Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Introduction: Perseverance and the Means of Grace

0:01 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, August 1st, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Two Lord's Day mornings have passed since we last considered together the very vital biblical subject that forms the focal point of our morning expositions these weeks and months, that subject being the perseverance of the people of God, or to state it in more ordinary language,

0:36 the fact that all of the true people of God will adhere to the way of faith, holiness, and obedience, even unto the end. Now, since we have in the summer months an unusual number of visitors, it is as though some of you are coming in on holidays. A friend who is serving a seven-course meal, and you find them at course number five. And they don't want to be unsociable, but neither can they disrupt the total plan of that meal, and they can't go back and serve the first four or five courses, but they can at least give you a smell and a taste.

1:20 And so, for the benefit of our visitors, this review will be a smell and a taste of what we have covered over a number of weeks, and then we shall move on to the course that is properly due and expected by the Lord's people who've been here for the full meal.

1:40 For several Lord's Days, we looked at some 30 texts from the New Testament in which the necessity of the perseverance of the people of God in faith and holiness and obedience is clearly taught. The fact that it is not only certain, that God's people will persevere, but it is necessary that they persevere. And then, having established that fundamental line of biblical truth, we began an examination of what I have called the means by which they do persevere.

2:20 God has provided certain means which, under His blessings, secure the grace necessary for the people of God to continue in spite of their own remaining sin, the pressure of the world, and a wicked devil. And I have suggested that those means can be divided into two broad categories, the public or social means of grace, those connected with the life and ministry of the Church, and then the private or the individual means of grace, those which are connected with the life and ministry of the Church, and those which are carried on in our own individual spiritual experience,

3:04 and not necessarily in conjunction with the life and functions of the Church as the gathered people of God. Now, thus far, in our studies of these corporate or public means of grace, we have examined three of them. I should say means of perseverance, not means of grace in general, but means of perseverance in particular, the first of them being the ministry of the Word by one's appointed overseers. In Ephesians chapter 4 is the key passage teaching this truth.

3:40 Secondly, the ministry of continuous mutual exhortation. And the key passage here, of course, is Hebrews 3, 13 and 14. And then we discovered from the Scriptures that in order that we might persevere, God has also given to us the ministry of the corrective discipline of the Church. Now we come this morning to the fourth and final of these public means by which the Lord secures the perseverance of His people.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper as Public Means of Perseverance

4:16 The fourth of these means, which in a special way is found in conjunction with the life and ministry of the Church. And those means, are baptism and the Lord's Supper. And so today we look at this fourth public or corporate means of perseverance, that which you may want to put, those of you taking notes, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Now it is not my intention to give a general overview of the full significance of the ordinances,

4:58 of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Rather, my scope is much more limited. I am concerned to demonstrate this morning that baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordained of God to be means of our perseverance. Now that's not all they are ordained of God to be.

5:21 Baptism and the Lord's Supper are multifaceted ordinances or sacraments. But we are simply looking at that facet in which they are to function as a means of our perseverance. That is, divinely ordained means to keep us in the way of faith, holiness and obedience unto the end. Now in seeking to attain that goal of demonstrating that God has ordained them to be such a means, I want first of all to say that I am not a believer.

5:58 First of all, to establish the public nature of these ordinances, that is, that God has deposited them in conjunction with the public corporate life of his church, and then secondly, to demonstrate precisely how they relate directly to our perseverance. So we have two categories of concern in opening up the subject this morning. First of all, to establish the public nature of these ordinances. And I wrestled with this matter into what category should they fall as a means of perseverance, private or public.

6:41 And as I have searched the scriptures afresh on this matter, I am utterly convinced that the scriptures are clear that baptism and the Lord's Supper are to be put in this first category. First of all, then, take the matter...

Establishing the Public Nature of Baptism

6:57 The matter of baptism. On the very surface of it, baptism can never be a truly private or individual activity, since nowhere is it recorded that anyone ever baptized himself.

