58a) Directives for Ordering The Lord's Supper (~1987-8)

Introduction: Special Gatherings and the Lord's Supper

0:02 Now, we are presently concerned to address those matters that pertain to that which I've described for you men as the work of pastoral oversight as it comes to expression in ordering the corporate worship of the people of God. And in our previous times together, in dealing with this subject, we focused our attention upon the general directives for the conducting of the ordinary or the regular services of worship. Today, we shift our focus of concern to the special gatherings of the people of God for biblically mandated activities, specifically the Supper of Remembrance or the Lord's Supper

0:46 and services for the baptism of professed disciples. And when we have completed our consideration of these matters, God willing, we will then proceed in our next lectures to take up those gatherings not mandated by the scriptures. but by cultural expectations. And there we will address such things as weddings and funerals and the biblical principles that ought to direct us as we seek under God to glorify Him in those opportunities of ministry.

1:19 Now, as we address ourselves to those special gatherings of the people of God clearly mandated by the scriptures, we'll take them up in the order of their importance as a gathering of the people of God. which will bring us first of all to a consideration then of the Supper of Remembrance or the Communion service. Now, in handling the subject of the Supper of Remembrance, we're going to do so under four headings. The first three are some crucial questions concerning the Supper of Remembrance and then the fourth heading, some miscellaneous counsels concerning the Supper of Remembrance.

2:01 Now, by way of introduction to the crucial questions, let me state several things briefly. And the first is that since the exposition of the biblical warrant for the Supper of Remembrance falls more under the discipline of ecclesiology in your systematics course and the history of the controversies and errors and imbalances will be confronted in your historical theology discipline, I will not take the time to try to bring in the insights and the conclusions of those two other theological disciplines.

2:43 But suffice it to say that the plain sense of the language of both 1 Corinthians 10, 16 and 17 and 1 Corinthians 11, 17 to 34 establishes the fact that this Supper of Remembrance is to be an activity, of the gathered church, and therefore must be regulated in its details by those who are responsible for the oversight of the church. If the task of an elder is taking care of the house of God or the church of God, 1 Timothy 3 and verse 5, and the Lord's Supper is an activity of the gathered church, then taking care of the Supper

Question 1: Frequency of the Lord's Supper

3:27 is indeed a direct responsibility of the overseers, of the church. Now, in seeking to impart to you some workable guidelines for the planning and ordering of the Supper of Remembrance, as I've already indicated, we'll begin with a series of questions, three to be precise. And the first one, how frequently should the Supper of Remembrance be held? And I would answer by first of all stating that in keeping with the glory and the universal adaption and adaptability of New Covenant worship, no specific prescription is given in the Scriptures

4:10 with respect to the question how frequently should the Supper of Remembrance be held. The Lord Jesus, in the institution of the Supper, said, this do in remembrance of me. He did not say this do daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, biannually. He just said, this do in remembrance of me.

4:35 And the Apostle adds the little adverb, hosakis, in 1 Corinthians 11, 26, whenever or as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. But he does not specify how frequently this whenever or as often as was. Now, there are some strong, strong suggestions. There are some pointers.

5:05 There is a precedent that comes out of what we might call early, uninspired, but early church history. But at the end of the day, in terms of my present light and even some very recent inquiry into the subject of the frequency of the Lord's Supper, I'm prepared to set before you this general principle that I have printed out in your notes with regard to the question how frequently, should the Supper of Remembrance be held given the indefiniteness of the witness of Scripture, I would answer with this principle. It should be held often enough to derive regularly its intended benefits

5:50 without leaving it unnecessarily vulnerable to its becoming commonplace on the one hand or superstitiously venerated on the other. Now, let me break that down for just a few moments. I've stated that with respect to the question of the frequency of the Supper, it should be held often enough to derive regularly its intended benefits. Among all the things that the Lord could have given to His Church, He's given us these two visible words, these two ordinances that involve taking substance, tangible words, tangible physical substances

6:34 and using them to convey, to seal, to portray spiritual realities. And therefore, we must not treat lightly the benefits that God intends to bring to Himself and to His people through that which He has instituted. So, with respect to the question of how frequently should the Supper of Remembrance be held, it ought to be held frequently enough to derive regularly its intended benefits. But to do this without, first of all, leaving it unnecessarily vulnerable to becoming commonplace.

7:16 Notice I said unnecessarily vulnerable. Anything can become commonplace because of the problem of the human heart. But I'm saying that there is a way with respect to frequency that in my judgment we leave the Supper unnecessarily vulnerable to its becoming commonplace on the one hand or superstitiously venerated on the other. Too frequent communion, in my judgment, leaves it unnecessarily vulnerable to becoming commonplace.

7:52 Too infrequent coming to the Supper leaves it unnecessarily vulnerable to superstitious veneration. And therefore, as we wrestle, with this matter and seek to apply the principles to the specific situation in which we find ourselves, I trust that you will find this principle helpful as you work through the issue. I believe one is hard-pressed to prove exegetically that the Supper of Remembrance has as prominent a place in God's purpose for the salvation and sanctification of His people as is established as a sign to the preaching

8:36 and teaching of the Word of God. Jesus prays, sanctify them in thy truth. Thy word is truth, not thy word and thy sacraments or thine ordinances are truth. Ephesians 4.15,

8:52 speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things. When we read the pastoral epistles, I say it reverently, again and again, Paul is admonishing Timothy with respect to specific contentment, intent, and manner of his teaching and preaching ministry summarized in that glorious final charge. I charge you to preach the Word, be instant, in season, out of season, recruit, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching, et cetera. As newborn babes, 1 Peter 2.1,

9:25 long for the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. It seems to me in the overall witness, particularly of the New Testament, that God has assigned a place, a place to the regular teaching of the preaching of the Word that takes precedent over the institution of the supper as a means of grace, as a means of the strengthening of the faith of God's people. And therefore, when we think of this question of the frequency, it is my judgment that the frequency ought to reflect that place of prominence that God has given to the teaching and preaching of His Word as an instrument of sanctification

Question 2: Context of the Lord's Supper

10:09 and growth in the lives of His people. Second question, in what context should the supper be held? Now I've already alluded to the answer earlier, but now I wish to affirm that it is a gathered church ordinance. And the two passages that I simply alluded to in the introduction, I now want to read and comment upon briefly in your hearing.

