TWO SACRAMENTS

Readings: Luke 22:14-20; Romans 6:1-14
Text: Luke 22:19; Rom 6:3
Heidelberg Catechism LD 25
Theme: Jesus gave us baptism and the Lord’s Supper to remind believers of our union with him in his death.
Purpose: To explain that the sacraments are signs and seals to assure us that we are saved through Christ’s death on the cross.

During the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century there were many debates about the meaning and place of the sacraments. The Roman Catholic Church had seven sacraments; the  Reformers insisted Jesus had only commanded two, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Roman Catholic Church and the Reformers not only debated the number of sacraments, but also what these sacraments meant, how they worked, and what benefits they offered to the believer.

Our Lord gave us the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper to illustrate and clarify the meaning of salvation; so it is a great tragedy that there has been, and still is, so much confusion and controversy over them. 

The Reformers defended their view by going back to the Bible, which is, of course, the right approach, and we need to do the same. 
The Bible explains that a person can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ; the sacraments illustrate and confirm this salvation for the Christian. 
The catechism follows this order in its explanation: it takes us through the articles of the Apostle’s Creed and explains how we are delivered from our sins, and then it teaches us about the meaning of the sacraments as illustrations and confirmations of that salvation. 

The word “sacrament” does not come from the Bible but rather from the Latin word “sacramentum”, meaning “sacred thing”. The sacraments are “holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace”. (WCF 27:1) The catechism explains they are “holy signs and seals for us to see.” (Q 66) They illustrate what God has done and is doing for us. They give us a picture of God’s salvation and confirm what he has done for us. They assure us “that our entire salvation rests on Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross.” (Q 68)

This is the focus of THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM.

Paul describes this in Romans chapter 6 and emphasises that believers are united with Christ in his death and resurrection; when Jesus died, we died; when Jesus was raised, we were raised. 

We can see that in verse 3 Paul where Paul wrote; “…don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death.”

And in verse 4 he confirms this by saying that we were buried with Jesus through baptism into death “in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too may live a new life.”

A Christian is united with Jesus in his death and resurrection. Baptism is a symbol of that union and of all the spiritual benefits that come to us through him. 

These spiritual benefits are given to all believers and are promised to the children of believers. 
Most of you children here have been baptised when you were a baby. Your baptism is a sign that God promises to forgive you your sin and count you as his child. You need to accept that by faith. You must believe God’s promises. You need to trust in Jesus and obey him. 

One of our hymns says;
“Trust and obey, 
for there’s no other way, 
to be happy in Jesus, 
than to trust and obey.”
This is what we hope and pray for every one of you; that you will trust Jesus and obey him. 

Probably most of us here have been baptised, many of us when we were still a baby, carried to church in our mother’s arms, while others of us were baptised as adults. 

Do you ever think about what your baptism means for you? When you see a baby or an adult baptised, do you consider your own baptism? The Westminster Larger Catechism speaks about “improving our baptism” especially “when we are present at the administration of it to others.” (Q 167) Every time we witness a baptism we have an opportunity to “improve” our baptism; that means we should reflect on our baptism and think about what it means for us so that we may benefit from it spiritually. 

Our baptism is a sign or a picture of the forgiveness of our sins. Just as water washes the dirt off our bodies so the water of baptism symbolises the washing away of our sins; it is a picture of spiritual cleansing. If you believe in Jesus then your sins are washed away. If you trust in Jesus and his death on the cross then he has paid for your sins. 

Baptism is also a seal or guarantee of this truth. It is a confirmation that the guilt of our sin has been removed because we are united with Jesus in his death.

It is an important sign and it ought to be administered to a new Christian and to the children of believers.

Someone has compared this to a friendship. If you as a man meet a good friend after some time of not seeing him, you will give each other a firm handshake; it is a sign of your warm friendship and of the relationship you share together. As men in the church we often do that when we meet each other. The friendship is always there but the handshake is a confirmation of that, and so is important. 

It is the same with baptism. Through faith a believer is united with Christ and that relationship is always there, but it is signed and sealed by baptism. 

