Sound Doctrine: Baptism and The Lord's Supper

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Romans. Today I want to talk to you about baptism and the Lord's Supper as we continue to study sound doctrine. In Romans chapter 6, verses 3 through 6, we'll start to discuss the subject of baptism. I have a question for you: was your baptism biblical the first time you got baptized? Was it biblical? Yes? Any no's? Alright, yep there's a no, there's a no, okay, there's a no, okay. We've had some folks ask the question, if I got saved after I got baptized do I need to be rebaptized, and I say no, you need to be baptized. You weren't baptized; you got wet before that. And so not only do we talk about baptism today, we talk about the Lord's Supper and we'll get to that point.

So let me read what our statement of faith says about baptism and the Lord's Supper. Before we read the Scripture I'll read to you this statement. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer into the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, to show forth in solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified and buried and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life, and a new life that is prerequisite to the privileges of church relation and to the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church by the sacred use of the elements are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination. And so today we'll be talking about baptism and the Lord's Supper.

In Romans chapter 6, I want to explain to you in brief baptism from this passage. And if you would look with me in verse 3, Romans chapter 6, verse 3: "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized?" That's baptism, that's immersed. That's the holy plunge, the dunk, make waves, go all the way under. "You have been baptized, you've been immersed into His death." Do you see how this picture is going into the grave? It's death, it's spiritual — spiritually speaking. So this death is a spiritual death of Jesus. So in verse 3, it says that you have been baptized into His death. "And therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism," which is immersion all the way under, "into the death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." This word "walk" means your conduct, means your character, means how you are living. Your walk is to be becoming more and more like the one in whose name you were baptized. So baptism is: you've died to yourself and now you've been raised in newness of life. And right here it says your walk is according to a newness of life. In the Greek it is a fresh existence. Isn't that interesting? When you've been saved and you've been baptized into Christ, it is a fresh and new existence. This is what this text means.

And then in verse 5, "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection." This word "likeness" is amazing. It simply means resemblance. Your resemblance will be like Christ. And in John chapter 17, the glory that God has, He bestows upon His children, and we reflect the glory of Jesus Christ. It is an absolute amazing truth. And sometimes you perhaps have likened it to saying, "It's amazing how I just see that you're a Christian. I can look into your eyes and know — I mean, there's fellowship, there's something more about you. You must be a Christian." It's the glory of God. It's the likeness. It's the newness that Christ bestows upon His believers.

And in verse 6 it says, "Knowing this, that our old self" — that's referring to the imperfections — "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin." This phrase "slaves to sin" means subject constantly to sin. You're no longer subject to sin. You're no longer a subject of sin. You are not constantly failing in the wrong areas over and over again.

Now, when you read this passage here, you see that we have been united with Christ. That word "united" is very interesting. It's almost like it places a date on the time that you have been united with Christ. You are united. It dates your rebirth. It means that we are not only in Christ — there was a time where you were placed in Christ when you were saved, a day of your salvation — but now you are growing in Christ. You are being united with Him. And when you are grafted, you are going to be growing into Christ in such a way that after time you can no longer tell the difference between the vine and the branch. There is such a continuation of Christ in and through Christ. You reflect His glory. You reflect how He says what needs to be said. You are saying things that He wants you to say and the way that He wants you to say them. You are living out love. You are living out repentance. You are living out the gospel. You are doing things the way Christ would have you to do it because He is dominating you and you are no longer allowing that old flesh to rear up in perhaps some snarky remarks that would be offensive. You are no longer rearing up in anger. You have that old man under control. You are conquering that thing with the strength of Christ.

And you have marked that because you have been baptized. That's a picture of who you are in Christ now. This is an amazing subject when it comes to baptism. I was baptized in cold water. I will never forget it. I think that marked the day better than anything — how cold the baptismal water was. Were you baptized in perhaps a cold creek up in the Appalachian Mountains? I was on a mission trip with one lady one time who said, "In Ukraine we had to go as an underground church when I was a kid to be baptized at night in the freezing cold water. And before we could get to the water we had to cut out the ice." How dedicated are you to following the Lord in His ordinance of baptism?