10:35 First Corinthians 10, in what Warfield calls just a passing, incidental reference to the Supper of Remembrance, and he has marvelous sermon in Faith in Life on this very passage in First Corinthians 10, 16 and 17, there is some very helpful sacramental theology. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break is it not a communion of the body of Christ? Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one body, for we all partake of one bread.

11:18 We bless, we break, we partake. There is communion among the people of God in their participation in the bread and in the cup. And this of course is so clearly emphasized, in the First Corinthians 11 passage. You know that in conjunction with the Supper of Remembrance was the love feast there at Corinth, and it had descended into horrible abuses.

11:49 And as Paul corrects the abuses, he does not in any way infer that the answer to the abuse is private or semi-private communion. Rather, it is to strip away the excesses and the abuses, but that it is a gathered church ordinance, is patent in the very beginning and right through the entire passage. Verse 17. But in giving you this charge, I do not praise you, that you come together, not for the better, but for the worse.

12:21 Verse 20. When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's Supper. That is, under the existing prevailing circumstances, whatever you are doing, it is not possible to eat the Lord's Supper. It is not eating the Lord's Supper because of these aberrations.

12:39 Verse 33. Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait one for another. And verse 34. That your coming together be not unto judgment.

12:55 Now in the light of this, I would urge you men to refuse the superstitious notion or unwise zeal that would lead to the practice of private communion or selective communion, except, of course, if you have a shut-in where you might take a representative group of the assembly in order to celebrate the Supper of Remembrance with someone who, in these extraordinary circumstances, is cut off from the gathering of God's people. And certainly, I trust, you will never be sympathetic to non-church gatherings where the Supper of Remembrance is administered,

13:39 i.e., inter-varsity gatherings at Urbana for a missionary conference that culminates in communion amongst ten, fifteen thousand students. No church in any sense of the word, no discipline, everyone free to partake in the Supper in that context.

Question 3: Predominant Perspectives in Planning and Administration

13:59 I trust you will never prostitute the sacred institution that God has placed in His church and allow it and sympathetically identify with it in any other context. But then we come to the third question, and that is, what perspectives should predominate our planning and administration of the Supper of Remembrance? And here we are going to part for the bulk of the remainder of our considerations together. What perspectives should predominate our planning and administration of the Supper of Remembrance?

14:35 And in response to that question, the first strand of concern I've captured in these words, the primary purpose of the Supper ought to dominate the general climate of the service. The primary purpose of the Supper ought to dominate the general climate of the service. Well, what is the primary purpose? Well, I'm convinced that the Scripture, if we didn't have two thousand years of church history and sacramental controversy, that someone just learning to read his Bible, picking it up and reading for the first time, 1 Corinthians 11, would come away with an unambiguous answer to the question,

15:19 what is the primary purpose of the Supper? And 1 Corinthians 11, 24 and 25 gives us the answer. I received of the Lord, verse 23, that which I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread. When He had given thanks, and said, this is my body which is for you, this do in remembrance of me.

15:44 In like manner also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do as oft as you drink it in remembrance of me. Now surely, our Lord has made it explicit that the primary purpose of the Supper is that it would be a medium, a means, to bring us to remembrance of Himself. And you notice in your notes that I've made reference both to the noun and to the verb. Anamnesis is the noun and the verb anamimnesco.

16:27 And what do they signify? Well, let's look at the noun in two other passages. Luke 22 and verse 19. What does it mean to bring something to remembrance?

16:39 Well, Luke 22 and verse 19 gives us, I think, a very helpful answer. When He took bread, given thanks, brake, and gave to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. There's the use of the word in the gospel accord. Now turn over to Hebrews 10 and verse 3.

17:02 Hebrews 10 and verse 3. Speaking of the fact that under the old covenant the shadows and types were repeated because they never brought reality. They were simply foreshadowings of that reality. Verse 3.

17:24 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance. Anamnesis. There is a remembrance of made of sins year by year. What is this remembrance of sin? It is

17:40 a calling to mind. It is a bringing into present cognitive awareness of a certain reality. The reality here being sins. Now in the verb form we have a couple of clear illustrations of what anamnesis means. Mark 14

17:58 and verse 72. With respect to Peter's denial, we read in Mark chapter 14 and verse 72. And straightway the second time the rooster crowed. And Peter, here's our word. Called to

18:17 mind the word. How Jesus said unto him before the cock crowed twice, you shall deny me three times. He brought to remembrance. He brought into present cognitive conscious awareness something that was there in the file drawers of the mind is now flashed up on the screen before the eyeballs of the mind. He called it to

18:41 remembrance. It's what the writer to Hebrews called upon the Hebrew Christians to do in Hebrews 10 and verse 32. Hebrews 10 and verse 32. But call to remembrance the former days. Bring to

18:59 present focused conscious cognitive awareness the former days in which after you were enlightened you endured a great conflict of sufferings etc. These things happened. They are there in the file drawers of the mind. Draw them up. Flash

19:17 them on the screen. If I may use current analogies, even as one who's basically computer illiterate. I know what happens when you put that little disk in that slot. What is there in electronic impressions when you push the right buttons on your keyboard is now brought up on the screen. And is brought out

19:37 of the computer's memory now to your remembrance it is there before your eyeballs. Now it's seems to me that if we could sweep away all of the sacramental controversies and ask anyone based on the original words of institution as recorded in Luke 22 19 and the emphasis in Paul's revelation of this instituted supper as given to him by the Lord. The question what is the primary purpose is clear from the language of the passage. It is to be a supper of remembrance. This primary

20:16 purpose is to call to present cognitive awareness the person of our Lord Jesus Christ but his person particularly as crucified for us. We are to do this in remembrance of him not in abstraction but in conjunction with him being the Passover lamb. The one who was symbolized in the lamb they had just eaten and he could have taken of the flesh of that lamb but he didn't. He took bread and he said this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance

20:58 of me. This is my blood of the new covenant. Do this in remembrance of me. So it is not remembrance of Christ generically but remembrance of Christ specifically in terms of his person and work, his life's blood and his excellence

21:29 and his life's work. When we remember him we are to remember Christ his body broken and his blood shed. In preaching the gospel Paul determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. So in the Eucharist Christ is presented to view

22:13 not as transfigured on Mount Tabor or as glorified at his father's right hand but as suffering and dying. We delight to keep in memory the honors which they whom we love have received. But Jesus calls us to remember the humiliation which he endured. To the lowest point of his humiliation the supper directs our thoughts.

