for number eight.

Listen to Deuteronomy 4:2. "You shall not" — that's the blank — "not add to the word which I commanded you or take from it."

Just as the Pharisees added their own traditions of men that were very burdensome — and then they didn't lift one finger to remove them from the people — right, we shouldn't add to the ordinances that we find in scripture. We find two and two only, and that's the Lord's Supper and baptism. Only they were instituted by Christ for perpetual obligation among the church. And only they set forth the gospel to all. Right.

Bible point number nine. Salvation only — only is the blank — comes through spiritual union with the living Lord. The ordinances picture — that's the second blank — and celebrate — that's the third blank — our union with Christ. Salvation only comes through spiritual union with the living Lord. You know, in Baptist churches — some Baptist churches do follow what's called the liturgical calendar, where they will celebrate days. Besides what we'd celebrate, say, Christmas and Easter, they would celebrate the whole stations of the cross and all that. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it has a tendency to give you a static view of Christ. In other words, focusing in on what He did — which is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what we celebrate when we do the Lord's Supper and baptism. Right.

But our focus should be more on the living Christ. We are joined. We are united to the risen Christ who is active and working in and through the church, who's doing great things today. Right. Who is saving souls, who's rebuilding families, who's causing the crooked to be made straight, who's causing the hopeless to have hope. Right. And we have a living Savior — not just a historical Savior, but a living Savior whom the whole church is supposed to embody, right? In other words, you may be a hand and you may be a foot. We all use our gifts together to proclaim the gospel to a lost and dying world. So we're united to the living Savior. And that's what the ordinances picture and celebrate — not just what Christ has done, but who He is. Right.

And there is no salvation apart from our living Savior. The application of number nine — glorify. Glorify is a blank. Glorify our present and victorious One, right? The exalted One who sits at the right hand of God, above all principalities, above every throne imaginable. And the omnipresent Savior — He is omnipresent with you and me through His Spirit. Right. So let's glorify Him in all that we do.