The word "ordinance" actually means command. We are commanded as Christians to follow His ordinances. The word "ordinance" means command. Early Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries used the word "ordinance" to describe the commands that Christ gave to the church. And so we talk primarily about two ordinances — the Lord's Supper and baptism — but truly the ordinances that Christ has commanded the church are manifold. But we're going to talk about two today.

So baptism and the Lord's Supper were commanded by Christ to proclaim the saving work of Christ to all people. Baptism and the Lord's Supper, they both picture the death and the resurrection of Christ. And so I would ask my friends who sprinkle: how does that picture the death and resurrection of Christ? Very simple question. And did not Christ demonstrate immersion, and so forth and so on. Baptism and the Lord's Supper, they both picture the believers' participation in Christ's death and resurrection. You have participated in the cross, okay? Your cross-like life is marked. You are a Christian. You are to be taking up the cross regularly and dying to yourself and living out the Christ-like life — not the Casey-like life or the Caleb-like life or whomever, whatever your name might be. You are not on your throne. God, He rules your life. And when we submit to Him, we have publicly portrayed that we have, in fact, died to our self and been resurrected in newness of life. We no longer, in our pride and in our self-existence and in our independence, rule our own lives. In fact, we should let the Word of God rule our lives. Paul said to the Colossian church, Christ rules. And so we must submit to His ruling. And anytime you are not submitting to the rulership, the lordship of Christ, it is sin. Flat out sin. You have publicly portrayed, if you've been saved and baptized, that you are dying to yourself regularly. You have died. You have been saved. And you have been raised in newness of life. But you are continuing to picture that because you participate in that regularly. It's amazing.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper were commanded by Christ for all Christians to observe. Now in Matthew chapter 28, it says to go therefore and to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Trinity is pretty obvious there. "Teaching them to observe" — that means to obey. This is a command, okay? "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." And so our very commission is a commandment to go therefore and to make disciples. This is evangelism and discipleship packaged into one command. It's not separate. The main verb is "make," not "go." If you separate the two, then you have to place the verb "go" as the main emphasis of the Great Commission, which it is not in the Greek. And so we are to make disciples. The rest of the verbs in the Great Commission are simply participles. The point is: how do you make a disciple? Well first of all, you share the gospel with a lost person. When they come to faith in Christ, then you disciple them and show them how to observe all that God has commanded you. This is a glorious walk with Christ. And so you should make it your aim to personally disciple someone like Jesus did. Jesus spent three years with twelve guys. If you did the math and perhaps you think all day every day with somebody like Jesus did, it's a lot of hours, a lot of time investing in someone. And so don't give up on people. The disciples messed up, right? We mess up. So we should continue to disciple and continue to love and continue to teach and do that. God has commanded us to do it. The ordinances are not a suggestion. They are definitely a commandment.

Now to continue on, in 1 Corinthians 11:24, the Bible says, "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." That was referring to the Lord's Supper. So baptism and the Lord's Supper are called ordinances because Christ commanded that they would be perpetually observed by the church, continuously observed by the church, regularly observed by the church. Moms, do you ever get tired of repeating yourself?

Well, the Bible says to regularly observe the Lord's Supper, to regularly teach these things. We need to kind of be ones who repeat ourselves and observe these regularly because we forget. We need reminding. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6 if you would. I want to see just how this should penetrate all of life. And this is geared towards parents teaching their children in Deuteronomy chapter 6. I want to perhaps pin down the fathers in this as well and say, "Remember, men, you are the priest of your own home. You're the pastor of your home. You're the primary leader and educator. You lead spiritually." This is God's commandment to the fathers to lead. And I'll take you to Psalm 78 in just a moment to show you how important it truly is. But look with me — I want you to see why we need to observe these ordinances regularly, be reminded, just the same as parents are to regularly remind and teach their children.