22:44 And to me that captures the essence of those passages in the institution. And therefore as we wrestle with the question what perspective should predominate in our planning and administration of the supper of remembrance I answer first of all by saying the primary purpose of the supper should predominate or should dominate the general climate of the service. Therefore by way of application any ministry preceding should lead to this remembrance. It ought to be turning the eyes of the soul toward Christ crucified for sinners.

23:28 Any remarks at the table should lead to this remembrance. All the hymns and the prayers should lead this remembrance. If the primary purpose not up for us and our discretion to determine but has been determined by the Lord of the table who calls us to the table and he says do what you're doing in anamnesis in remembrance of me then surely everything surrounding our planning and administration of the affairs of the table should point in the direction of the primary purpose of the supper. But then

Secondary Purposes of the Lord's Supper

24:12 I've stated in letter B that the secondary purposes of the supper ought to regulate some facets of the service. The secondary purposes of the supper ought to regulate some facets of the service. And what are those secondary purposes? Well I've stated them first of all as a renewed call to feed upon Christ as our life and our salvation.

24:42 And here again I commend to you the very perceptive words of Dagg. Again on page 210. The simple ceremony is admirably contrived to serve more than a single purpose. While it shows forth the Lord's death it represents at the same time the spiritual benefit which the believer derives from it. He that

25:08 is the believer eats the bread and drinks the wine in token of his receiving his spiritual sustenance from Christ crucified. This simple rite preaches the doctrine that Christ died for our sins and that we live by his death. He said quoting John chapter 6 except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you. These remarkable words teach the necessity of his atoning sacrifice and of faith in that sacrifice. Without

25:44 these salvation and eternal life are impossible. When Christ said my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed he did not refer to his flesh and blood literally understood. He calls himself the living bread which came down from heaven. This cannot be affirmed of his literal flesh. To have eaten

26:06 this literally would not have secured everlasting life and equally inefficacious is the Romanist ceremony in which they absurdly imagine they eat the real body of Christ. His body is present in the Eucharist in no other sense than in that which we can discern it quoting from 1 Corinthians 11. When he said this is my body the plain meaning is this represents my body. So we point to a picture and say this is Christ on the cross. The Eucharist

26:38 is a picture so to speak in which the bread represents the body of Christ suffering for our sins. Faith discerns what the picture represents. It discerns the Lord's body in the commemorative representation of it and derives spiritual nourishment from the atoning sacrifice made by his broken body and his shed blood. You see we move from the objective and this is where I think we need to be very careful in sorting out the historical controversies.

27:12 We start with what is central and objective in the gospel and that is always external to us. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. That's the fundamental declaration of the good news. Whether I feel a twinge of joy or grief or sadness or anything that's reality.

27:32 The central and primary focus of the supper is to bring us back and may I say it reverently outside of our present emotional and felt joy or lack of the same in conjunction with that reality. This do in remembrance of me at a given point in human history in an upper room on a hunk of real estate there in Palestine the incarnate God took's bread and broke and he gave a cup and he said these things stand for my person and what I am about to accomplish in the redemption of sinners do this in calling

28:16 to mind these blessed objective realities. But the objective realities untapped by living faith do us no good. And so the supper is a marvelous occasion to move from the objective reality and the calling to remember and experience of those realities to the subjective personal experiential feeding upon Christ himself by faith. And so it is not a matter of saying well the Zwinglian position is that it's a mere memorial as though it's all purely objective or the so called Calvin view in which there is a spiritual

28:59 feeding upon Christ. No, it's not either or. It is the reality yes, do this in remembrance of me in calling to present cognitive awareness the realities surrounding my person and work as your savior and redeemer. But also at the supper when what we are doing as a way of life all the time feeding upon Christ crucified as the life of our souls coming to him sometimes many times in one day confessing our sins pleading the virtue of his blood to cleanse us. Looking up in

29:40 our hearts to him as the medium of our living communion with the triune God. We live by faith in the son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. So it's not a different kind of faith in a totally different orbit of reference but at the table that faith is strengthened when the realities upon which we feed by faith unaided by any physical accoutrements now as by divine appointment stuff we can hold in our hands and stuff we can put into our mouths and what do we do? We let that occasion of that stuff of bread and the fruit of the vine become a catalytic influence upon

30:25 the soul not to do something entirely different from the prevailing state of the soul but to intensify that reality of feeding upon Christ by faith John 6 does not point to the Lord's supper it points to what it is to be a Christian he that doesn't eat my flesh and drinks my blood has no life in him he that eats my flesh drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day he that by faith lives upon me as crucified for sinners will be raised at the last day well the Lord does not introduce something entirely different in the institution of the supper but a marvelous means whereby to underscore what I have called

31:09 the secondary purpose of the supper which is this renewed call to feed upon Christ as our life and our salvation but then another of the secondary purposes of the supper is that it is to be a visible display of our unity in Christ being a church ordinance and coming together in order to remember the Lord in the way of his appointment surely this is underscored in the first Corinthians ten seventeen passage first Corinthians ten in verse seventeen seeing that we who are many are one bread one body for we all partake of the one

31:53 loaf and in the very physical act of partaking of that loaf the many partaking from the one there is this visible display of our unity in Christ and then thirdly another of the secondary purposes of the supper is the powerful and vivid declaration of the gospel and we go back to first Corinthians chapter eleven for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup in conjunction with the primary purpose which is what the Lord has already told us here is the bread this represents my body do this in remembrance of me the cup new covenant in my blood as often

32:37 as you drink it in remembrance of me now in fulfilling that primary purpose Paul says you are doing something else your primary focus is not proclamation it's remembrance but as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup assumed in the manner and to the ends appointed by the Lord himself that is in remembrance of him you are also doing something else as an ancillary automatic outgrowth of doing what the Lord says you are proclaiming you are preaching forth the Lord's death till he come and one of the standard New Testament verbs for preaching you become a company of people