7:13 And every verb used with respect to someone being baptized, either the indicative saying so-and-so was baptized, or the imperative, be baptized, they are always in the passive. That is, someone is to allow himself to be baptized by another, or someone is actually baptized by another, and there is no record in the scriptures that anyone ever baptized himself, not even the great apostle, who was converted in those unusual circumstances of the blinding light and the shattering voice from heaven. And then, God sends a humble disciple,

7:58 named Ananias, in order to baptize this one who will become the great apostle Paul. So, in a real sense, you see, private baptism is utterly impossible by the very nature in which baptism is administered. Now, I'm fully aware that in the record given to us in the book of the Acts, there are what we might call some semi-private baptisms. There is the semi-private baptism, of the Ethiopian eunuch recorded in Acts, chapter 8.

8:33 There is the less private, but somewhat semi-private baptism, of the Philippian jailer and his household in the middle of the night. It is doubtful that they went out and awakened Lydia and others, who had already been brought to faith, and brought them to witness the baptism of the jailer and his household. And certainly, there is the possibility, and I say, only the possibility, for the record is not conclusive, that Saul of Tarsus was one, again, who experienced a semi-private baptism. But, apart from those incidents, the overwhelming evidence of the New Testament

9:16 is that baptism was a symbolic, watery ritual, which was undergone publicly. A symbolic, watery ritual. A symbolic, watery ritual. A symbolic, watery ritual.

9:27 A symbolic, watery ritual. A symbolic, watery ritual. A symbolic, watery ritual. Which was undergone publicly.

9:31 Take, for instance, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, according to Mark, and this is one reason why we, who are called Baptists, are not all at all embarrassed to see in the baptizing activity of John the Baptist a forerunner of Christian baptism, Because Mark begins his baptism, begins his gospel with these words the beginning of the good news of jesus christ the son of god and then there follows the record of the activity of john the baptist in conjunction with that good

10:13 news of jesus christ the son of god and notice that john's baptizing activity was distinctly public and verse 5 and there went out unto him all of the country of judea and all they of jerusalem and they were baptized of him in the river jordan confessing their sins here is a public watery ritual witnessed by multitudes who came out from the country of judea and from the city of jerusalem

10:52 when we turn to a passage such as john chapter 4 it is evident that even the enemies of christ could witness the baptizing activity of john and of christ himself for we read in john chapter 4 the following words when therefore the lord knew that the pharisees had heard that jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than the pharisees had heard and baptizing more disciples than the pharisees had heard although jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples he left judea and departed into galilee

11:31 the pharisees had it as a matter of common knowledge that there was this comparison between the number being baptized by jesus and his followers and those being baptized by john the assumption is that the baptizing activity was public enough for comparisons numerically to be made and then when we turn to the book of acts we see in that specimen passage of gospel ministry and witness and the formation of the church in its full new testament flower acts chapter 2 again baptism a very public watery ritual

12:14 we read in acts 2 in verse 40 and with many other words he peter testified and exhorted them to say save yourselves from this crooked generation then they that received his word were baptized and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls and they continued steadfastly and the rest of the text is familiar to you but here there is no indication that when it came time to baptize those who were prepared to be identified with the one hundred and twenty that they were taken aside

12:55 and given some initiation right that was secret unobservable and unobserved by the multitudes but that before the very multitudes who have been charged with slaying the son of god these people now identify themselves with the one hundred and twenty in constituting the church in jerusalem and you find similar patterns throughout the book of acts acts chapter ten the conversion of the household of Cornelius, and then Acts chapter 18 is perhaps one other passage we ought to look at briefly. As the gospel came to Corinth, Acts chapter 18,

13:39 and here we read a summary of the pattern of the baptizing activity. Verse 8, And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. And there is no indication whatsoever that this was done in a corner, that it was done secretly. All who would be identified with the people of God openly declare that desire by coming to the waters of baptism, so that when the apostles write to the New Testament churches,

14:21 they not only assume that they are communities of believers, but they can assume that they are communities of those who have been baptized. And in their writing to them, just as much as they assume that they know Christ, that they believe in Christ, that they seek to obey Christ, they can also assume that they have been baptized. And so you find in a passage such as 1 Corinthians 1, 13, when Paul begins to deal with the subject of the disunity existing in the church at Corinth,

15:00 he can assume that all of the people of God share in common an experience of this watery ritual. Notice his language, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 12. Now this I mean, each one of you says, I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, I of Christ. Is Christ divided?

