The Christian Handbook - A Sign of Faith, a Remembrance of Love

Very short synopsis that I stole from his notes. The churches those who have

put their faith in Jesus and have been saved by His grace. And furthermore,

the Church is the body of Christ, with its many members making up

one body. And most importantly, the church, all of us belong to

Jesus. The Church is not the building that we meet in. The Church

is the gathering of believers. The church is not wherever the sign is at.

The Church is where the Christians are at copyright Duncan Deeds Ministries and in

our time last week Duncan also pose the question is what does the church do?

And so we're going to continue now the next several weeks examine what the

church does. Last week we talked about how the church disciples, we are

too disciple and we are to be. And today we're going to look at

baptism and communion. My title sermon tile today is titled a Sign of Faith,

a Remembrance of Love. A sign of faith, a remembrance of love.

So we're looking at the sacraments, the two sacraments of the church,

baptism and communion. But before we get into each one, let's look at

what the sacraments are what do they even mean? What does that mean?

So, in simple terms, a sacrament is something sacred. The Latin term

sacramentum was used to translate the New Testament word for mystery, and at one

point, in a very very broad sense, all religious rites and ceremonies were

called sacraments. But through the Church's history, i should say the Protestant Church,

the term sacrament took on a more precise meaning. A sacrament can now

be defined as a visible sign by which God offers his promise of grace in

an outward form, or to explain it simply, sacraments are outward signs that

seal and confirm the Covenant promises of God. Outward signs that seal and confirm

the Covenant promises of God. They are outward signs because the sacraments consist of

some visible elements such as water, bread, and wine. When we take

communion that seal or in our case, juice. We don't serve wine.

But just to be clear, that seal and confirm the Covenant promises of God

because they're in activity ordained by God in association with the sign. I'll say

that again, outward signs that seal and confirm the covenant promises of God because

they're in activity ordained by God in association with the Sign, and they provide

a redeeming benefit given to the believer, not redemption itself. They provide a

redeeming benefit, not redemption itself, but an understanding or an application of our

redemption in Jesus Christ. We're not saved by the sacraments. While the sacraments

involve the use of outward forms, they shouldn't be thought of as empty rituals.

Now. They can be corrupted into empty rituals because Us, but they

shouldn't be rejected. They are indeed rituals, but they are God ordained rituals

and should be partaken of with joy and solemnness. So let's look at this

next point about sacraments, and what I'm going to ask you to do is

keep this in the back of your head as I read through a couple verses

next. So, the sacraments are real means of grace that convey the promises

of God. Sacraments are real means of grace that convey the promises of God.

Let's keep that in mind. We're going to read Romans five next.

Sorry in verse twenty, Paul writes, the law was brought in so that

the trespass might increase, But where sin increased, grace increased all the more

so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through

righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And then moving on

to Chapter six and Romans, what shall we say, then shall we go

on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means? We are those

who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ, Jesus

were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into

death. In order that justice Christ was raised from the dead. Through the

glory of the Father, we two may live a new life. The sacraments

are real means of grace that convey the promises of God. Now, the

power in the sacraments does not reside in the elements themselves, the water,

bread, the wine. The power does not reside in those. And as

these verses have shown us, the power of the sacraments reside in God,

whose signs they are. Their power also, thankfully, does not depend on

the character or faith of those who do them. They depend on the integrity

of God, and there is no one more integrists than him. Additionally,

the sacraments were never intended to stand alone without reference to the Word of God.

Sacraments confirm the Word of God, so that the administering of the sacraments

and the preaching of the Word go together. That all makes sense, I

mean kind of all right. So now that we haven't understanding what a sacrament

is, let's look closely at the two sacraments, and we're gonna start with

baptism. Baptism a sign of faith? What is it? I'm gonna ask

for Ravalan's here. It's a dunk you now, I'm just kidding. I'm

not gonna do that. Bob grabbed me that great suggestion. Thanks about for

the joke. So baptism is the sacramental sign of the New Covenant. Okay,

So what is the New Covenant? The author of Hebrews quotes the prophet

Jeremiah in chapter eight, verse eight, who said, but God found fault

with the people, And said God found fault with his people, the people

of Israel at this time, the days are coming, declares the Lord.