Let's start at the top and get into it here in verse 1. Deuteronomy 6:1: "Now this is the commandment" — okay, God's commandment, His Word, His code of wisdom; it's not a suggestion — "these commandments, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson" — do you see this? How these teachings, these commandments are to be done in such a way that they are passed down to your son and even to your grandson. That's a lot of teaching. That's a lot of remembering. That's a lot of reviewing. That's a lot of doing. "You and your grandson, that they might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you today, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Oh Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you, that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you in the land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up" — pretty much every day, all day, is all about God.

Every act, every word of God. There is no division between the secular and the sacred. You don't have any areas of your life that should be reserved so that you can go participate in the secular. You cannot make a division between that, because we are bought — completely bought — we belong to Christ, and so our life, whether we are working or whether we're eating, is an extension of our worship as unto the Lord. Because God reigns, He rules, He is sustaining the entire world. And so no matter what your occupation is and no matter where your work is, you are doing it as unto the Lord. Colossians 3:23 says this is an act of worship, and as we are going — so the Great Commission says — as we are going through life, we are to be making disciples. We've got to be intentional about this as we're going through life, and to regularly be teaching about God whether you're sitting in your house, whether you're walking by the way, whether you lie down or whether you're rising up. Morning, day, and night is all about God. It's all about God.

"You shall bind them" — now here are some provisions, and I hope you hear this Old Testament language in a New Testament application way. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead." It's kind of hilarious if you take this literally and actually do it. I'd encourage you — that would be funny — but pretty much, do whatever it takes to remind yourselves of God's precepts. Do whatever it takes to set before you the Word of God. It's been said before, "Bible before breakfast," right? Well that's one clever cliche that would help you to keep God first in your life — to discipline yourself to read the Bible before you eat breakfast. Some of my family members would say, "Well I don't eat breakfast, haha." (Laughter)

How important is it to do this? Verse 12: "Then watch yourself that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall fear only the Lord your God and you shall worship Him and swear by His name." This is incredible when you see that the reason for parents to teach their children is all day every day. And baptism is one of those things that is a reminder, a picture of the most important thing — that Christ died on the cross and rose again for sin. And if we would regularly celebrate and see this done, we would be doing good.

What happens when we don't? In Psalm chapter 78, the fathers are scorned and blamed for an entire Israelite generation having to die off because the fathers did not teach their children. How important is it to remember these things, to practice these things, to obey the commands, the ordinances? Well in Psalm chapter 78, the first word in verse 1 is "listen," and in the Hebrew it's "hiphil," and it means to give your ear. In fact, it's the illustration of perhaps a Roman soldier acquiring a runaway slave or a criminal, and they're putting a hook in his ear, and that string attached to that hook just simply goes to the chariot and they're being pulled along by their ear. Well the same emphasis is placed here. Listen, okay? It's listen up. Even if it is painful for you to listen to the commands of that Roman soldier who is pulling you along, you are to be listening to the commands of God that are pulling you along through life. And if you would yield and obey God, then it's not going to be as painful as that ear being pulled. If you would yield and keep up with what God wants you to do — well, you get the picture here, right?

So "hiphil," listen. Psalm 78, verse 1: "Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. And I will open my mouth in a parable and I will utter dark sayings of old." The reason why these sayings are dark and old is because they have not been brought into the light, and they are old, but they should be at the forefront of everyone's minds — but they're not. Verse 3: "Which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. And we will not conceal them from our children." Okay, so the forefathers have told the fathers, but the fathers who are alive have concealed the truths about the Exodus, the truths about the parting of the Red Sea, the truth about God saving — the whole picture of coming out of Egypt and into Canaan land is a picture of salvation. The same as baptism, it pictures what God is doing by saving the soul. You're not supposed to conceal them from your children.

