The Sacraments: An Introduction

Its hard to believe that this is our 1 year anniversary! What an amazing thing God has done and is doing at Exodus Church.

This is likewise a big day for us for a few other reasons

Today we are starting our new Children Curriculum on the Psalms

This will be a four year curriculum where we take our kids through all 150 Psalms.

We have a group of men and women working together to write, and plan these lessons.

With this curriculum we are raising up a young generation that will be taught how to

Think the way the bible thinks

How to read and understand the Bible rightly

How to listen to sermons when they come in here to worship with us.

They will be trained on how to feel rightly,

How to sing the Psalms

How to pray the Psalms

How to rejoice, and how to be angry.

How to praise God and how to fight against evil.

I am convinced that there is no better book, no better curriculum, we could possibly use to disciple our young kids.

Another reason this is an exciting Sunday is because we are starting our series on the Sacraments.

(after this three week series we will be back in the Gospel of Mark looking at Jesus’ final week in chapter 11-16)

The very first Elder Meeting we had as elders of Exodus Church was back in August of last year.

We sat around a table and I told the guys that this year I would like us to study the sacraments together.

I believed they were greatly important yet painfully ignored in our thinking.

We all agreed and we have been diligently studying Baptism and the Lord’s supper for a year and half.

I now can say confidently that I know far less about the sacraments than I thought i did then.

This study has been like looking at diamond wanting to understand its complexity and its beauty but not realizing how many facets are found in a diamond.

Turn it just slightly and there is a whole new perspective, a whole new glory, a whole new beauty.

Intro to the Sacraments

As we begin this three week series on the Sacraments we will be diving into the meaning of Baptism and the Lords Supper.

So to start off I want you to turn with me to

1 Corinthians 10:1–5 ESV

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

1 cor. 10:1-5

Context of the chapter

The OT typified Baptism and the Lords Supper.

What Paul is doing here is laying out the biography of Israel in the Exodus story and doing so by shaping their entire experience according to the sacraments.

they passed through the red sea - Baptism

They ate the manna from heaven - the body of Christ

They drank from the rock - the blood of Christ

The Exodus story is so rich with symbolism and meaning for us today.

Crossing the Red Sea was Israel leaving the old world and entering into the new world as God’s covenant people

Here God will call them to live differently, he gives them laws, and structure on worship and relationships, and food, and clothing and so on.

All to show that they are no longer part of the old world of sin and slavery, but they are members of the new world, this new covenant that God would establish.

Eating the manna from heaven was God not forgetting his people, but feeding them faithfully. This would be a foretaste for them to the feasts that God would establish for them to enjoy.

Drinking from the Rock was partaking in the divine blessing though they deserved wrath and condemnation.

If we were to go on in the exodus story we would see that in they arrive at mount Sini where God would then teach them his laws, and give them instruction on worship and right living.

The order of the Exodus is this.

God Redeemed them from Slavery (Salvation)

God brought them through the water (Baptism)

God then fed them and gave them water in the wilderness (Communion)

God them Taught them at Sinai (Discipleship)

This is the order of the Christian life in covenant with Christ.

He redeems us, we are then baptised, we then can take communion, we then are discipled in the faith.

Israel was formed by the Sacraments, and Paul brings this reality to bear in 1 cor.

Upon Jesus’ ascending into heaven we find that he has left us with two sacraments in order to form us as a people.

In order to commune with him.

and in order to partake in his blessings.

My friends, the scriptures give great emphasis to these sacraments, and as a church we must likewise seek to understand all that Christ has given us, so that we too may be formed according to God’s good pleasure.

The Sacraments: An Introduction

There has been centuries of debate around the two sacraments

Baptism

dunk, dip, drip, sprinkle.

Forwards or backwards?

once? twice? three times?

Infants? Little kids? Teens? Adults?

Indoors? outdoors?

Lord’s supper

What happens to the elements?

Transubstantiation? Consubstantiation?

Memorial? Spiritual presence?

Wine or Juice?

Cracker or bread?

These debates and discussions require a zoomed in approach to the study. Which is really important and necessary. And I assure you that the Elders of Exodus Church have and will continue to spend time discussing and studying these issues and will teach on them more in the future.

However, this series is not going to be a zoomed in approach, but rather it will be a more 30,000ft view, a wide angled lens, of the sacraments which is a view most churches don’t teach from. Because being up that high, or looking into a diamond, can be kind of dizzying.