When I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the

people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their

ancestors, such as Moses, when I took them by the hand to lead

them out of Egypt. Because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,

and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant

I will establish with the people of Israel. After that time, declares the

Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and right them on their

hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbor or say to one another, know the

Lord, because they will all know ME, from the least of them to

the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no

more. Now, like I mentioned, this is Jeremiah the Prophet speaking about

Israel, the people of God. But by God's good grace, his new

covenant found in Jesus, extends to all who believe the people of God and

listen closely to this. The people of God are now defined in terms of

their relationship to Jesus, rather than their relationship to Israel Praise God. In

Glacians three, Paul explains it further, So in Christ Jesus, you are

all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into

Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither jew nor gentile, neither

slave nor free, nor is there male and female. For you are all

one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's

seed and errs according to the promise Praise God. So if you read through

the Old Testament, Abraham's seed, that's Israel at the time when Jesus made

the new covenant in his blood, which we're going to get into later.

Once you put your faith in Jesus, you can include yourself as part of

Abraham's seed. Your now heirs to that promise. This is the new Covenant

in Jesus. All who are brought to faith and believe in Him are saved.

We belong to him. Baptism is the outward sign of this new covenant.

It's a sign by which God seals his pledge to believers that are included

in the New Covenant of grace. But the power of the Baptism is not

in the water itself, like I mentioned earlier, the power of the sacraments,

or in this case, baptism resides in God, whose sign it is.

Baptism also signifies several things. We're going to look at three of them.

First, it signifies cleansing and repent of sin. Focus on this word

signifies. In Luke chapter three, he went into all the country around the

Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Exalted to

the right hand of God. He has received from the Father the promised Holy

Spirit, and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David

did not ascend to heaven. And yet he said, the Lord said to

my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies of footstool

for your feet. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God

has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. When

the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter

and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do. Peter replied,

repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus.

Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift

of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children, and

for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will

call. Now to be clear. In the verse in Luke and then again

in Acts, we see the word four a lot. And I need to

be clear on this because I mentioned earlier that we are not saved through the

sacraments. These verses do not mean that one must be baptized in order to

have repentance of sin. Like I said earlier, baptism signifies cleansing and repentance.

There are two words that we can use. There are two ways the

word four can be used. Think about the phrase billy the kid is wanted

for murder. It can either mean he has wanted so he can murder some

one. Wow, that did not land, okay, Or it can mean

he has wanted because he murdered someone. Now, obviously we understand it to

mean the latter, right, he was wanted because he murdered someone in the

same way, not in the same way. Similarly, with the use of

the word for Christ shed his blood because people would receive salvation through faith in

what he did, and we should be baptized in response to that, not

so we will receive forgiveness, but because of the forgiveness we already have received

when we believed. It becomes very clear again in the Book of Acts,

he commanded us to preach the people and to testify that he is the one

whom God appointed as judge of the living and of the dead. All the

prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin through

his name. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him

receives forgiveness of sins through his name. And you also must be baptized.

No, it doesn't say that anyone who believes. While Peter was still speaking

these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The

Holy Spirit is is is also our seal as our status, our status as

heirs when we believe the Holy Spirit. This tells us that the people who

were there listening received and believed in Jesus at the speaking of the Gospel,

the preaching of the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. That's

a seal of their regeneration. Of their their their belief in Jesus. If

baptism were wired for salvation, this wouldn't have happened. Baptism hold on the

blessed being okay. Baptism signifies cleansing and repentance of sin in response to saving

faith in Jesus. The second thing it signifies is regeneration by the Holy Spirit,

which I just touched on. This is First Corinthians chapter six, Paul

wrote, or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of

God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters,

nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor

the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom

of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were

washed, you were sanctified, You were justified in the name of the Lord

Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God, hallelujah. In Titus chapter

three, at one time we two were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved

by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy,

being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God,

our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of righteous things, not

because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He

saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom

he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that

having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs, having the hope

of eternal life. Halleujah. Next in Hebrews ten. Therefore, brothers and

sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood

of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain

that is his body, just explain this real quick Before, well before the

New Covenant, before jesus death, there was a veil or a curtain that

only a handful of people could cross through, right the tribe of Levi.