Verse 4: "But tell them to the generation to come, the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children." It's a command then to teach your children. And then verse 6: "That the generation to come might know, even the generation yet to be born." So you see this truth again here. Do you see how the fathers are to teach their children, and yet even the children that have not even been born yet will know, because of the element of habitual practice that's in place. You're reviewing what God has done. You're telling your children; your children are going to tell their children. There is a remembrance going on here. It's important that they will arise and tell them to their children. Do you see a discipleship down line here? Like to the fourth generation, right here, very similar to what Paul established with Timothy in 2nd Timothy 2:2 — from Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others. That is our marching orders.

And then in verse 7: "That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but to keep His commandments and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God." And so I can just simply sum it up to you when it comes to the fact of remembering and repeating God's ways: if you don't do that, you're stubborn. You're like the Israelites who are concealing, or have concealed, the truth of God from their children. One of the greatest lies in America today is, "I'm going to let my children find their own way." It's almost like you just give them over to Satan, because Satan is very evangelistic. He is very intentional on indoctrinating our children. He has more curriculum than Christians do, out there by and large. And so we must speak up and spread the gospel.

Baptism pictures this. It's on display. It is a reminder that we have died unto ourselves and been resurrected in newness of life. We are strangers in this world, and this is appealing to lost, hopeless people. If we would be dynamic disciples on display, then lost people will recognize this and be brought under conviction when they sin in our presence. God does this. He does this. It's wonderful.

So baptism and the Lord's Supper, they do this in many ways. They point back to what has already happened in your life. You've already been saved. Now there are other religions who would look at it maybe as a sacrament — a sacramentum — and they would take an oath perhaps in this observance like the Roman soldiers did, and they obeyed their commander even unto death. And so they view the ordinance incorrectly, like a saving sacrament. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are sacraments in the sense that they are vows of allegiance that we do publicly. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are not sacraments in the sense of conferring grace upon you. They do not save you. They do not do anything special on the inside of your soul. Baptism and the Lord's Supper simply point back to what has already been done. We believe in believers' baptism. We don't believe that baptism saves. That's what the Bible says.

And so baptism and the Lord's Supper are not sacraments in the sense of saving someone. They are simply to remind us of the grace that God has already bestowed upon our lives, and it's a testimony to those who haven't been. So we believe that faith is what saves the soul. Now, characteristically the Protestant perspective — which I'm espousing today — of baptism is the biblical perspective. But perhaps Catholics, or some who are caught up in Catholicism, would believe that the physical means of taking the sacraments or taking the Lord's Supper would maintain their salvation. And that is heretical, because if you believe that anything that you can do is added to your salvation, then it nullifies the need of the cross. And you have to ask yourself then, why did Christ die? Because Christ died needlessly if you can do anything to save your soul. And you can't do anything to save your soul. Only God can give you a new heart. And so these elements, these observances, these ordinances simply point back to what God alone has done. That's the reason why believers are baptized. That's the reason why believers take the Lord's Supper. So Christ doesn't give us more of Himself when we take the sacraments or the Lord's Supper or get baptized. We are already in Him to the fullest extent. It's a beautiful thing.

Now, through hearing God's Word and prayer and observing baptism and the Lord's Supper and our love for Christ, and gaining more knowledge in Him as we increase and we grow in our union with Him, His nearness will be ever more understood. We will understand His nearness and His ways more and more and more. So baptism then again is a symbol of the believer's regeneration through the union of Christ in us and us in Christ. It externally pictures the reality of the believer's life. So I might ask you the question: who in the world would baptize an unbeliever? Don't answer that question. But church growth gurus have manipulated these precious and sacred ordinances for the sake of their own fame instead of Christ's name.