33:21 preaching proclaiming the Lord's death till he come and the same Greek word is used in those two references that I cited to show that preaching is indeed a valid translation or declaring setting forth acts four and verse two acts four and verse two who saw troubled because they taught the people and proclaimed preached forth in Jesus the resurrection from the dead and a similar reference in Acts 13 38 through this man is preached unto you

34:04 the forgiveness of sins where the formal act of verbal proclamation is used here we preach not by word but by our action of remembrance we are there acknowledging that our only hope for life and salvation is in the one who laid down his life as a substitute for sinners we in partaking of the bread and of the cup in remembrance of him are giving a powerful and vivid declaration of the truth of the gospel that our only hope as sinners is in Christ crucified and therefore the only hope of any sinner is in the same Christ crucified whom we remember

34:48 at his table and then a fourth secondary purpose of the supper is a renewed call to self examination and holiness a renewed call to self examination and holiness as Paul goes on to deal with the major concern in 1 Corinthians 10 and here I commend to you again Warfield's article in which he opens up the overall background to Paul's treatment of this subject of what can be and should not be eaten in conjunction with the doctrine of Christian liberty etc but for our purposes notice verse 21 you cannot drink the cup

35:31 of demons and I'm sorry you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy are we stronger than he he is calling then to a more definitive evident obvious break with anything that had to do with their former association with idol worship and when we come to the Lord's table it should be a reminder to us that in professing to have communion with Christ crucified we cannot at one and the same time be entering into communion with that which is demonic so it is a fresh call to make sure that we are

36:16 wholly separated unto the Lord that he has no grounds to be provoked to jealousy because of spiritual harlotry on the part of those who are declaring by taking the bread and the cup that Christ himself and Christ alone is the object of their faith and of their trust and likewise in chapter 11 verses 27 to 32 I need not read the passage you remember it deals with the matter of the unworthy participation in the supper and what is it that we must do to avoid that unworthy participation verse 28 let a man prove or examine himself and so let

37:00 him eat of the bread and drink of the cup and whatever is the proper understanding of the proving and the examining of oneself it obviously comes into the orbit of what he deals with later on in the passage verse 21 but if we discerned ourselves we should not be judged but when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world it is a fresh summons to come to grips with what was the purpose for which Christ died and that's why I've listed these other three texts if he died that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to himself of people his own

37:44 special possessions zealous of good works then how can I in an intensified way be remembering him in his death and not commit myself afresh to the end for which he died that is to redeem me from all iniquity and purify me to himself one zealous of good works Ephesians 5 25 and 26 he loved the church gave himself for it that he might sanctify and present it to himself well if that's the purpose of his death how can I take the symbols of his death and not be stirred up to a fresh commitment to the end for which he died or the first Corinthians 6 19 and 20 passage what know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which you

38:28 have of God and you are not your own you were bought with a price glorify God therefore in your body which is his how can I take the symbols of the purchase price and be indifferent to whether or not that end is being realized in me I have been purchased body soul and spirit all that I am is purchased property and he states that in the context of giving antidotes to sexual impurity the table is another great means of dealing with the issue we heard about in the previous hour that there in our silent communion with the Lord in his presence to remind ourselves of fresh my body and all of its

39:12 faculties is blood marked blood bought it's the possession of another and all of its powers therefore are to bring glory to the one who has purchased it and has condescended to come and indwell it so that these secondary purposes then of the supper of remembrance ought to regulate certain facets of our planning our administration and our activity at the table now then we come to what I'm calling practical guidelines warnings and exhortations having entertained the questions with respect to the purpose the frequency and whatever the third was

Practical Guidelines and Warnings for the Lord's Supper: Simplicity and Unity

39:57 it slipped my head it's here in my notes we come now to take up practical guidelines warnings and exhortations those guidelines and warnings and exhortations are five number one beware of any movement away from the simplicity of the apostolic perspectives and directives touching the supper of remembrance and brethren I can't emphasize this too strongly beware of any movement away from both the simplicity of the apostolic perspectives and directives touching the supper of remembrance

40:41 and here I commend to you in Owen volume 8 pages 560 to 565 some of the most penetrating insights as to what has led to the gross aberrations of Rome in conjunction with the Lord's Supper it's a sermon by Owen in which he exposes the vicious errors of Rome under the title the chamber of imagery he takes that text from Ezekiel where the prophet is taken into the chambers of imagery and sees all manner of abominations well then he begins to lay open the abominations of Rome and when he comes to this matter of how she developed her abominable doctrine of the mass and transubstantiation

41:25 listen to Owen's very penetrating insights as they apply to this first word of warning and exhortation they discern the truth of this mystery that is true believers they discern the truth of the mystery that Christ crucified is the life of the soul of believing sinners they seem beyond the bread and beyond the cup to the reality of the person and work of Christ embraced by faith they discern the truth of this mystery and have experience of its power however men growing carnal and being destitute of spiritual light with the wisdom of faith

42:10 utterly lost all experience of any communion with Christ and participation of him in this sacrament on the principles of gospel truth they could find nothing in it no power no efficacy nothing that should answer the great and glorious things spoken of it nor was it possible they should for indeed there is nothing in it but unto faith as the light of the sun is nothing to them that have no eyes a dog and a staff are more used to a blind man than the sun nor is the most melodious music anything to them that are deaf yet notwithstanding this loss of spiritual experience they retain the

42:55 notion of truth that there must be a peculiar participation of Christ in this sacrament distinct from all other ways and means of the same grace here the wits of men were hard put to find out an image of this spiritual communion whereof in their minds they could have no experience yet they fashioned one by degrees and after they had greatened the mystery in words and expressions whereof they knew nothing of its power no longer simple of remembrance but it began to be the mystery that was the first word to enter once they surrounded it with fancy terms what did they do then to answer unto what

43:38 was to be set up in the room of it until they brought forth the horrid monster of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass for hereby they provided that all those things which are spiritual in this communion should be turned into and acted in things carnal bread shall be the body of Christ carnally the mouth shall be faith the teeth shall be the exercise the belly shall be the heart and the priest shall offer Christ unto God a viler image never was invented and there is nothing of faith required herein it is all but a fortifying of imagination against all sense