But I am confident there will be benefit for you individually and us corporately if we seek to see the full orbed nature of the sacraments as opposed to zooming in in order to see the details.

So this morning I am going to focus on four common questions concerning the sacraments.

Then the next two weeks we will focus on the Baptism and Communion respectively.

Is it a sacrament or an ordinance?

What is a sacrament?

How many sacraments are there?

Why are the sacraments important?

Is it a Sacrament or an Ordinance?

I had a conversation with a southern baptist pastor about a year ago and he was asking me about our Church.

I told him about our mission and visions.

That we would be a church seeking the redeeming, renewing and restoring of all thing in Christ.

I told him about our location.

I told him about how we walked through a liturgy where we have

a call to worship followed by a song

a time of confession followed by a song

the assurance of pardon followed by a song.

We would then move into the sermon where we would preach expository sermons

followed by an offering

And then we would have communion and benediction.

I then told him how we sought to be a church that had a high view of both word and sacrament.

He then stopped me and asked me about why i called, what he called ordinance, ‘sacraments’?

Because to use the word sacrament is to sound really catholic, and that might scare off some supporters or people who might want to come to the church.

So if the word sacrament is a little off putting to you, I hope that by the end of this sermon series you’ll have both a joy and a confidence to refer to the Lord’s Supper and Baptism as Sacraments.

The significant difference between the two terms is God’s role in the act.

When viewed as sacramental, baptism is more than an act of man – it is a means by which God unifies a person into the covenant people of God.

When viewed as an ordinance, baptism is the testimony of the person being baptized.

When viewed as Sacramental, The Lords Supper is fellowship with Christ and his body.

When viewed as an ordinance, The Lord’s Supper is obedience to that which Christ has called you too.

Ordinance: a sign of the new covenant - but not a seal

Baptism, then, is not a means by which God conveys grace, but is a testimony of a person who has believed.

Sacrament: Sign and seal of the new covenant

Where sacraments revolve around what God does, ordinances revolve around what man does and what God did.

David Heddle writes,

“When reduced to merely an ordinance, baptism and communion are no longer about what God does, but what man does. There is nothing supernatural occurring, as if the supernatural realm were off limits to the Creator of the universe, God merely observes as we commemorate His work. An ordinance is actor-centered.”

As a Church we believe that the sacraments are not centered on us. But in the supper and in baptism Christ is uniquely present with his people.

I told him about our mission and visions.

That we would be a church seeking the redeeming, renewing and restoring of all thing in Christ.

I told him about our location.

I told him about how we walked through a liturgy where we have

a call to worship followed by a song

a time of confession followed by a song

the assurance of pardon followed by a song.

We would then move into the sermon where we would preach expository sermons

followed by an offering

And then we would have communion and benediction.

I then told him how we sought to be a church that had a high view of both word and sacrament.

He then stopped me and asked me about why i called, what he called ordinance, ‘sacraments’?

Because to use the word sacrament is to sound really catholic, and that might scare off some supporters or people who might want to come to the church.

So if the word sacrament is a little off putting to you, I hope that by the end of this sermon series you’ll have both a joy and a confidence to refer to the Lord’s Supper and Communion as Sacraments.

What is a Sacrament?

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Sacrament

The word is derived from the Lat. sacramentum, which was used to translate the Gk. μυστήριον (‘mystery’) in the Lat. NT; sacraments are thus means by which Christians partake in the ‘mystery of Christ’

The word Sacrament is derived from the Lat. sacramentum, which was used to translate the Gk. μυστήριον (‘mystery’) in the Lat. NT;

sacraments are thus means by which Christians partake in the ‘mystery of Christ’

This is an important concept to embrace, the Sacraments are mysterious.

We are used to living in a society where just about everything we want to know and understand can be broken down in to little itty bitty bits for us to understand.

You want to know about the cellular level of the human anatomy and the effect a particular type of Virus has on the cellular level you only have to look it up and you will be given scientific concrete data that you can understand.

You want to know a rule to a game, or a meaning of a word you only have to look it up for the answer.

To expect an understanding of the Sacraments in the same way will lead to a truncated and rationalized position on something that is far more glorious than reason and far more beautiful than words can express.

I heard a story about a ballerina who finished performing an absolutely beautiful dance. After the performance someone asked her what the particular dance ‘meant’. She replied,, ‘If I could say it, I wouldn’t have needed to dance it.’

However, the Scriptures do give us some clarity on the beautiful mystery that is the sacraments.