15:24 Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? You see, he can assume that they not only have a common Savior, that they have a common Lord who died for them, but that they have a common bond in the experience of this watery ritual. And he uses similar language of assumption, in Colossians 2, and verse 12, in conjunction with a totally different problem, but in attacking the problem, he can address himself to their common experience of baptism.

16:05 Now why have I given all of this material? For the simple reason of asserting and then demonstrating that baptism is to be understood as an ordinance of God to be found in connection with the physical, visible, community life of the Church of Jesus Christ. And that's why I have placed it in the category as a means of perseverance in conjunction with the corporate life of the Church. Now the Lord's Supper, that it is a public Church ordinance, again, is evident from any unbiased reading of the data of the New Testament.

Establishing the Public Nature of the Lord's Supper

16:49 For example, Acts chapter 2, again, of those that were added to the Church, it was in the visible coming together of the Church that they celebrated the Lord's Supper. For we read in verse 42 of Acts 2, they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship and in the breaking of bread. And the prayers. And when Paul addresses himself to the problem of disorders in conjunction with the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11,

17:31 he uses this little phrase again and again, when ye come together. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 17. But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together, not for the better, but for the worse, in their coming together there were abuses in conjunction with the Lord's Supper, but that they came together for the Supper is clear. And we find the same language in verse 20.

18:04 When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's Supper. In these present circumstances, he says, you are not truly observing the Supper as it was intended. There were abuses, yes, but abuses, when they came together. Now what was the answer to those abuses?

18:26 For each man to have individual communion? No. To correct the abuses, and he outlines how those abuses are to be corrected, and then one of his concluding exhortations is verse 33, Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait one for another. There is not one shred of evidence in the New Testament of any such practice as private or personal communion, self-administered or one believer administering the elements to another in isolation from the body.

19:10 And so we've established from the Scriptures that baptism and the Lord's Supper are public ordinances. And I hope you find the evidence convincing. If this evidence doesn't convince you, then I'm sorry, I don't know what will. Now then, having done that, now I want to demonstrate from the Word of God precisely how these public ordinances are ordained of God to be a means of our perseverance.

Why Ordinances are Needed for Perseverance

19:43 The question may well arise in the minds of some, if we believe in Jesus Christ and are the partakers of a salvation that has its roots in the eternal electing purpose of God, if we have a salvation purchased by the blood of the incarnate God, sealed to us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, and maintained by the efficacy of the intercession of the Son of God at the right hand of God the Father, why in the world do we need anything

20:26 such as a watery ritual and eating some bread and drinking some fruit of the vine in order to make it to heaven? Now that's the reasoning that some have. Does the Bible teach that our salvation is rooted in God's free, sovereign, electing purpose? Yes.

20:47 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him. In love He predestinated us unto the adoption of sons . Are we redeemed by the bloodletting of the incarnate God? Yes.

21:06 Acts 20 says it is the church of the Lord which He purchased with His own blood. And are we sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption? Yes, that's the language of Ephesians 4.30.

21:21 And are we kept by the intercession of Jesus Christ? Yes, that's the teaching of Hebrews 7.25. He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession.

21:36 Well, with such a salvation, what in the world do we need with a watery ritual and chewing some bread and taking a few sips of the fruit of the vine in order to make it to heaven? Well, my friend, don't you be wiser than God. And if God didn't know that we needed the watery ritual and the simple supper of remembrance, He would not have instituted them. And because He has instituted them, it is our part to understand precisely how they relate to His own purpose

Baptism: A Decisive Declaration and Public Identification

22:17 in preserving us on that way of faith, of holiness, and of obedience. And I want to demonstrate that now in the time that remains. First of all, then, let's take up the matter of baptism. And we simply ask two questions.