44:22 and reason didn't the insights penetrate the heart no longer fed upon Christ but had an institution of Christ what are we going to do with it well let's surround it with mysterious terms and then we'll have a theology that matches the terms and then we end up with a sacramental theology that is perfectly understandable to carnal men Christ is there in the host I eat Christ I have life live like the devil makes no difference no spiritual feeding upon Christ makes no difference but you see that did not start now that didn't come as it were inundating the church in a period of a decade it's when people moved

45:07 away and somebody who was made a steward of God's house betrayed his stewardship and allowed the simplicity of apostolic perspectives and directives touching the supper of remembrance to be replaced by degrees with terminology and then with theology overlaid with rubrics and with liturgy that utterly obscured and denied the very heart of the gospel which our Lord intended to embody in the simple supper of remembrance one of the greatest travesties and tragedies in church history that the very thing our blessed Lord

45:52 instituted that among the community of his own the central truth of the gospel should be preserved in all of its integrity should become the means to obscure the gospel and to bury people in damnable superstition brethren I plead with you beware of any movement away from the simplicity of the apostolic perspectives and directives touching the supper of remembrance a corruption of the sacraments has often led to or been the accompaniment of a corruption of the gospel itself the spoken word and the visible word stand or fall together

46:35 in their simplicity and purity or in their corruption and their denial as long as Christ crucified is precious to men hear me now because preaching with the blessing of the holy ghost sent down from heaven has made him precious the simplicity and joyful dignity of a simple pattern of the supper of remembrance will be all God's people desire in the power of the holy ghost make and keep Christ precious to his people they will ask for nothing more than a simple apostolically directed supper of

47:20 remembrance but let Christ become unknown and unloved and men will itch for ritual and form to take his place superstition will replace instruction magical powers will replace mental reflection may God help us that we lay to heart this word of exhortation then I want to hasten on number two beware of a legalistic mentality that would rend the body of Christ over circumstantial details pertaining to the supper church history has a tragic tale to tell of the carnality that has been manifested over the circumstantial details

48:05 of the supper to this day there are those who write articles and in disparaging way they speak of those who have their cracker and grape juice charade rather than really observe the Lord they call it a cracker and grape juice charade where humble earnest true believers may have crushed saltines and welsh's grape juice but in lovering remembrance of the Lord Jesus they eat bread and they drink of the fruit of the vine and they call it their cracker and grape juice charade you have churches

48:48 and denominations churches I'm not sure of denominations but I do know churches that have split whether we're going to have unleavened or leavened bread fermented wine or unfermented one cup many cup one long table sitting kneeling coming to an altar these matters are the circumstantial details and I would urge you to beware of a legalistic mentality that would rend the body of Christ over circumstantial details pertaining to the supper if God gives you light from the word that you in turn with your fellow overseers are convinced that instruction of your people can lead

49:31 them closer to the elements being distributed in a way that reflects their God given intention then certainly the reformed church is the reforming church let me just give briefly a testimony of how we move from little cut up cubes of of wonder bread I think it was back years ago when I first came into the area to having one loaf it was just in the consecutive reading through the new testament that when we came to the passage it said do we not all partake of one loaf the people began to come to us as elders and say what's that mean we partake of one loaf why can't we have one loaf to underscore that we are one body you don't think that's a bad idea so when there was enough evidence that the word of God

50:15 had conditioned people's hearts then we just had a congregational meeting opened up some of the scriptures on it said from here on this is what I'm going to do and this is why and nobody had a fuss over it all there was was a glad reception of an alteration in practice that for some was entirely new well then some others said well would it not be more in keeping with the sense of our unity if we were to have one cup and we wrestled with that matter and having wrestled with it we came to the conviction no the logistics of passing just one cup and living in a society where there is no common experience of drinking of one cup that it would so jar the minds and the aesthetic sensitivity of personal

50:59 hygiene in a society where this was not common that it would detract from remembering Christ what a travesty to say in passion to be correct you undermine the very purpose of the supper so instead of remembering Christ people are wondering whose cold germs am I swallowing so we decided against the one cup we haven't closed the door we're still open perhaps in the future we'll move to that we wrestled with the matter of alcoholic or non-alcoholic we saw it's very interesting though you have a standard Greek word for wine oinos it's not once used in conjunction with the supper it's called fruit of the vine I will no more drink of this fruit of the vine ah but you say at that time of the

51:43 year it probably yeah but what was it 2% how much water was it diluted was it 1% I mean if you press this we'll end up having to have grain shipped in from the Palestinian hillside stone ground and specially custom made and grapes shipped you see when you start pressing this brethren it's the fruit of the vine it's the grape crushed and its life poured out there's the essential symbolism so we would draw the line if someone said well um they can have what whatever this certainly is something that is of the essence of the symbolism it is bread the staff of life it is the fruit of the vine crushed

52:27 and poured out but in these matters please don't ever ever have a legalistic mentality that would rend the body of Christ even if in your own mind you're persuaded there ought to be some changes patiently let the word of God condition the hearts and the minds of God's people it would grieve the Lord Jesus to see his supper which has as one of its secondary purposes an expression of the unity established by his blood letting to see that unity fracture over some circumstantial element of the supper itself then thirdly use the occasion of the supper to demonstrate the parity of the eldership and to combat sacerdotalism and

Practical Guidelines and Warnings for the Lord's Supper: Elders and Communion Practice

53:12 clericalism sacerdotalism is an excessive reliance on a priesthood clericalism I'm using it in the sense of excessive assigning excessive power to the clergy now I'm aware of the attempt to prove that only those who labor in the word and teaching are the proper stewards of the sacraments but having looked up all the references used to support that position and all the arguments they don't wash with me at all now if they wash with you fine and you'll not become less a friend to me if you're persuaded that there is a peculiar stewardship in conjunction with word and sacrament that only those who labor in the word should administer the sacraments I personally believe

53:55 it points in the direction and are the remnants of sacerdotalism and clericalism and I don't think there's any solid exegetical grounds to prove the position and so I would urge you at least to consider using the occasion of the supper to demonstrate the parity of the eldership that is that as those assigned to take care of the house of God one does not need to be peculiarly gifted in order to labor in the word or to have regular public ministry to be able in an edifying way to take his place at the table before the people of God and to lead them in the supper of remembrance and then