When Jesus died, that veil was torn, signifying access to God the Father.

And since we have a great priest over the House of God, speaking

of Jesus, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with

the full assurance that faith brings. Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from

a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us

hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Amen. Now, the first thing I need to clarify, because I mentioned

that baptism is a sign of regeneration of the Holy Spirit. These verses they

don't specifically mention the use of the word. They say water and washing,

but they should be understood as a spiritual washing because if we look at all

the New Testament in context, we see that we are saved by grace through

faith alone, not faith plus works or faith plus baptism. And secondly,

when we when we're brought to faith in Jesus, we are regenerated by the

Holy Spirit and brought to repentance, which in turn leads us to being baptized

again in response to the work that was already done for us. Last thing

baptism signifies, or the last thing on my list, is being buried and

raised with Christ. In Romans chapter six, I know we read this already,

but we're going to do it again. So what shall we say?

Then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase by no means.

We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in

it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized

into Christ, Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with

him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from

the dead through the glory of the Father, we two may live a new

life. We are set free in Christ to live a new life to the

glory of God. This is a truth, the possible. This is a

truth. Paul emphasizes to stress our union with Christ in his death and resurrection.

We were buried with Jesus in baptism. Again, not baptism as awashing

with water, but the true spiritual baptism. Sorry, lost my place.

Here we go, Here we go. We were buried with Jesus in baptism,

but the true spiritual baptism that has accomplished when through faith alone we renounce

sin and trust Christ alone. This spiritual baptism is signified and sealed in water

baptism. For those who believe. When God imputed our sin to Jesus,

he also imputed its guilt and other consequences, including our enslavement to wickedness.

Because we are so closely identified with Christ in our union with Him, it's

as if we, in our own state of slavery to sin, were killed

and buried. Any rightful claim of ownership that our sin and fallenness had over

us died at that point. So to recap, baptism signifies the cleansing and

repentance of sin, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and being buried and raised

with Christ Jesus. So let's look at the last sacrament communion a remembrance of

love. So historically, the status historically the Communion or the Lord's Supper goes

back to the Old Testament. The status of the people of God, the

Israelites in the Old Testament was grounded in the work of deliverance that God brought

about at the Exodus, which you can read about in Exodus Surprise. God

brought judge on the land of Egypt for their mistreatment of Israel, but he

also provided a means of salvation for his people. A lamb would be slaughtered

and the blood of the lamb would be put on the door frames of the

houses of God's people. When the Angel of death passed over. The homes

where the Lamb's blood was visible would be spared the plague of the death of

the firstborn son, and in a sense, the lamb died instead of the

firstborn son of the household, foreshadowing Jesus okay, yeah, the final meal

that Jesus oh, nope, back up. The people of Israel would then

eat the supper of the Lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread as they prepared

to flee the passive or meal, which was to be a continual reminder of

the great salvation that God brought to his covenant people through a great act of

judgment. The final meal that Jesus had with his disciples immediately before his betrayal

and arrest was the traditional Passover meal, but Jesus brought a new significance to

the meal tied to his impending death, which he talks which Matthew speaks about.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when they had given

thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, take

and eat, this is my body. Then he took a cup, and

when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink from

it, all of you. This is my blood of the Covenant, which

has poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. So Jesus associated the

bread and the cup with his body which would soon be broken, and his

blood which would soon be shed. The blood is now the blood of the

Covenant, the new Covenant that I spoke about earlier, that Jesus would institute

through his death and resurrection. As the Passover meal served as a foundational meal

of the old Covenant, taking place on the brink of the saving act of

the Covenant, so the Lord's Supper was the foundational meal of the New Covenant,

taking place on the brink of the saving work that Jesus would achieve on

the Cross. Also, as the pastor ver meal served as a reminder of

the redemption that the Lord achieved for his people in bringing them out of bondage

to Egypt, the Lord's Supper becomes a powerful reminder of the redemption that Jesus

achieved for all believers in releasing us from slavery to sin. This meal is

the foundational and enduring symbol of the New Covenant in Christ. So, just

like we did with the baptism. We're going to look at a few important

notes about communion one two of two. You don't need to know that,

all right, Let's look at him first. The bread and the wine are

not physically Jesus's body and blood, or in this gie's juice. The bread

and the juice are not physically Jesus's body and blood. Now, this is

largely a Roman Catholic view called trans transubstantiation. I did it. Those that

hold this view or practice it believe that during mass, a priest blesses the

bread and the wine and they miraculously become the actual body and blood of Jesus.