22:36 What is it? And then, how does it relate to our perseverance? Well, in answer to the first question, what is this watery ritual? Let me state two things.

22:48 Now, remember, this is not an exhaustive dissertation on the doctrine of Christian baptism. It is only taking those facets of baptism that pertain to the doctrine of perseverance. And in answer to the question, what is it? I say it is a once-for-all or a decisive declaration that one has entered the way of faith, holiness, and obedience through union with Jesus Christ.

23:21 The watery ritual in which one voluntarily allows himself to be plunged beneath the water, held momentarily in that watery grave, and then raised up again from that grave, that act, that watery ritual, is intended to be a decisive declaration that one has entered the way of faith, holiness, and obedience through union with Jesus Christ. You see, the baptismal passages in the New Testament are rich in their emphasis

24:05 on the doctrine of union with Christ. For example, Romans chapter 6. And this is not simply a, quote, Baptist interpretation of Romans 6. Almost every responsible commentator, most of whom are not Baptists, at least those whose works are in writing, agree that there can be no understanding of this passage apart from the assumption that there is reference to this watery ritual, and many of whom, many of these commentators whose church communions do not practice immersion, admit that it was obvious

24:48 that immersion was indeed in the back of the apostle's mind when he wrote this chapter. It's amazing the admissions one finds in paedobaptist commentaries. And I don't say that to be cheeky, it's just a fact. And I'll not weary you and take the time to quote them.

25:07 But now notice the language. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.

25:15 We who died unto sin, how shall we live any longer therein? Or are you ignorant that all we who were baptized, we who were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall also be with him.

25:48 You see, the language is the language of union with Christ. And it is language that comes to us in a baptismal context. The same emphasis is found in Galatians 3.27.

26:03 As many of us as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. And then the apostle goes on to say, And in Christ there can be neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. We are all one new man in Christ. Colossians chapter 2, verses 11 and 12.

26:23 The same language, baptismal language, is language that literally oozes with the doctrine of union with Christ. Therefore, in answer to the question, What is baptism? I respond by saying, It is a decisive declaration that one has entered the way of faith, holiness and obedience through union with Jesus Christ. In baptism one is declaring that I have now by the grace of God entered in and shared in the power of Christ's death, burial and resurrection.

27:07 And there is, as it were, a reenactment symbolically in this watery ritual of the reality of that union. And so to be baptized is to declare openly and decisively that through union with Christ, a union established by faith, I have experienced my feet being placed on the path of a believer, of one committed to a life of holiness, to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, the path of evangelical obedience. And then secondly,

27:50 it is a public identification with the community of those already in that way. You see the advancement in thought? It is a decisive declaration that I personally have entered the way of faith, holiness and obedience, but it is more than that. It is a public identification with the community of those who are already in the way of faith, holiness and obedience.

28:22 That's why the Acts 2 passage notes that subsequent to their baptism, it says, and the same day there were added unto them, the hundred and twenty, the same day there were added unto them, the one hundred and twenty, three thousand, and these all continued steadfastly in the way of faith, holiness and obedience. You find that same language in the passage I read from Acts chapter 18. And many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. Crispus and his household had heard and had believed and were baptized.

29:03 They formed the nucleus of the believing community. And when other Corinthians came forward and said, I too am prepared to undergo the watery ritual, what were they saying? They were not only saying that through faith, union with Jesus Christ, they had entered the path of faith, holiness and obedience. They were declaring, I am now prepared visibly and openly to be identified with the community of others who are already in that way, to press on in that way with them.

How Baptism Relates to Perseverance

29:39 Now if that's what baptism is, that's not all that it is, but if that's what baptism is, how in the world does that relate to our perseverance? Well, precisely in this way. As we intelligently and believingly reflect upon the significance of that act of our watery ritual, it becomes an encouragement to faith, a prod to holiness, and a spur to obedience. And that's exactly how we find it used in the New Testament.