54:39 fourthly study carefully the issue of open or closed communion now what that issue is is basically this should only immersed members of Baptist churches be welcomed to the table some go further and say only the immersed members of your own local assembly be welcomed to the table that's closed communion with all capital letters capital C capital L capital O capital S capital E capital B then you have closed with just a capital C and that would welcome to the table the members of that local assembly and those of other immersed assemblies and then there is a semi open communion such as we practice in which we welcome all who are members

55:23 of evangelical churches to come to the table and then there is a totally open communion the position espoused by Hall and by Bunyan that there should be no requirement for the table that is not a requirement to enter heaven you believe on Christ and you're fit to go to heaven then surely that should be enough to come to the table well there are able proponents on both sides of the issue and I've sought to read carefully their arguments all of Hall's and Bunyan's but there are able proponents of closed communion in Fuller's works volume 3 pages 499 to 514 and Fuller is certainly not to be regarded as some wingnut

56:08 and nor is Dagg in the last half of his section on his manual of theology Dagg that section on church polity pages 214 to 225 Dagg argues very powerfully for closed communion personally if I were in a missionary situation where nobody had ever heard the gospel and you went in and you were preaching the gospel in totally virgin soil it's a moot question I mean it's a dead issue because only those who profess faith and repentance would be part of the church and only those part of the church would come to the table it's nice and clean and neat but you go into a situation we can't roll back 2000 years of church history and while bearing witness to this truth the truth that

56:53 we recognize if we believe that Christ dwells in pedo-baptist churches and anyone who says he doesn't I think is going to have a hard time proving why Christ has done such glorious works to advance his kingdom in pedo-baptist churches I wouldn't want the burden of proof to say they are not true churches because if they are not true churches Christ is not there and if Christ ain't there I wouldn't want the burden of explaining what in the world has gone on in church history to this very hour in pedo-baptist churches of worship that is worship in spirit and in truth ministry that is attended with the power of the Holy Ghost but you see unless you prepare to unchurch all pedo-baptists

57:37 then you must somehow express that conviction that they are true churches and those who are members of those assemblies though we would regard their view of baptism as erroneous we are not unchurching them because in their consciences having come to open confession of Christ as communicant members they in their judgment have met the biblical requirement to be baptized they are not despising baptism they are not despising the concept of membership in the church and so we desire to bear witness to some of these other ancillary truths and those are the things you need to wrestle with and so I am just urging you without opening up the whole issue to study carefully

58:21 the issue of open or closed or semi-open or semi-closed communion and then my final word of exhortation before we take our break is spare no pains to secure an orderly undistracting dignified plan of distributing the elements if ever 1 Corinthians 14 40 has a direct application let all things be done decently and in order it should be at the Lord's table so that there is no confusion and disorder and distraction due to a lack of careful planning or somebody's stumbling to get the elements and someone's dropping a tray and surely if ever

59:05 we ought to show care for God's house it's when the members of that house gather to remember the Lord Jesus in the way of his appointment and if you need to have a practice session with new stewards or men appointed to serve then have a practice session with those that everything might be done in such a way that nothing will distract from the purposes for which the Lord has instituted this blessed ordinance well in summary we've addressed ourselves to three major questions how frequently should the supper be held in what context and what perspectives ought to dominate and then we've looked at five practical councils and before leaving this subject I want to just mention

59:49 a little bibliography that I've given you at the bottom of page 139 if you can get hold of Ernest Kevin's little book the Lord's Supper as far as I'm concerned it's the finest little single volume treatment on the supper of remembrance he has lovely little statements such as this the Lord's Supper is not a means of special grace but it is a special means of grace lovely little statements that to me capture the essence of the biblical teaching and then John Owen in his works volume 9 pages 521 to 622 then I've already mentioned Dagg's manual of theology and then this wonderful sermon in speaking to Pastor Sarver this morning I wanted to make sure

60:33 what he covered with you men in historical theology on the doctrine of the sacraments and he says that he does cover the Luther Zwingli debate he's not yet tried to take you into Calvin's synthesis or compromised position which Cunningham himself says is incomprehensible very interesting when you read Cunningham and the reformers and the theology of the reformation which I've listed you want to read that section pages 219 to that shouldn't be 212 to 219 I think it goes further I think it's 299 it's a larger section but it's the chapter that deals with Zwingli and the sacraments that is a misprint that chapter is much longer I think it's 289 299

61:17 you can look it up in your own copy of that or in the library copy but I commend to you this lovely sermon Pastor Sarver reminded me of it this morning and I re-read it earlier this morning and there is more good sound theology and practical help in this one sermon that you might find in wading through volumes of stuff dealing with verbal gobbledygook as Warfield opens up 1 Corinthians 10 16 and 17 very helpful material alright let's take our break brethren and start promptly then at half past the hour and I hope to work through quickly with you some of these major

Rationale for Monthly Evening Communion at Trinity Baptist Church

62:01 principles relative to baptismal services as we take up this hour again brethren before we move into the subject of baptisms I want to say a word as to why we moved to the practice of having a monthly communion and I put some notes here on the back I think of one of my sheets here it's probably this one that's over to the left yes that as we were wrestling with the frequency of communion when Trinity Church first started we just had quarterly communion we said let's start quarterly and if we find the Lord blesses it and there's a groundswell of desire for greater frequency better to move from less to more than from something that's too much and try to back off from it

62:46 and the advantages that we have found in monthly communion and having it in the evening as opposed to in the morning or the Wednesday the four basic things and this again is just explanation I'm not trying to persuade this is just explanation number one in keeping with the principle that I articulated that everything in the service of remembrance should lend itself toward underscoring its primary purpose and its secondary purpose we found that this necessitated that one in eight biblical ministries every month would bring us back to the heart of the gospel so that no matter what series we're being sustained Sunday school Sunday morning Sunday night Sunday morning Sunday evening ministry

63:30 if we include the adult class that's one in twelve would of necessity bring us right back to the nerve centers of the gospel and in thinking of the health of our people and the balance of us who are preaching and the preservation of the centrality of Christ crucified in the faith and affections of his people to have a structure that forced us no matter where we were in dealing with any aspect of the whole council of God to come back one service per month in the ministry of the word whoever preaches at the communion service is to bring a communion meditation that that could only help to contribute to the immediate and long term spiritual well being of the life of the church secondly