Look it up. It's real. This was refuted during the Reformation for

three reasons. One, I don't have him here, so listen carefully.

First reason, this was refuted because Jesus is physically now present in heaven.

If you read when Jesus ascended, there were many witnesses to see him physically

ascend to Heaven. To suggest that his physical body can be present in multiple

multiple locations at once undermines his true humanity. Several weeks ago, I don't

remember when, and I'm pretty sure it was me talked about Jesus divine nature

and human nature. I hope that was me. I don't want to say

credit from him, either of you for him. For him there man,

the worshipful number two, the worshipful adoration of the bread and wine seen as

the body and blood of Christ is idolatrous. It's the second reason it was

refuted. Lastly, the act of transubstantiation first try restates the sacrifice of Jesus

in a way that undermines the finality and sufficiency of his work on the cross.

Let's look at Hebrews chapter nine. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary

made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one. He

entered Heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he

enter heaven to offer himself again and again the way the high Precenter is the

most holy place every year with blood that is not his own. Oh hey,

that goes back to the curtain I was talking about earlier here in mind,

thanks Bible. Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer many times since

the creation of the world. But He has appeared once and for all at

the culmination. Culmination. Good Lord, it cannot speak today. He has

appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages, to do away with

sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once

and after that to face judgment, so Christ will sacrifice once to take away

the sins of many, and he will bear a second time, not to

bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Praise God. So when we participate in communion, Jesus is present spiritually in

a special way, but it is not but he is not present physically.

It's a true spiritual communion that takes place between Jesus and his church. When

celebrated, there is a true sharing in Christ that takes place. Second point

about communion, Communion is for the believer and requires careful examination. Paul lays

all this out for us in First Corinthians chapter eleven. Oh yeah, I

forgot to underline this. Examine the body, so you can take that as

examine yourself before you take communion and examine the body. I'll touch on that

more. Good Lord, I'm getting sidetracked, okay, Verse twenty three.

For I received from the Lord what I also pass on to you the Lord

Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had

given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which

is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way,

after supper, he took the cup, saying, this cup is the

new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of

me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim

the Lord's death until he comes. So then whoever eats the bread or drinks

the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, unworthy manner, excuse me,

will be guilty of sending against the body and the blood of the Lord.

That's big. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread

and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the

body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That's even bigger. Pay

attention of this. This is interesting. That is why many among you are

weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if

we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such

judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord,

we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

So I say, that's interesting, because in the past, when I

had read that verse, I don't think I ever paid much attention to what

he was saying. And those like verses twenty nine, where was it.

It doesn't matter those last final verses where I said this is interesting. But

what I found when I was doing the study was preparing the sermon, what

I see happening in corinth Is at the time when they were having the communal

meals, was that perhaps wealthy people were coming with food for themselves, feasting

and maybe becoming drunk, while the poor had nothing to eat at all.

That's a failure to discern the body, the body the church. It's a

failure to recognize an honor the people of Christ his body. But the unworthy

participation of communion extends even more. It is possible we could partake of communion

without repenting of sin, especially sins that are impacted our relationships within the church,

and thereby partaking of communion unworthily. Unworthily. Also, it is extremely

important to understand that communion is not for the unbeliever to partake in it is

for the believer while practicing careful self examination for worthy participation. Communion is for

the believer while practicing careful self examination for worthy participation. John Calvin describes worthy