30:19 As we intelligently and believingly reflect upon the significance of that watery ritual, it becomes an encouragement to faith, a prod to holiness, and a spur to obedience. Go back to Romans 6. Paul has been expounding the marvelous doctrine that we are saved by the obedience of another. That as we fell in Adam, so we come to acceptance before God in the obedience of Jesus Christ.

31:02 And wherever sin abounds, grace does much more abound. Then the question is raised, well then, what shall we say? Chapter 6, verse 1, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? And what is Paul's answer?

31:20 Basically it's this, go back and intelligently and believingly reflect upon your watery ritual. Don't you remember what was declared? When you went under the waters of baptism and underwent that momentary burial and you were raised again, what were you declaring? You were declaring that you had come to faith union with Jesus Christ, and that His death for sin and to sin had become your death to sin.

31:57 You declared when you were raised up out of that watery grave that through union with Christ you had been given newness of life, life to exist and act itself out in the sphere of righteousness. You Romans, listen to me, reflect intelligently, believingly, upon the significance of the watery ritual which you underwent on the threshold of coming into the community of the people of God and any thought of continuing in sin will be abhorrent to you. God forbid it would be a denial of everything I declared in my baptism. It would be a denial of everything

32:40 I declared in my baptism. Furthermore, you find Paul using it in this way in 1 Corinthians 1. Here there's the problem of divisiveness in the body. How does he deal with that?

32:55 He appeals to their baptism. He says in a passage we've already looked at, 1 Corinthians 1.13, into whose name were you baptized? Were you baptized into Paul's name?

33:06 Well, how can there be any Pauline party? You were neither baptized into my name or Peter's name. You were baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You were baptized into the name of him who alone is your Savior.

33:23 And when you begin to fragment and are no longer a visibly unified community bound together in common love and common wholehearted abandonment to Christ, you're denying what you declared on the threshold. You declared on the threshold that you were joining the community of those whose only Savior was Christ, whose heart's allegiance was supremely attached to Christ. Go back and reflect upon your baptism. And he says this party spirit will appear for what it is, nonsense.

34:02 And he does the same thing in Galatians 3 when they're trying to raise up the barriers that always come with Judaic rituals. He said, look, you have been baptized into Christ and in Christ you are one new man. How can you go about trying to impose rituals and ceremonies on people that divide and erect walls of separation? Do you see what he's doing?

The Wedding Band Analogy for Baptism

34:28 He is using the realities attached to that watery ritual as an encouragement to faith, as a prod to various dimensions of obedience and holiness and consistency in the Christian life. Ever since he was baptized he used the illustration. I've repeated it a number of times in baptismal meditations and because I've never found a better one I'm going to repeat it this morning. Because as I prepared I kept glancing down at my wedding band and I just couldn't help but think of it.

35:03 You see, baptism in many ways is analogous to the function of a wedding band. Now the one fundamental difference is this is a purely cultural thing and there's no divine mandate. Thou shalt wear a wedding band if thou art married. But some of us choose to wear it and we feel it's a desirable part of our culture.

35:23 And every time I look at that ring intelligently and believingly what does it tell me? It takes me back 26 plus years ago when I stood in an old church in New England and when a preacher asked the question what visible token do you give to acknowledge the sincerity of your vows I said, this ring. Now up until that hour this finger had never had a ring on it. I was too poor to get a class ring and I never had any other kind of a ring so it had never had a ring on it.

36:03 This was a virgin finger. It never had a ring on it. Never had a ring on it. Of any kind whatsoever.