We live in a day where we see all around us and especially in our nation a gross perversion of these holy ordinances — for someone to make baptism a dance party or a free-for-all, for all who want to come, and make it a celebration for anyone who would just simply say, "Jesus is Lord," is outright heretical. They are not working for the kingdom of God; they're working against the kingdom of God. And there are more false professions of faith than there are true professions of faith in that unbiblical methodology. And we as Christians must speak to that, especially elders and pastors according to Titus 1:9. Elders and pastors have to be able to not only teach sound doctrine but hold true to sound doctrine and refute those who contradict sound doctrine. If you're not able to speak up, then I would dare say you have not fully embraced all of who you are in Christ. You have not fully realized that the church is unconquerable. Jesus said, "I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." And so you have an element within you of indestructibility. Nothing can happen to you outside of God's will.

And even when we are persecuted for the name of Jesus, there is grace for that hour. Even for the martyrs who have gone before us, who have died at the stake, who have been stoned to death — you've got to ask yourself the question, "How have they sung hymns while they were being stoned and while they were being crucified?" There are accurate historical records of this actually happening. You've got to ask yourself, "Would you be singing 'Glory, hallelujah' as the flames are consuming half of your body?" It is not humanly possible except for the empowerment of Jesus Christ, except for the fact that He gives grace for the hour. The same way as He gives you what you need to say at the moment — and you walk away from a conversation and you say, "Wow, I didn't know I knew that. It must have been God." It's the same way God gives you grace for the moment.

And so be who you are. You are a Christian. Embrace it to its fullest extent. Do not shrink back. The enemy of Christianity is complacency. Don't just soak up what you have been given in this Christianity and just live it and enjoy it. Live it out and be a Christian to your fullest extent. Do these things. Baptism is so important, to be able to see this pictured and proclaimed to the masses publicly. That's the reason why you get baptized in a worship service, not necessarily off by yourself with just one pastor. I'm not saying that that's wrong, because we see the Ethiopian eunuch being baptized in the desert, but I do say that it is a public proclamation. You should not be ashamed of your faith. You should do that in the most public way and make everybody to know that you have been saved by the glorious name of Jesus Christ.

And so baptism tells of our union with Christ and His death and resurrection, where we are freed from sin's tyranny. Baptism tells of the nature and the penalty of sin. Baptism tells of humanity delivered from sin in the presence of a crucified and risen Savior. Baptism tells of salvation secured for each soul that is united to Christ. Baptism tells of our obedience to Christ in the way that we live and glorify God. Thus baptism stands from age to age as a witness for God, and we've got to do it God's way — all the way under, and then all the way up, and all the way through. When we are baptized, we are proclaiming that we have been bought by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer our own and we live for Him no matter what.

Now there's all kinds of information when it comes to the obligation of ourselves after we are baptized, but that is truly easy. We are given the ability to follow Christ and He ignites a flame of passion inside of us that gives us true joy when we submit. It's kind of like a check mark. You deny yourself — that's just a little bow down to your knees to say, "Yes, Lord, I submit" — and then the rest of your day and the rest of your life is glorious. And in Christ you are empowered to do what He wants you to do. You pour yourself out like you're emptying yourself like a cup being emptied, and every single night He fills you right back up because His mercies are new every morning. And so this whole American ideology of rest and relax and kick your feet up and reserve your energy is anti-biblical. You should be pouring yourself out to the fullest extent and giving all of your energy and all of your might. We are to love the Lord your God with what — half of your heart, half of your mind, half of your soul, and some of your strength? Do you see, as true Christians, how we are fully engaged? But American Christianity is working against true Christianity. It's telling you, "Sit back, enjoy, it's been done for you." But the Bible is saying the next generation is being concealed from the truths of God. We must truly project the truth in how we do baptism and how we do the Lord's Supper, and do it right.

The Lord's Supper now is symbolic of a believer's regeneration through union with Christ. The Supper symbolizes our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, by which we are sustained and perfected. Turn with me if you would to 1 Corinthians 11 and we'll examine this passage briefly on the Lord's Supper. It's getting a little hot up here. I don't know if the AC can be turned up. I'm a little bit higher, but you may be cold and if that's the case, I'm sorry.