64:14 it does not militate then against or unnecessarily disrupt consecutive instruction that we thought if we move to weekly communion if it's not going to be something just tacked on and we run through then the ministry of the word at least in great measure and whatever liturgy we establish should prepare for and lend to the significance of that well if we had it weekly what then would happen with any substantive consecutive ministry of the word so that was the second reason thirdly it avoids the tacked on syndrome of a weekly communion and most places that I've been that have weekly communion it seems to me those Spurgeon powerfully eloquently poetically argues against

64:59 this tendency but nonetheless I'm not persuaded that most people had Spurgeon's unusual heightened experiential communion with Christ and that most of us lesser mortals would find weekly communion in most of my experience with it it tends to become a tacked on element of the worship and then having it in the evening it takes the pressure off those with little ones who in the morning after Sunday school and Sunday morning are hungry and you've got to get them home and fed and most of them have had their naps and things are a bit more open ended Lord's Day evening and over the years

65:43 we have found when we've had people visit us who love the Lord and have been at our communion service that's almost invariably one of the things they mention that it was so wonderful to be part of a communion service where there was time and commune with my Savior and not feel we were rushing through to get home for the midday meal so those are basically the reasons that we have established this practice and find ourselves comfortable with it now though again it's a matter of judgment and is not the law of the Medes and the Persians alright with that little addendum let's move on now and tighten our seat belts and come to the second of those gatherings of God's people that pertain to something mandated by the word of God

Baptismal Services: Liberty in Circumstances, Clarity in Subjects and Mode

66:27 so the second of the special gatherings having addressed the matter of the supper of remembrance for lack of a better term baptismal services and I want to say again at the outset that the freedom and liberty and the universal adaptability of new covenant life and worship are clearly underscored in that we are not given in the New Testament specific directives either by precept or apostolic example relative to the details of precisely when in what circumstances and how baptism should be administered on some matters the scriptures are indeed clear and although these issues are treated more fully

67:11 in your systematics courses and in treatises on the subject in my judgment the proper subjects of baptism is clear from the mandate of the Great Commission to the parallel of John chapter 4 I have listed those texts for you Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John so that when he said make disciples and baptize them they would understand that his practice and John's practice would now be perpetuated and therefore the pattern of Acts 18.8 that I preached upon a few weeks ago many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized and likewise with regard to the matter of the mode the

67:55 linguistic evidence for the significance of baptizo the fact that to this day those in the Greek Orthodox Church immerse their infants for a Greek to say I baptize and do anything other than plunge that baby in a full immersion would be as incongruous as to say I fly and then to fall on one's face and in the Greek Orthodox Church to this day though they practice infant baptism it is infant immersion Romans 6 Colossians 2 the standard text it's not my purpose to give a polemic for those matters I just mention them in passing but when we come to the word of God for light on the matter of the specific

68:39 circumstances it is here that we see no fixed pattern our Lord's baptism was a public event in Jordan when we turn to the book of Acts we see on the day of Pentecost the baptism of the 3000 was obviously a public event and there were the numerics of that baptismal act Acts 2 41 at Samaria it seemed to be public Acts 8 verses 12 to 14 the Ethiopian eunuch we would call that a semi private baptism he may have had some attendance but what doth hinder me and he is baptized there as he makes his way back to his place of dwelling and then when we

69:23 come into Acts chapter 9 we have the baptism of Paul which seemed to be a private baptism at the hands of Ananias there's no indication that there were any other witnesses present Acts 9 10 and verses 18 and 19 then you have the baptism of the household of Cornelius which was in the presence of Peter and the brethren from Joppa Acts 10 23b the baptism of Lydia and her believing household semi private Acts 16 15 the baptism of the jailer and his believing household in the middle of the night doesn't seem that they gathered any other people together Acts 16 32 to 34 the baptisms at Corinth were apparently public Acts 18 8

70:06 and the baptism at Ephesus was corporate but private Acts 19 5 so when you've gone through you say there's no real pattern here at least I can't see it if it's there it ain't registered on my brain yet and I believe in the light of the fact that we believe in the sufficiency of scripture then in matters of this nature we go back to the statement in our confession there are some things concerning the worship of God the ordering of the affairs of his church that we look to the general principles of the word to the light of nature Christian prudence and therefore I believe we are at liberty to have a separate service to baptize at the end of a worship service in a public place in a church building by a riverside in a

70:50 backyard pool and we've done all of those over the course of the years we've baptized in a pool at the end of East Bridge Road we've baptized in a river I can never allude to that without remembering the humorous incident we had a baptism on the Lord's day and the next day in the paper that very stretch of the river came out in a local newspaper was declared unfit for fishing and for swimming because the pollutants were above the normal level and the people who were baptized jokingly said well we thought our sins were only being washed away symbolically but the next day the river was declared polluted it was just one of those strange providences and that goes back at least probably

Guidelines Prior to and During Baptismal Services

71:34 25 years ago but it's still very vivid in my mind so with reference to this whole matter I do believe that God has given us liberty not with regard to the subjects and mode but when it comes to the particulars so I offer you now just some guidelines that's all they are they are not biblical directives they are generic guidelines and they are these prior to any baptismal service and then guidelines at the baptismal service prior to any baptisms I would encourage you to make good use of the two booklets that I've listed Pastor Seton's booklet An Introduction to Baptism the finest single brief treatment on the subject from an

72:18 exegetical theological practical standpoint that I've ever seen I was privileged to write the introduction to the last edition they put it on the back cover it's a very very helpful little booklet give to any new convert and you'll give them a good dose of a biblical perspective on baptism and also Errol Hulse's booklet baptism and church membership but making sure that there is instruction as to the significance of the ordinance then explain that significance to the candidates for baptism that their baptism can be an act of faith and faith is always based upon the believing comprehension of God's revealed truth and then

73:02 describe the circumstances to the candidates what to wear how to actually go through the baptism what we do is we have them come and meet in the back with one of the elders the day of their baptism and actually go through a kind of dry run with them so that when we baptize them there's no confusion and distraction in the actual act of baptizing them at the actual baptismal service here I lay before you four words of exhortation first C's the opportunity to explain the visible ordinance with the exposition of the written word now you notice how I spelled C's and I'm very thankful for Miss Reynolds and one of her little