36:10 And that day I stood in the presence of several hundred witnesses and I made some solemn vows. I declared that I was stepping out of the realm of the independence of a single man. That I was now prepared to take upon myself the awesome responsibilities of being a husband and all that pertains to being a husband according to the word of God. And my mother just reminded me I'd forgotten it when she visited in conjunction with Heidi's graduation a few weeks ago that just even a few days before the marriage she said I went around the house at times looking very, very sober and heavy hearted and when she asked me, and when she asked me what was wrong I shook my head and said

36:52 Ma, I don't know if I can live that way. To love someone as Christ loved the church is an awesome, awesome standard. I don't know if I can be that kind of man. So I took it seriously.

37:06 And that day I took solemn vows by which I entered out of the realm of my singleness into the realm of being a married man. Now when the preacher said what visible token do you give to acknowledge the sincerity of the vows? I said this ring. Gave the ring to her.

37:23 And then my wife was asked a similar question. And as far as I know she may have had I know she never had a wedding band on her other finger. But with the exchange of those rings there is the embodiment of all the sacred symbolism or there is the symbolism of all the sacredness of those vows. And if I intelligently look upon that ring what does it say?

37:50 It says to me that 26 years ago I committed myself to one woman for life. I committed myself to certain terms of that relationship. And as I intelligently and believingly reflect upon everything that's bound up in what that ring declares it is a prod to me to be everything I said I would be by the grace of God 26 years ago. So in a sense you see the whole relationship is symbolically bound up in that ring.

38:23 Now how unthinkable it would be would it not for this hand to reach out and illicitly to touch another woman in a manner that would be a violation of my sacred vows. Can you imagine a married man passing money to a whore with the very hand on which he has a ring that speaks of his commitment to another woman? You say what a contradiction. The hand that says I will be true to this one woman passing money to a whore?

38:58 You say it's horrible to think of it. I tell you it is no more horrible than for a believer to give himself to sin. For 1 Corinthians 6 says he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord. Shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?

39:19 God forbid. You see baptism is no light ritual some kind of ecclesiastical tradition. It is mandated by the Lord Jesus and it is intended among other things to be that very instrument of prodding us on in the path of holiness. That when we are enticed by sin among many other motives and perspectives that should enter our minds one of them should be this I dare not sin.

39:51 I am a baptized man or woman. I have declared that I have left the realm of sin's dominion. The love and willful practice of sin I have committed myself to Jesus Christ and to live unto righteousness. It was Luther who understood that principle and said himself that when he was seduced by sin there are times when he found this motive that is so powerful I dare not sin.

40:22 I am baptized. Now what did he mean by that? That there was some magical relationship between his baptism and not sinning? No.

Applications Regarding Baptism

40:31 He was intelligently and believingly reflecting upon the biblical significance of this ordinance. Now if that's so then do you see by application to refuse baptism is to slight a divine ordinance and its symbolism and thereby to rob ourselves of its benefit as a means of perseverance. To refuse baptism is to slight a divine ordinance Jesus said make disciples baptizing them. It is to slight a divine ordinance and its symbolism

41:15 and thereby to rob ourselves of its benefits as a means of perseverance. I have found my wedding band to be a means of grace in keeping all relationships with other women by the grace of God what they ought to be. When I am hundreds and thousands of miles away from home in strange places and on airplanes I make my left hand and that finger very visible and as soon as possible enter into conversation about the woman or the relationship of which or to whom is bound up in what that ring symbolizes.

41:58 It's been a great means of grace. Now if just an ordinary social custom can be used of God as a means of grace how much more a divinely instituted ritual. And I say to some of you sitting here today perhaps, perhaps one of the causes of your weakness in perseverance is because you despise a divine ordinance. You say well I know that as a believer I'm chosen in Christ I'm purchased at the price of the blood of the incarnate God I'm sealed by the spirit to the day of redemption I'm kept by the intercession of Christ

42:42 what is a watery ritual? My friend it is a ritual ordained of the living God for your own benefit as well as for his own. As well as for his glory. And if you despise it with a high hand having light upon the subject then to some degree you are undercutting your own perseverance.