The Lord's Supper is another symbol. It's another picture. But I must tell you, there are consequences if you do not observe the Lord's Supper correctly. This is a serious deal here. It's not just a flippant ordinance. This is a command to be done correctly. And I am highly put off — to say the least — by the church services who take the Lord's Supper flippantly. Okay? Let's read this passage together.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 23: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread." Now, you know that Jesus knew what was coming the next day. And for Him to institute this ordinance the night before He is crucified is a big deal. If you were going to go into a life-threatening surgery that had a 99% death rate, what would you do the night before? Well, Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper. This is so serious.

In verse 24: "And when He had given thanks, He broke it and He said, 'This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'" Do you see why I took you to Deuteronomy chapter 6? We must be regularly reminding and remembering. Just like parents teach their children, do not get tired of repeating the same important things over and over and over again. You're molding minds, you're shaping hearts, you're forming habits. "Do this in remembrance of Me."

In verse 25: "In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick.'"

Now this sickness is because of sin. Not all sin leads to sickness, but sometimes God allows that. We are weak because of sin sometimes, and to even sleep or die. This is a very serious matter to observe the Lord's Supper correctly, because it is a picture and a remembrance of the very most important event in world history. There's no other event that is more important than the death and the burial and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the Lord's Supper is symbolic of regeneration in our union with Christ. In the Lord's Supper we see Christ's death as the sustaining power of our life. The Lord's Supper is vividly pictured in our union in the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a new covenant. The new covenant is written in His blood; it's paid for in His blood. Jesus certainly had this promise in mind when He said likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying in Luke 22:20, "This is the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you." This is important all the way through. The new covenant is so important.

Now the obligation for the participants of the Lord's Supper obviously is to be saved and to have been living a life of regular repentance. And you should pause and truly reflect before a holy God as to anything being sinful in your life and ask God to forgive you before you get anywhere close to the elements. And you know if you've taken the Lord's Supper here before that we start off with that and give plenty of time for people to reflect before worship and after worship and before we take it. We advise you, if you are unregenerate — you haven't been saved by Christ yet — you simply want to pass the elements by; don't partake yet. And if you have unconfessed sin in your life that you are unwilling to turn completely from, do not enter into this holy ordinance. We give you time to align your life with Christ, because it literally is a matter of sickness or even death according to the passage here. And I would just simply say it in this context: death. I don't know anybody who has died from taking communion incorrectly. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but I'm just saying we're going to do it correctly. We want to self-examine before we enter into this ordinance.

And so the Lord's Supper testifies honestly of God's grace in His mercy. The gloom and the sadness are foreign to the spirit of the Lord's Supper. It should be something that is truly a celebration. The Lord's Supper declares the life of Christ that sustains us. In the Lord's Supper it symbolizes the coming joy and the perfection of God's kingdom. And in Matthew chapter 26, verse 29, Jesus promised, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." So the Lord's Supper brings before us not simply death but life. And so we are celebrating this. This is a holy ordinance, but at the same time it's a joyful thing.

And so the Lord's Supper brings before us not simply the past sacrifice, but the future glory that we're able to partake in. And the Lord's Supper points us to the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19, for which we all should be being prepared. We should be being sanctified in preparation for this face-to-face encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 22:20-21 says this: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."

I bring you this information today about baptism and the Lord's Supper as a way to encourage you so that you can not only participate in these ordinances biblically. If you've never been baptized biblically, please come and talk with me. I'd love to talk through that to verify whether you have been biblically baptized. The joy of those who have realized, "I was baptized as a kid but I truly was saved in my 20s or 30s" — the joy of those who come back around and publicly proclaim when they were truly saved is indescribable. It has been a source of true joy in our local congregation right here. Those who have grown up in church and perhaps went through the motions, raised their hand and made a profession, and then were rushed off into the baptistry — or perhaps got baptized at camp rather than the youth pastor or children's pastor coming to consult with the daddies on their children's spiritual walk.