The Sacraments are to be understood from a couple different angles:

The Sacraments are Part of God’s New Creation

You see, the resurrection of Jesus has changed everything. What happened in the resurrection was a future reality torn through history arriving in the present.

Jesus’ resurrection was the first fruits of the new creation. It is the reality that we all experience in part, but are in wait for the fulness.

Because Jesus’ resurrection was the beginning of the new creation Paul is able to call Jesus the firstborn of all creation ()

And we are united to the resurrection, thus united to the new creation how? Baptism and the Lords Supper

When one is baptised and one partakes in the Lord’s Supper you are not experiencing just a sign pointing to or preparing you for the new creation, rather you are experiencing part of the new creation itself.

When you are baptized, you are not just getting wet as a representation of your new reality in Christ. But you are experiencing that new reality itself.

And as NT Wright notes,

“At communion we are like the children of Israel in the wilderness, tasting fruit plucked from the promised land. It is the future coming to meet us in the present.”

The Sacraments our new creation realities given to the people of God by the firstborn of the new creation.

At communion we are like the children of Israel in the wilderness, tasting fruit plucked from the promised land. It is the future coming to meet us in the present.

The Sacraments of the New Covenant Fulfill the Sacraments of the Old Covenant.

The Passover meal is reinterpreted or even recreated as Communion

Other feasts such as the peace offering, likewise, find their fulfillment in the New Covenant sacrament of The Lord’s Supper

Ritual washing, and spiritual cleansings and renewals along with circumcision find their fulfillment in the New Covenant sacrament of Baptism.

We find that the whole Old Covenant finds its yes and Amen in Christ, and so find old covenant sacraments finding their yes and Amen in the new covenant sacraments.

We will see that the Sacraments are, ecclesial, soterilogical, and eschatological. Church, salvation, and future.

There is not such things as sacraments outside of the church.

But if we were to break it down into its most basic elements what is a Sacrament?

Some say its (Word + Thing)

Word of promise + water = baptism

Word of promise + wine and bread = Communion

For a word alone is not a sacrament, I cannot baptism someone in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit apart from water being involved.

Likewise, water alone cannot constitute baptism. It needs a word added to it.

However the Medieval church developed this a bit more to where a Sacrament is a:

Word+Thing+Action = Sacrament

We can have bread and the cup, we can pray a word over it, yet, if you don’t come and partake, its not truly a sacrament.

Therefore the sacraments are

The rites of the Christian people

They are part of God’s new creation

They are the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Sacraments

And a sacrament is a word + thing + action

How Many Sacraments Are There?

As already mentioned we believe there are two Sacraments: These two covenants are both established by Christ and commanded by Christ for every single covenant member.

There is no one in the covenant people of God who do not have the rite of the sacraments.

We believe there are two Sacraments: Baptism and the Lords Supper

Baptism - both commanded and rite for Gods people

Lord’s Supper - both commanded and rite for Gods people

The Roman Catholic Church holds to seven sacraments:

Baptism

Eucharist (Lord’s supper)

Ordination - Not all covenant members are ordained

Marriage - not all covenant members are married

Confirmation - not commanded in scripture

Penance - not commanded in scripture

Anointing (with oil) - though a biblical rite of healing, it is not for every covenant member

Because the sacraments are signs and seals of the covenant, they are signs that mark out the covenant people.

Only the people of God, and all the covenant people receive these signs.

Biblical Horizons 1989 – 2007 What Is a Sacrament? Some Problems of Definition (by Peter J. Leithart)

Because the sacraments are signs and seals of the covenant, they are signs that mark out the covenant people. Only the people of God, and all the covenant people receive these signs. This covenantal perspective excludes ordination and marriage as sacraments, since the former is applied only to the ministers of the covenant community and the latter is not peculiar to the covenant people.

This definition would not, however, exclude confirmation, penance, or unction (anointing the sick) from the purview of the sacraments. We can, however, exclude the rites of confirmation and of penance because the Bible does not command them, so that they are merely customary. We can exclude unction from consideration because, though it is a Biblical rite of healing, it is not for every covenant member.

This covenantal perspective excludes ordination since not everyone in the covenant people are ordained

The covenantal perspective also excludes marriage as a sacrament because not every person in the household of God is married.

the rites of confirmation and of penance should not be considered sacraments because the Bible does not command them, so that they are merely customary. We can exclude unction from consideration because, though it is a Biblical rite of healing, it is not for every covenant member.