43:07 And then the second thing I want to say by way of application is to be baptized and not to reflect frequently upon its significance in an intelligent and a believing manner is to cheat ourselves of one of the means of perseverance. Let me ask you something baptized Christian. How long has it been since you reflected believingly and intelligently upon the significance of your baptism? You say I think it was the last baptism I attended.

43:37 And how long before that? Oh I think it was the one before. It ought to be more frequent than that believer. You ought to reflect upon the significance just as the man who is in the military adorns his uniform each morning and reflects upon the significance of that uniform.

43:59 So you as one who has declared openly that you are committed to faith, holiness and obedience you have publicly identified yourself with the community of those pursuing that same course. We need to reflect frequently, intelligently and believingly upon this great reality as a means of our perseverance. And then I hasten to touch very briefly because I think you can see now the line of reasoning and it will not take me as long to develop it. What is the Lord's Supper?

The Lord's Supper: A Continuous Declaration and Continual Remembrance

44:40 Well the Lord's Supper is a continuous declaration. You see in contrast to baptism which is once for all the Lord's Supper is a continuous declaration of one's believing participation in the benefits of the death of Christ. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10-16 these very instructive words. Pastor Clark referred to them at our last communion service.

45:07 The cup of blessing which we bless is it not a communion a participation of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break is it not a communion of the body of Christ? You see the Lord's Supper is a continuous declaration of one's believing participation in the benefits of the death of Christ. Paul says in chapter 11-26 as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup you do preach the Lord's death till he come.

45:40 What is this supper? It is nothing less than the continuous a repeated declaration of one's own believing participation. One's own believing participation in the benefits of Christ's death. And then secondly it is a continual remembrance of Christ himself and of our attachment to him.

46:03 And here the language is plain. The original institution this do in remembrance of me. It's picked up again in 1 Corinthians 11-24-25 in remembrance of me in remembrance of me. What is the supper?

46:19 It is not only a continuous declaration of my believing participation in the benefits of the death of Christ. It is a continual remembrance of Christ himself and of my attachment to him. Now surely you see how this relates to perseverance. Christ crucified is the spiritual food of his people.

How the Lord's Supper Relates to Perseverance

46:44 What then can be more crucial to their spiritual health? Than such a meal in which they have in their hands and take into their very mouths the emblems of his dying love for them. This is to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. Not the elements.

47:04 They do not become his flesh and his blood. No. But by faith to feed upon the crucified Lord. And these become aids to our faith.

47:15 They become helpers to our faith. And if you and I are to persevere we will persevere in the strength of the life of Christ alone. And that life in a unique way he says comes to us in terms of his own dying love. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.

47:38 And again since the dying love of Christ to us is the great constraint to obedience what is more calculated to keep us in the way of obedience than this supper of remembrance when we reflect upon his love. The love of Christ constrains us. 2 Corinthians 5.14 That is Christ's love for me constrains us.

48:02 For we thus judge if one died for all then therefore all died. Our sin was such as to bring the sentence of death upon us. Christ received nothing less than the curse of God. And if he was doing that in our place then we deserve the curse.

48:19 Well surely then if we have life all of that life should be found lived unto him. And so Paul says we thus judge if one died for all therefore all died and that they who live should no longer henceforth live unto themselves but unto him who died for them and rose again. Oh how desperately we need to be constrained by the love of Christ to a life of holiness and obedience. Well you see the place of the Lord's Supper it is here set before us intangible visible remembrances the dying love of Christ to his people that the knot as it were of constraint that has been tied around our hearts might be strengthened and we may feel ourselves held in bonds

49:04 of love to him who loved us and gave himself for us and furthermore since the death of Christ for sin is our death to sin what more effect what more effectual means to prod us to holiness to remember he died that we should no longer live to ourselves he died to deliver us from this present evil world he died to quote the language of Titus chapter 2 to redeem us from all iniquity purify to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works we are not our own we are purchased with a price we could quote text after text from the New Testament that underscores this great principle that Christ's death