There have been kids that have been baptized twice year to year just because they're like, "Yeah." And there have been churches who have literally put a fire truck in the children's ministry and made the bed of the fire truck into a baptistry, and when a child gets baptized, all the lights and the sirens and the music go off. This has happened within our generation, to where these ordinances — these holy ordinances — have been perverted for church growth. It is at the expense of a soul to tell a child that he is saved when he has not yet been saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a grotesque sin.

And so for the parents, to be able to say to your children: "Don't rush this thing. You wait until the Holy Spirit of God brings you under conviction, and you yield to the Holy Spirit, and when He brings you to a point where you are sorrowful — because it's your sins that put Jesus on the cross, and you comprehend that He stood in your place, and you no longer have to be punished by God with His eternal wrath because of our depraved nature." When you comprehend propitiation, when you comprehend Christ in your place taking on the wrath of God, and that you don't have to get a spanking or punishment — when you comprehend that, when you understand that, it brings you to a point of complete sorrowfulness, and you're like, "Oh my, I can't believe that Christ did that for me." And at that low state you are brought to repentance and you say, "God, I am sorry for my sin. Please forgive me." Oftentimes it's not even words. It's just a moment of belief, a moment where God grants faith in that substitutionary payment in that place. You see how we need to educate our children, pray for our children, lead them to Christ, and let Christ save their soul. We're living in a day and age where nine out of ten church kids are growing up in church and not staying in church.

Chew on that for a minute. Why are nine out of ten of our children growing up in church and not staying in church when they leave the home? Perhaps our methodology has been somewhat of an American business, marketplace-modeled, success-driven, numbers-driven approach rather than Christocentric and bibliocentric. Perhaps we should re-examine the Lord's Supper and baptism and make sure that we are handling these holy ordinances correctly.

Let's pray together.

Dear God, if there be any unsaved, unregenerate souls here today, I pray that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, You would draw them. God, You said that You are the door, and I pray, Lord, that they would see that door and run to it. You say, Lord, that You want us to come unto You — "All you who are weary" — and You need rest. And if anyone is restless with the guilt of sin upon their life, I pray that they would come to You, dear Jesus. And I pray, God, that they would submit and yield and repent. And You say in Your Word in Luke 13:3, "That unless you repent, you shall likewise perish." God, I pray that You would draw souls unto Yourself. It is written in John chapter 17 that God the Father gives saved souls as a gift to You, Lord Jesus. And I pray that many gifts would come here at this dear church. I pray that we would spread the truth of Your Word far and wide as possible. God, open up to us a door that we may be able to spread Your glorious gospel and see many souls saved.

And Lord, if anyone here has received a gift, may they run to You, may they come to You, may they desire to participate in a holy ordinance such as baptism. I pray, God, that You would help us to be strong enough to expose error, to talk about sin, to talk about an unholy way of handling God's holy ordinances. I pray that You would give us strength as we live out our lives, not only to make disciples, Lord, but to stand up for what is true and to speak up as true Christians. And Father, I thank You so much for what You're doing at this dear church. And I pray Your blessings upon every single Bible study and the Bible study teachers. God, I pray Your blessing upon all of the disciple-making relationships that are forming. God, I pray Your blessing upon our worship services and our pathway forward as we intend to continue to worship You in truth and in spirit and to spread Your glorious gospel every way that we possibly can. God, may You bless us in a way that we could look back and say it was only by Your blessing that this happened. God, may You do something here that is remarkable. You have purified this dear congregation. You have brought us into alignment with Your Word, not only in practice, but also in bylaws and constitution. God, You have done a magnificent work here. We praise Your holy name. You've done so much in just a short amount of time. And we ask You, dear God, be glorified in us. You say that You're looking to and fro for just some who are righteous whom You can bless. God, here we are. Send us, choose us, work through us, do a mighty work in our hearts first, Lord, so much so that it burns with passion like Jeremiah 20:9 says — that His word burns in my heart like a fire. God, we love You and we ask all these things in Your precious Son's name, Jesus. Amen.