73:47 jingles that helped me to remember she spelled C's with an E or an I what she taught us was this I before E except after C or when sounded as A as in neighbor and way but either leisure neither and C's are four exceptions if you please and that little jingle has stood me in good stead with some of these I before E words alright so it's C's S E I Z E C's the opportunity to explain this visible word by the exposition of the written word or the definition and sacred

74:31 sentielism are in every human heart by nature and we need to preach it out we need to preach out the sacramentalism that assumes if I have compact with some physical object and undergo a physical activity I have a certain measure of promise grace that's the essenc of sacramentalism superstition is some vague notion some way or another by what I'm doing. And those things are in the human heart and they need to be preached out. Furthermore, since all the benefits of the gospel are given to believers, faith must have a word from God to rest upon. And therefore, for those being baptized, as well as those

75:12 witnessing the baptism, seize the opportunity to explain the visible ordinance with the exposition of the written word. This is one of the great dictums of the reformers, that sacrament stands under word. Word interprets and gives validity to sacrament. And without the word, there is no true sacrament. And we need to be true to that wonderful legacy for which some of our forefathers

75:37 paid a dear price. And secondly, seize the opportunity to preach the gospel to the unconverted. A wonderful opportunity in this ordinance that marks out God's visible community of those attached to Jesus Christ to set forth the truth. Spoken by our Lord in Luke 11 and verse 23, he that is not with me is against me. He that gathers

76:03 not with me scatters. I quoted that one text because it epitomizes what I mean by saying seize the opportunity to preach the gospel to the unconverted. That there is a real distinction amongst men. And here at baptisms is a wonderful opportunity to declare that distinction. I either

76:23 heard by the word of God or by the word of God. And I think that's a wonderful opportunity to hear or read in a missionary periodical a number of years ago what to me was one of the most moving demonstrations of the real significance of baptism. In this particular village, when they would have a baptism, the whole village would gather on one side of this shallow, narrow river. All of the villagers would gather. The church would gather on one side with the elders. Those

76:50 who were to be baptized would be sitting among their fellow villagers. Step out from their ranks. Join whoever was baptizing them in the middle of the river. Be baptized and then take their seat with the people of God. Beautiful expression of this. Here is the line of

77:09 demarcation. Open, visible repudiation of the world. Identification with Christ and with his people. Well, though we can't mark it out so clearly, that's the spiritual reality. What a

Baptismal Services: Reminders and Combating Clericalism

77:21 marvelous opportunity to proclaim that. Seize that opportunity. Thirdly, seize the opportunity to remind the people of God of their obligations and privileges in the light of their past baptism. Just as weddings are a natural and wonderful opportunity to remind those who've been married for five, ten, fifteen, twenty, forty years of the significance of their commitments and their privileges and responsibilities. People's minds are moving in

77:50 that direction. It is a wonderful opportunity to remind God's people. Just as a sample passage, Romans 6. You declared in your baptism that in virtue of union with Christ, you have died to sin's dominion. You have risen to newness of life. Are you indeed

78:08 reckoning yourself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus? Are you expressing that walk in newness of life to which you bore witness in your own baptism? And so I would urge you then to seize that opportunity to remind the people of God of their obligations and their privileges. And then fourthly, use the opportunity to combat clericalism. And by that I mean that there is some special grace to be had if whatever's being

78:41 done is being done by those who are set apart to labor in the word and in doctrine. Just as I urge you to use the table as an opportunity to manifest the parity of ecclesiastical standing among all of us, I urge you to use the table as an opportunity to manifest the parity of ecclesiastical standing among all of the elders. So in baptisms, use the opportunity to combat clericalism and instruct all of your elders to do the baptizing in terms of their own particular gifts and physical ability in some cases. But this last baptism where Pastor Smith, that's the first time he baptized anyone. You'd think he'd done it 50 times. And it, again, gives a wonderful

79:20 opportunity for people to recognize that the baptism does not have significance. In terms of who's doing the baptism. And here I think we have even more clear, explicit biblical data than we have with regard to the administration of the Lord's Supper. We can just argue from deduction about the Lord's Supper, but you have that clear example of the Apostle Paul who is converted and commissioned, constituted a Christian and an Apostle by direct revelation, yet his baptism is at the hand of an ordinary disciple. That's how Ananias is described,

79:56 there, in Acts chapter 9, Acts chapter 9 and verse 10. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. That's all he's called, is a certain disciple. Now, he wasn't just any old disciple, because in the parallel passage in Acts chapter 22, and here's where we need to let Scripture bear its complete witness, we read of this man Ananias, Acts chapter 22,

80:33 and verse 12. And one Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there. So he was a man of some stature, all right? But there's no indication that he was an official office bearer in any church. And that's the point I'm making. And yes, he was

80:57 told to do it by direct revelation, I know that. But it's interesting that God underscores that this was not someone who had some special office, and therefore, if that were proper, then surely it must not be contrary to the will of God to use those who have been recognized, well reported of enough to be recognized as elders, use all of them in baptizing. And in unusual circumstances, as some of you know, our Baptist forefathers wrestled with this when a group of people came to a conviction about confessor's baptism, and there was no one in the area who believed in it. And so, you know, there was a group of people who came to a belief that, who's going to start the process? And they struggled through this matter, and so one

81:38 of them baptized one of the others, and they had a constituted church, and once they had leadership, etc. So on those matters, again, some of the controversies are ludicrous, some of them heartbreaking, some of them interesting. But I would suggest that in the situation in which most of you will find yourselves, there is no reason why you cannot use the opportunity to combat clericalism and use the opportunity to combat the church. And so, you know, there's a lot of things that are going to happen. And so, you know, there's a lot of things that are going to happen.

82:03 Use any, if desirable, all of your office bearers to do the baptizing to underscore again that its real significance and any efficacy comes to faith on the part of the one being baptized and the promise of God as set forth in the word of God, not in any special grace that comes at the hands of the administrator, any more than we believe there's special grace in the water. Well, I said we'd tighten our seatbelts and go through quickly this material. On baptism, most of that I hope you will see exemplified as you witness baptismal services. And there are helpful suggestions in some of the minister's manuals on some of the particulars.

82:46 And there again, we can use discretion as we seek to act responsibly under the lordship of Christ.