Why Are The Sacraments Important?

This is a question I hope will be clearly answered in more depth over the next two weeks. But to start,

Baptism Calls Us to Right Living

As baptized believers, members of the New Covenant, partakers in the new creation we are called to live according to our baptism.

Baptism is only understood in the light of the Church. Baptism outside the church is no baptism at all.

This Paul’s argument and 6.

In Paul lays out two different worlds for us. The world of the first Adam and the world of the second Adam (Christ).

The first Adam brought sin into the world, therefore death reigned over the whole world.

In the old world, the world of sin, Death was the final act, the conclusion. The end of all creation.

Yet Jesus came, who was a type of Adam. He was the second Adam.

And Jesus entered into the old world and defeated death. and by doing so brought life to those who were dying.

He brought a whole new world. A world that could be entered into through Christ.

sums up the section well.

Romans 5:18–19 ESV

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:18-20

So in Adam sin passed to all, and the old world was condemned.

In Christ righteousness passed to all, and the world is made into a new creation.

This is the context that leads to Chapter six

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:1 ESV

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

Romans 6:1-

6.1

Paul is now applying the truth of the Adam/Christ Old/New world realities.

If you are in Christ, if you are in the new world should you continue in sin, or live like you did in the old world, so grace may abound?

Romans 6:2 ESV

2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

6.2

By no means! Absolutely not!

To live that way is to not understand the gospel. Its to not understand what Jesus has done for you.

To live in the old world is to live like you have not been baptized.

Romans 6:3 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

6.3

To be baptized is to be baptized into Christ. and to be baptized into Christ is to baptized into his death.

Jesus death is what did away with the old world. Jesus death is what conquered sin and death.

To live like you are alive to the old world, the world of sin, is to live contrary to your baptism. It is to actively oppose all that Christ has done.

Romans 6:4 ESV

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

6.4

Through baptism we have been buried with Christ in his death IN ORDER THAT, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we to would be raised with him!

This is the beauty of baptism, that we would be raised to a whole new world, a whole new creation.

And in this new creation we walk in newness of life

Not entertaining sins

Not allowing bitterness to fester

Not gossiping or slandering

Not lusting and being envious of others

These are the things of death, these are the ways of the old world.

We have died to these things so that we, to the glory of God, can walk in the newness of life.

We are united to Christ through baptism, so we are to live according to our baptism.

Now, some might say that we are united to Christ by faith, not by baptism. What this does is create a division that the bible does not understand. its a false dichotomy.

It would be like Karis coming up to me wanting me to buy her a new book and saying, “Either you buy me this new book, or you decide that reading is not important at all.”

Well, I can believe that reading is very important and still not buy you the book.

To say that you are united to Christ by baptism means you are not united to Christ by faith is a false dichotomy the bible has no use for.

To be Baptized is to be united to Christ in his death and his resurrection, to be united to Christ in his resurrection is to be joined in the new creation.

We are to life according to our baptism, according to our new creation status, and we are to call each other likewise to live according to your baptism.

So why is baptism important?

It unites us to Christ

It calls us to right living

It joins us to the new creation.

And we will explore baptism more in depth next week.

Why is the Lords Supper Important?

If I had all the time in the world, to preach.

And all the books in the world to study.

And all the intellectual powers to understand.

I would still not be able to understand nor communicate the fulness of the Lord’s Supper.

In two weeks we will dive deeper into Communion and begin what will be a lifetime of discovery as to why the Supper is important.

The Lord’s Supper Is a Kingdom Meal

The Story of Mephibosheth (Meh-phi-bo-sheth) (2 Samuel 9)

1 Corinthians 10:16 ESV

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Mephibosheth was a warriors son and a kings grandson.

His father was Jonathan, David’s closest friend, and his grandfather was king Saul, David’s greatest enemy.

When Mephibosheth was five years old a nurse dropped him and he broke both his legs.

He was a cripple the rest of his life.

He was viewed as an outcast.

And, when his father and grandfather died, he was now an outcast and an orphan.

When David became king he asked if there were any remaining relatives of Saul and Jonathan?

This would have been a strategic thing to ask because if there were any relatives of a previous king, they would pose a threat to the new king and the new kingdom.

If a relative was found the king would either imprison or kill them so they could not be a threat.

David finds out about about Mephibosheth, yet his response to this orphan was not as expected.

Instead of executing him, David brought him into his home, and made a place for him at his table.

David brought Mephibosheth out of a place to torment and fear, and gave him shalom - peace.

He allowed this social outcast and potential threat to the throne to feast with him at his table.

Not only that but he restored his families land to him and gave him a place of honor in his kingdom.

This is what happens at the Lord’s table.

We are all Mephibosheths, not one of us is worthy of eating with King Jesus. Yet, he is the king, and his new kingdom is being established. He has taken us from the old kingdom, the old world, brought us into the new, and has given us a place of honor at his table.

When we take communion we are feasting with the king. We are feasting with Jesus in his new creation, his new kingdom.

And think about the practical implication of this reality.

The Lord’s supper is fundamentally opposed to any sort of racism.

For we are all outcasts brought to the table by grace alone.

The Lord’s supper is fundamentally opposed to division and disunity.

Because, this kingdom meal is an expression of God’s Shalom His perfect peace.

He has overcome our torment and our fears in order to dine with us. How could we then partake in communion if we are not unified with one another?

This is what Paul means when he says we are to discern the body.

Peter failed to discern the body when he backed away from eating with gentiles - This was such a serious offence that Paul called him out before everyone and told him that his justification somehow tied up in this table fellowship

The Lord’s Supper Unifies the body of Christ.

The Lord’s supper renews the covenant we have with God

The Lord’s supper teaches us how to live with one another

The Lords supper is of upmost importance in the scriptures, and therefore it should be of upmost importance in our lives as well.

Lets be a church living in and experiencing all that God has given us.

Let us taste the fruits of the new creation and live not as slaves to the old, but as free baptized members of the new.

May we be unified in Christ in all that we do. And may we be formed into the image of Christ.

Lets pray.

Communion.

As we come to the table this morning, let us come fully aware that we are like Mephibosheth, unworthy to eat at the kings table. So lets come with full confidence that Jesus has not left us in the old world of sin and death, that old kingdom, but he has through his death and resurrection brought us out of the old and into the new. Where we are no longer outcast, but we are sons and daughters.

They are the rites of God’s people,

There are three major ways in which the Sacraments have been viewed in church history.

Sacerdotalism – This is the view that the Roman Catholic Church holds to. In this view the sacraments have the power to actually convey the blessings they signify. So the sacrament has the power to confer the grace which it signifies. This is the view the Reformers fought against.

Memorialism – This is the view of the vast majority of Protestant churches, including most Baptist and evangelical churches. In this view the sacraments have no real power, but are merely memorials, object lessons, which teach something about God. This view arose in opposition to the Catholic view.

Spiritual Presence - This is the view held by the majority of the reformed tradition. in this view the sacraments do not transform into the litteral body and bl

Surprised by Hope 2. Space, Time and Matter: Creation Redeemed

Remember the ballerina who, asked to say what a particular dance ‘meant’, replied, ‘If I could have said it, I wouldn’t have needed to dance it.’

The significant difference between the two terms is God’s role in the act. When viewed as sacramental, baptism is more than an act of man – it is a means by which God conveys grace. When viewed as an ordinance, baptism is the testimony of the person being baptized. While it points back to an act of God in the person’s life, God plays no role in the baptism – it is an act by a man (usually a pastor) performed on a man (the person being baptized).

Baptism, then, is not a means by which God conveys grace, but is a testimony of a person who has believed. It is a sign, but not a seal. Where sacraments revolve around what God does, ordinances revolve around what man does and what God did. I am going to quote David Heddle who studied this topic just a few weeks ago: “When reduced to merely an ordinance, baptism and communion are no longer about what God does, but what man does. There is nothing supernatural occurring, as if the supernatural realm were off limits to the Creator of the universe, God merely observes as we commemorate His work. An ordinance is actor-centered.”

Sacraments of the Law

Preparatory Sacraments

Abraham:

Gods instrument to redeem the nations

Separate people

Rite or sign - circumcision (mark of membership)

signified promise of fatherhood

Tabernacle

God comes near to his people. He moves into their space.

Rites and signs distinguish a people

Purification and Sacrifice

Not arbitrary signs

Called Israel to live God’s way

called to generosity and hospitality

Provisional

Old Covenant: future-tense sacraments

New Covenant: present-tense sacraments

Sacraments must be understood within ecclesiology

NT: new people of God formed

New Covenant Sacraments

Visible, sensible rites

declare the reality of Christ

identify Church

Not just the symbol of this reality

affect reality

Baptism enacts union of Jew and gentiles

one pathway for all

By God’s command