Of course, there are differences between a handshake and baptism. One of those is that we shake hands often, but we are only baptised once. Even though we are only baptised once, we need to think about it regularly and ponder its meaning, especially when we witness it in the church. 

Baptism is a sign and seal of a Christian’s union with Christ and God’s assurance that we are saved though Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

That bring us to consider the other sacrament Jesus gave us – THE LORD’S SUPPER

Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper when, on the night before he died, he celebrated his last Passover meal with his disciples. The people of Israel celebrated the Passover once a year. They remembered how the Angel of Death, when he saw the blood of a lamb on the doorframe of their house, had passed over their home. The firstborn in that home did not need to die because a lamb had died in his place. 

Jesus was that Passover Lamb. He sacrificed himself for his people; he died in our place; he gave his life for us. 

We remember this in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, which Jesus instituted that Thursday night. During that Passover meal, he “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, ‘This is my body given for you….’” (Luke 22:19)

When Jesus spoke about his body he spoke about his death. The next day he would be crucified; he would die. The New Testament writers make a point of saying that he died in his body, he died physically, as a man. This is an historical event that we remember every year at Easter and in every celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus died. 

He told his disciples; “This is my body given for you.” He spoke to his disciples, but he includes all of his people. He died in the place of all who believe. He substituted himself for his sheep, for those whom God had chosen. 

The Lord’s Supper is not for everyone. 
The Word of God is preached to all people, believers and unbelievers, in the hope, and with the prayer that many who hear might believe.
The Lord’s Supper, however, is for those who actually do believe, who know their sin, who understand what Jesus has done for them, and who trust that Jesus died in their place. 

Jesus said; “do this in remembrance of me.” Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we remember the death of Jesus, we recall it to our minds and commemorate his death. 
Unlike baptism, which happens only once, the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament we repeat, whether that be weekly, monthly, or annually. 

The Word of God in the Scriptures and in the preaching of the Bible teaches us the good news about Jesus; the Lord’s Supper is a sign and seal of this good news.

It is a sign in that the bread is a picture of the body of Jesus, and the wine is a picture of his blood. 

Jesus has given us this sign because he knows we are often weak in faith and we find it hard to grasp the truth of his word. 

We are like a pupil at school who is finding it hard to understand a concept in physics. The teacher will spend some time with him. He will explain it in a different ways. He will also give him some other examples, illustrating it so that he can understand it more easily. 

This is what Jesus has done with the Lord’s Supper. It is an illustration for us because we are sometimes slow to learn. It is something we can see, something visible and physical, so that we can “understand more clearly the promise of the gospel.” (HC Q 66)

It is also a seal in that it assures us that Jesus has indeed died for the sins of all who trust in him. 

If you go to polytech or to university and pass all your subjects you will graduate with a diploma or a degree. That will be printed with a seal of the institution; this guarantees that this is the real thing, not one you printed at home on your computer or that you bought on the internet! This degree is genuine! 

The Lord’s Supper is our assurance than Jesus really did indeed die for us who believe. It is his guarantee that if we trust in him he will forgive our sins and give us eternal life. This is his promise. 

The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments. Protestant churches have two sacraments, the two that Jesus himself gave us – the Lord’s Supper which he instituted in that last Passover meal in the upper room, and baptism which he instituted when he gave his disciples the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matt 28:19)

In closing this sermon let’s consider a few questions about how these sacraments apply to you.
Are you a Christian? 
Do you believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God? 
Are you united with Jesus in his death and resurrection and have you been baptised as a symbol of that union and a picture of the washing away of your sins?
Are you “improving” your baptism by reflecting on what it means?
Are you responding to your baptism with a living faith in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?

If you are a Christian do you regularly attend the Lord’s Supper to strengthen your faith in Jesus? 
Do you take part with proper preparation, examining yourself and reflecting on your sins?
As you become aware of your sins do you look to God to forgive them, not because you have been so good, but because of what Jesus did on the cross?
Are you thankful for the suffering and death of Jesus and do you respond in gratitude and worship?

As you hear the Word of God, and as you share in the sacraments, do you focus on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground for your salvation?

Amen