participation quite beautifully. He said, this is the worthiness, the best and

only kind, we can bring to God. You're going to feel terrible after

reading this, but it's good for us. Trust me, it's good for

us. This is the kind of worthiness, the best and only kind,

we can bring to God, to offer our vileness and our unworthiness to Him,

so that in his mercy we may be taken as worthy to despair in

ourselves, so that we may be lifted up by Him, to accuse ourselves,

so that we may be justified by Him. I told you you feel

terrible after that. So I think we've sufficiently covered the history of communion woe,

along with why the church partakes of it and why one perhaps shouldn't partake

of it, and how it's a sign of the New Covenant, and in

closing, I want to focus on the final aspect of communion and why my

second main point is called a remembrance of love could get the band to come

up. In the Gospel of Luke which Paul quoted earlier in Corinthians. Jesus

said this, and he took read, gave thanks, and broke it and

gave it to them, saying, this is my body given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, offer the supper,

he took from the cup. Excuse me. In the same way,

after the supper he took the cup, saying, this cup is the new

covenant in my blood, which has poured out for you when we partake in

communion. Not only is it the sign of the new covenant in Jesus,

it is a remembrance of love. The greatest act of love the world has

ever and will ever know, Jesus's death on the cross. It was Jesus

that tells Us in John's Gospel Account chapter fifteen, greater love has no one

than this to lay down one's life for one's friends. And it was Jesus

Us God in flesh, that did just that and so much more. In

Romans chapter five, Paul wrote, this banger. You see, at just

the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

I love this part. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person

though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates

his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ

died for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we

be saved from God's wrath through him? If while we were God's enemies we

were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more having

been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life. Not only is this

soul, but we also boasting God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him,

we have now received reconciliation. So I'm gonna break those chunk of verses

down. Get the next slide. The greatest act of love accomplished these five

things again, this is my list. We could never begin to recount all

that Jesus has done for us, but these five things versus redemption. Jesus

paid the full price of the debt we owed for transgression, which was death.

His payment set us free from bondage to sin. His act of love

accomplished forgiveness. God could now release us from the punishment we deserved. It

accomplished propreciation. Christ's payment satisfied the Father by fulfilling his demand for justice while

letting him forgive us justification on the basis of Jesus's sacrifice. The Lord now

declares believers not guilty. Although we still sin in this earthly life, our

standing before God is one of righteousness. This is a legal declaration that can

never be reversed. Praise God. Lastly, reconciliation. The barrier of sin

that separated us from the Father was removed by Christ's death. On our behalf,

we are now God's children. We have open access to Him and fellowship

with Him. We are going to move on to our response time. We

have many ways we're going to worship God. We're going to have prayer.

Myself and any of the other elders who are available would be on the sides.

We want to pray with you. Please allow us to do that if

you need prayer for anything. We also have the connect cards available out in

the lobby. Should you want to write your prayer request down, you can

do that right on the back there. If it's a private prayer, just

write private. It'll just go to the elders. Otherwise it goes to all

the church leaders, because the more people praying for you, the better.

If you came prepared to give today the offering box in the white offering box

outside those double doors, you can drop your off freed in there, and

like I said, we're giving away today's offering to Options Pregnancy Clinic. Lastly,

we have baptism if you want to be baptized today. If you let

me clarify, if you haven't been baptized yet and you want to be baptized

today, let's do it. I'm ready. We will celebrate that. We

would love the opportunity to baptize you in the name of the Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit. We have clothes I hope they would fit you,

and we have towels. And then we're gonna worship. Sorry, I love

laughter and I like making people laugh. I'm sorry. Okay, we're gonna

worship. Stick around after the last song because we're gonna have our very first

members meeting, and even prior to that, actually, we're gonna have our

very first annual membership renewal followed by the members meeting. I got that right,

Okay, perfect, All right, let's pray and then we will worship.

Would you stand up, Lord God, I thank you. I thank

you that we can celebrate, that we can remember, that we can worship

you through the acts of baptism and through communion to celebrate the new covenant made

in your blood. Lord, we thank you for your sacrifice on the cross

that made a way to the Father even when we were dead in our sins.

Thank you for forgiving us our sins. Thank you for forgiving us of

the sins we've committed today that we're going to commit later. Help us to

approach you and others that we have wronged with courage and with humility. Bless

the rest of our time together. Lord, we give it to you in

Jesus name. Amen.