Applications and Exhortations Regarding the Lord's Supper and Baptism

49:48 is the great incentive to a life of holiness and therefore if we refuse to come to the table it is to cheat ourselves of this powerful means of persevering grace to come unprepared and unbelieving is to strip the supper of its intended end oh my dear friends may we never despise what God has instituted to help us along the way to encourage us along the way when our hearts are pressed down with an overwhelming sense of sin and failure to come again to that table as we shall come tonight God willing and remember that the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses from all sin I need not

50:32 limp along with a conscience that is smarting with the remembrance of my failures I need not limp along with a conscience that is smarting with the remembrance of my failures I need not limp along I need not hobble along wondering if indeed God is any use for me I need to come in the confidence that when he said take eat this is for you he wasn't saying that to a bunch of super saints he was saying that to one to whom he had spoken a few moments before and said before the cock crows you're going to deny me three times he knew what Peter was going to do and yet he said this is for you Peter for you Peter my blood is shed

51:17 for weaklings like you Peter who in the hour of trial will deny me it's shed for you Peter take and eat and they were all a bunch of cowards for it says they all forsook him and fled and yet he said take eat this is for you and oh how we need the encouragement of coming to the Lord's table how we need to have the constraint of his love to us more powerfully felt in our inner being how we need to feed upon him as our life oh my unconverted friend though there's been much that perhaps you've just shaken your head at and said

52:02 what in the world does this say to me let me say to you in closing if you don't have what these God ordained rituals signify you're without hope what do you need you need such a relationship to Jesus Christ as will bring about in your life nothing less than a death to your present lifestyle nothing less than an utter burial of what you are as a man woman boy or girl in bondage to sin the world and the devil and you need newness of life you need what baptism declares and symbolizes and the only place you'll get it is in Jesus Christ

52:46 go to him for it you don't go to the waters of baptism to get it you go there to declare that you already have it in him but it's in him that you have it whom the sun sets free is free indeed go to Christ for it and dear child of God if you have it in Christ why haven't you declared it in the way

53:12 of his appointment if you have it in Christ spiritually why have you not declared it in the way of his appointment visibly and openly don't expect to make progress in the deeper more demanding areas of obedience if you will not be faithful in the simpler as my dear friend Pastor Reisinger says there's only two commandments God ever gave that any sinner can keep perfectly one is be baptized and the other is this do in remembrance of me every other commandment we have to say Lord in some dimension but when he says repent and be baptized

53:56 you can be baptized and when he says this do in remembrance of me you can come to his table and do what he commanded oh may we never be wiser than God God loves to humble the proud doesn't he and we say oh in this great matter of persevering in faith and holiness and obedience I can see the preaching of the word and at times the corrective discipline of the church but a watery ritual and a simple little supper in which we break bread and drink the fruit of the vine you see God delights to humble the proud and here the only two external rituals he's imposed upon his people

54:40 are calculated to help us on the way of faith of holiness and obedience and if we're set to get on that way with all our hearts if on it we are determined to pursue it to the end then we will not despise these means ordained of the living God let us pray our father how we thank you for your holy word we thank you for its teaching we thank you that it does

55:25 indeed humble human pride and constantly cuts across the grain the of our own natural inclinations and we pray that the teaching given this morning may be laid to heart and oh Lord even as we anticipate the supper of remembrance how we do look forward to this privilege of gathering afresh to our blessed Lord in obedience to his own word and we pray that upon pastor Clark may come great blessing as he preaches your word to us in preparation for our coming to the table and oh may our coming this night be a season

56:10 of tremendous encouragement to those who are downcast and weary and weak and battered along the way may it be a fresh prod to a life of holiness may there be renewing of our vows to be wholly yours and yours alone we pray that even in the coming days there will be men and women boys and girls coming forward to declare that you have indeed worked that great work in them and that they are now prepared to declare it openly

56:55 and to join the ranks of those who are pressing on to the celestial city in the grace and strength of Christ oh God do bring such blessing from the preaching of your word today and to your name and to your name alone be praise and honor and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen