The Christian life - The Ord..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, brethren. So, as I said, we are going to be addressing the topic of the ordinances of the Church.

And the ordinances of the Church, as I said, is baptism and the Lord's table. And these are the ordinances that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to the Church for them to observe. These are the commandments that the Lord has given to the Church the people of the New Covenant for them to observe. And we are going to be reading here 1 Thessalonians 1, the first 10 verses, and this is going to be our starting point for us to have some meditations around this topic. So, let us read together these first 10 verses of 1 Thessalonians.

It says, this is the word of God, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. If you have a different translation, it will say, Grace to you and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 2, We give thanks to God always, for all of you constantly, mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work, our faith, and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters, loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you, not only in words, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction.

You know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. And you became, that's the church, and you became imitators of us and of the Lord. For you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything." For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you, the church, turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Amen. This is the words of the Lord. Now, brothers and sisters, as I said, we're addressing the topic of the ordinances of the Lord, that is baptism and also the Lord's table or the Lord's supper or communion. And these are commandments or ordinances that God or the Lord Jesus gave to the church for them to or for us to observe, for us to obey. And the primary reason why I wanted you to come to this passage of 1 Thessalonians is because I think that it's important for us, before we address the topic of baptism and also the topic of the Lord's Table, to meditate upon corporate obedience.

Corporate obedience. Baptism and the Lord's table are ordinances of the Lord given to the church for the church corporately, when I say corporately, I mean as a community to observe. They come together and they obey the Lord corporately. So, if baptism and the Lord's table are ordinances of the Lord for the church to observe and obey, I think it's important for us to consider briefly the topic or at least the thought of corporate obedience. And this is important, my dear brethren, because at times, and even living in times in which individualism is so prevalent in the heart and in the world in which we live, at times we may be tempted to see ourselves as Christians just attached to a community of believers and seeing that as the environment in which we do or we practice the Christian activities that make us Christians.

And sometimes, even though we have preached many times and we have read through the Scriptures many times, we lack the experience of seeing ourselves as members of a body. Not only members of a community in which we have relationships one with the other, but a body that is a single body having the Lord Jesus Christ as the head and that body called to obey as a whole and also the Christian individually also to obey. Very important. My dear brother and my dear sister, because at times we are concerned with our individual obedience before the Lord, that which goes through our mind, which goes through our heart, the thoughts that we have and how we can be a better Christian, a better brother or a better sister. But at times we don't see ourselves not only in the context of the church, but also the obedience of our whole body.

The obedience of Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church as a local body. And my dear brother, my dear sister, this is very important because individual obedience depends on corporate obedience. And corporate obedience, of course, depends on individual obedience. We cannot have the body if we don't have the members. But this member is not going to walk in light and before the Lord if the whole body is not nourishing through the Word of God and walking in the light.

And my dear brother, my dear sister, here through the New Testament, we see that God does not only see the Christian as an individual, but God also sees the Christian in the context of the local church. And that's why when we read through the letters, we see that Paul and Peter are writing to churches and the apostles are writing to congregations. Even that here in this letter that we have just read, we can see how the apostle and primarily the Holy Spirit and God himself praises the corporate obedience of a church. And in this case is the corporate obedience of the church in Thessalonica. It says in verse three, Remembering before our God and Father your speaking of the church, your work in the faith.

Your labor of love and your steadfastness or full conviction in hope. It says those are the three virtues of the Christian life in verse 3, speaking of faith, love and hope. And the apostle praises that of the church of the Thessalonians as corporate obedience. That is that when the Apostle sees the life of this congregation as a whole, he has this testimony of their faith of work, of their labor of love and their steadfastness of hope. Even to the point that later on he says that these people are an example.

that the people in the church in Thessalonica have been imitators of the apostles, in this case, Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, which the apostle uses the word apostles to refer to the three of them in chapter 2. He says that they have been imitators of them and that the church in Thessalonica is an example in Macedonia, in Achaia for all the believers. Corporate obedience. the saints in this church were not only concerned with individual obedience, and that is my individual spiritual life before the Lord, but also the saints of this church, and you can see it also in the church in the Colossians and even other churches in the New Testament, they were example as a community of corporate obedience. That is, that when God sees us, He does not only sees us as individuals, but brethren, He also sees us as Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church, as the local church.

Because He is not speaking here in the context of the universal church, speaking for each one of the churches, each one of the local churches. It is important because your individual obedience depends on corporate obedience. And of course, corporate obedience depends on individual obedience. But also, my dear brethren, it's important because the local church will be put through fire. The local church will be put through fire.

And that's the argument that the apostle Paul makes in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, if you come there. So I want to show you there the importance of corporate obedience, so how the local church is built up in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, how the apostle is speaking about the ministry and the stewardship that he had received from the Lord, comparing that to the Apollos and Paul. He's seeing himself as the one who builds the church, as the one that as the one that not builds the church, but nourishes the church and waters the church, as the one who waters the church and provides for the church through the Word of God. Speaking of Apollos, we have these words in chapter 3, let us read from verse 9. Here's the argument, it says, for we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building.

So speaking of Apollos and Paul, he says, for we are God's fellow workers, we work for the Lord. The Lord is the one that builds the house, but we are workers of the Lord. And you, speaking to the local church, you are God's field, you are God's building. And says in verse 10, according to the grace of God given to me, this is God's worker, Like a skilled master builder, I, Paul, lay the foundation, and someone else, in this case, Apollos, is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, speaking of the stewards of the ministry of the Lord.

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds, speaking of those stewards of the ministry of the Lord, now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, each one's work Speaking of God's building, the local church, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. Speaking of the ministry of the stewardship of the Lord, 14, if the work that anyone has built in the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss, through he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

Then he says, do you not know that you, plural, speaking to the church, do you not know that ye are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? Not only speaking that the Spirit, as the apostle says in Romans 8, I think, right? That the Spirit is in us, individually speaking, but here now speaking in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, speaking of The people of Corinth, or the church at Corinth being the temple of the Lord, fire or there will be a test for the substance of what the local church is made of. Individual obedience is important in the context of corporate obedience. We cannot bear fruits of righteousness for the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, Brethren, if we are not individually walking in the Lord, but also corporately, as a church, walking in the light, we have no idea how much our individual life depends on the context of the community to which it belongs.

We have no idea how much it depends on our spiritual growth, the impact that we have onto the world and onto others in the context of the local church, individual obedience, but also corporate obedience. And we are to be as concerned for our hearts, but also for what happens in the context of our church. And with grace and with diligence and with love, instruct through the Word of God. so that the work that is being built here is, when it's put through fire, it is also acceptable before the Lord, and the Lord sees us with grace and with acceptance. Now, because it's our work, the apostle has said that in the beginning of chapter 3, the Lord is the one that builds the house.

He has given us means through which we build the house, the words of God, but that happens individually, my dear brothers and sisters. brothers and sisters, and also it happens collectively and corporate. We should be as concerned for our hearts as we should be for the context of the church. Now, having that in our minds, this corporate obedience, we are going to now get into these ordinances of the Lord, because they are going to correspond to corporate obedience. They correspond to the topic of corporate obedience.

And my dear brother, my dear sister, let me just simply put it on the onset or the onset or offset in the beginning of what I'm just trying to say here. This is the purpose of what I just want to share with you. The purpose is that we will, as individuals and corporately as a church, understand the purpose of real obedience. That is found in Psalm 51, if you please come with me. Before I speak to any topic of baptism or the Lord's table, which we already know, we have already practiced by God's grace baptism in the context of the church.

And by God's grace, we do practice the Lord's table every week. And we do have certain levels of understanding of what they are, and we agree upon that. So there's nothing new that I might add to this conversation here, my dear brethren. But the important goal here is this, Psalm 51, that we will understand as a church that that which we do as individuals, And that which we do as a congregation, corporately, individual obedience and corporately obedience, has to come from the heart. If it does not come from the heart, we will never be worthy, and humanly speaking, of course, of receiving the same praises that the church in Thessalonica received from the Lord.

There are churches through the New Testament that do not receive praises, but receive other words from the Lord through the apostles. But the word in Thessalonica received this, you know, that I know of your work of faith and your labor of love and your steadfastness and hope. There were problems, of course, in Thessalonica, but the apostles recognized that from the Lord. And if the obedience, my dear brother, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear brother, does not come from our hearts, individually and corporately, we're doing nothing, simply doing nothing. And this is what David very clearly says in Psalm 51, from verse 15.

Let us pay attention to those words, because this is the only thing that we need to get when we do baptism or practice baptism and do the Lord's Sable. It says, O Lord, verse 15, 5115, O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

O God, you will not despise. Brethren, he does not delight in burnt offerings. He does not delight in sacrifices. He does not delight, in a sense, in baptism. He does not delight, in a sense, in the Lord's table as an external deed that we do in the context of the church.

What he is pleased is about the heart, having a heart that is broken, contrite, coming before the Lord. And one will say, well, the only thing that we need to focus is on the heart. No, because he continues in verse 18. After he has said that the Lord does not delight in burnt offerings and in sacrifices, and after the psalmist here, David, acknowledges that it's a matter of the heart, then he says in verse 18, asking and requesting his prayer on his praises, do good to Zion or do good to the church in your good pleasure. Build up the walls of Jerusalem.

In other words, Lord, as Paul in first Corinthians chapter 3, that you are the builder of the house, that we are just simply fellow workers, you Lord build the house. He says here, build the walls of Jerusalem, you strengthen the city, you establish the people. And then in verse 19, and then he says, That is, in other words, when you have built up the walls of Jerusalem, when you have done good to Zion, then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings, and whole burnt offerings, and bulls will be offered on your altar. My dear brother, my dear sister, it's very important that we see the connection between that which is done and the heart. And that is the most important thing.

We already know what baptism is. We have already practiced it. We are not Presbyterians and we know what our baptism is. We are Baptists, all of us Baptists. So we know what baptism is and we know what the Lord's table is.

We repeat and we do this every single week. The important thing for us is not to have a Bible study and just to get a piece of information here or there that might be just simply gone. is that next Sunday, by God's grace, if we are allowed to come together and we are alive, when we're going to partake of the Lord's table, that we're coming before the Lord individually and corporately with a heart that is given to Him. With a heart that is seen and observed by the one that sees it all. And when the heart of each individual Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church is in that place of acknowledging the Lord and deciding to place the Lord in their heart, then the whole congregation, brothers and sisters, is walking in the Lord.

This is the most important thing, and in a sense we could conclude there, because that's it, baptism and Lord's table. But we do need to speak a little bit about baptism and we do need to speak about the Lord's table. So I just want to mention to you important things that we need to consider about baptism and the Lord's table. And I hope that from those things that we get from what baptism and Lord's table is, that we will be not only equipped in the mind, but that we will have at least the desire to bring before the Lord and ask Him, Lord, please give me a heart of reverence and give us a heart of reverence and give us more baptisms so that we will rejoice in the baptism and the salvation of many, but also that we will be reverential and that we will have the correct and right heart when we come and we partake of the table every time that the Lord allows us to come together. So the first thing that I want to do, and perhaps this is going to take a little bit more time, I don't want to take a long time, but the first thing that I want to do is just simply speak to you generally about what ordinances are.

Because both ordinances, baptism and the Lord's table, they share a lot of things. In nature, basically, they are the same. That's why we call them ordinances, and both of them are under that category. So I just want to speak to you about ordinance, the ordinance of the Lord for the church in a general sense. And we will understand some of the general aspects of baptism and the Lord's table.

And after that, we get into baptism. and speak about it, and then we get into the Lord's table, and then we will see where the Lord takes us from there. Okay, so general definition first. So as you can hear, I'm using the word ordinance, right? So I'm saying the ordinances of the Lord for the church.

And I have already said that these ordinances of the Lord for the church belong to corporate obedience. That is, the church comes together and they corporately obey the Lord in these particular ordinances. Now, when we hear baptism and the Lord's table in Christian community, you may hear two different words used to speak of the baptism and to speak of the Lord's table. Sometimes they call it communion or the Lord's supper, right? Speaking about the same here, baptism and the Lord's table is the one that I will use.

You will hear two different words that are used to speak of those two. The first one is ordinance. And the second one, do you know which one is? Sacrament, okay? So you will hear a lot that people call it, generally speaking, they will call it Sacrament or they will call it Ordinance.

Some other people will call it Rituals or Ceremonies, but this is just a very minority. Most people will put this in a category of Sacraments or in the category of Ordinance. And if you have paid careful attention to the time that you have been in Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church, you will see that every time that we go to the pulpit and we are going to be partaking of the table, we use the word Ordinance, but we have heard in the past the word sacrament. So I just simply want to go into the definition of what ordinance is just by taking those two words that our brothers and sisters use for those of those, ordinance and sacrament. So the first thing that we need to say is that as it is today in the current context of the church, there's not much difference between some people using the word sacrament and some people using the word ordinance.

And this is because not many people know the historical background of both words, right? So, because we are to be gracious, because in the current context of the church, people do not understand so much the historical background of ordinance or sacrament than people use that interchangeably, they simply use that the pastor says ordinance and they say ordinance or they hear that their pastor says sacrament and they say sacrament and this is how they refer to the ordinances. However, there's a little bit of an importance behind the two words, ordinance and sacrament, that will help us understand a little bit the definition of baptism and the definition of the Lord's Table. So we don't use the word sacrament because it does contain some theological substance to it that it could be misinterpreted. We use the word ordinance.

And I'm going to give you some reasons for why we should not use the word sacrament, but use the word ordinance when we're referring to baptism and the Lord's supper that will lead us into the definition of what the ordinance is. The first one is going to be super simple and super elementary and is the word sacrament itself. The first reason why we should not use the word sacrament to refer to baptism and to the Lord's table is because of the word sacrament itself. It's not a word that belongs to the English language, it's a word that belongs to the Latin, and it's a word that over time has changed a lot of meaning. So the Christians of the early church meant something different than what the Christians of the 4th and the 1st century meant with the word sacrament, and something very, very different to what the Christians of the Reformation meant by sacrament.

I will not get into what it is, but the word has changed meaning. In the beginning it was something like mysterion, or mystery, because the Lord's table was considered to be like a mystery. They did not know what it actually meant. But then it changed to oath, and then to seal, and then to sign. In Presbyterian circles, the word sacrament will be the sign of the covenant.

or will be the seal of the covenant. As circumcision to Abraham was the Sabbath day to Moses in the Messiah covenant, so then they will say the baptism and the Lord's table is the seal. Now that word has changed a lot of meaning, and if a word has changed lots of meaning over time, then it is safest not to use a word that is not going to refer the same to Christians in the first century, or to Christians in the fourth or fifth century, or to Christians in the Reformation, or to Christians in the current present time of the Church. Also, of course, because both words, sacrament and the word ordinance, are not in the context of the Bible. And the Bible never uses those two words, so to speak, of baptism or to speak of the Lord's Table.

But that is reason number one. Easy peasy, I think. that it is just a word that has changed meaning over time. Now the second reason is a little bit more historical and this is that the word sacrament is primarily used by the catholic church. So you've heard of the sacraments of the catholic church, you know that?

The sacraments of the catholic church. You know how many sacraments do they have? Seven. They have seven sacraments and the Lord's table and baptism are only two of those seven. They have matrimony and they have confirmation and they have other things.

They have seven. They have seven sacraments and they call them sacraments. Now, in the Western world, in the Western Protestant church, using the word sacrament is not so compromising. But when you go to, for instance, when you go to Colombia, when you go to Mexico, to South America, where the Catholic Church is so strong, this can bring confusion a lot in the context of the church if you use the word sacrament. because this is a word that is primarily used by the Catholic Church, and the understanding of the Catholic Church of what sacrament is, is not correct.

And I'm not in the mood of using difficult words for other people, but let's just simply say that it's not correct the way that they use the word sacrament. Basically they say that through a sacrament, God infuses grace to a person and the accumulation of that grace through the sacraments is what prepares that person for final salvation. You see the horrible complication in that? The Bible says that by grace through faith we have been saved once for all. But the Catholic Church says that with the administration of the sacraments, then God infuses and gives constantly grace to the person, and the accumulation and the growing in that grace is what prepares, preserves that person unto final salvation.

So all of the sacraments, some of the sacraments will have more weight than others. So first reason, the word sacrament has changed over time. Second reason is that this word is heavily attached to the Catholic Church. And even though here in Australia will not cause a little bit of difficulty, I know how the brethren struggle, for instance, in Mexico. when, for instance, the brethren there in Mexico, they have chosen to use the word sacrament to speak of a baptism and the Lord's table, and how much they struggle trying to explain that it's not the same sacrament than the Catholic Church.

Now, this one is going to take us now to the third reason that is a little bit weightier. Now, even though our Protestant brethren do not hold to the Catholic view of infusion of grace of the sacraments, some of the understanding of the Reformers was very similar. Some of the understanding of the Reformers were very similar to the point that he will use words that we even use means of grace. We have used that, right? And people in the Reformed circles are very comfortable using these words of means of grace.

Now, even though the Reformers and some of the Reformers did not mean exactly the same thing as the Catholic Church, and they understood what the place of grace is clearly, there was no controversy against the gospel and against the work of the Lord in grace. Many of them came to the conclusion that the Lord's Table and baptism were means of grace. That is, that upon the exercising of baptism and upon the exercising of the Lord's Table, there was a dispensation of a special grace given to the church in which they are now more equipped or they're simply receiving grace means of grace and then they took that word of means of grace to other things such as preaching and other means of grace of prayer and at times I know that we perhaps we have used that word you know means of grace once again even though the reformers clearly distinguished themselves from the catholic church and they understood the place of grace and that grace is just given by the lord alone The Baptists had a little bit of a problem with this in the 17th century, and they said, we cannot have that view of the Lord's table and that view of baptism, because the only means of grace, according to the Scriptures, is faith. By grace, through faith, you are saved. The grace of the Lord is only given to the saint by faith.

And what we do is not a means of grace, but rather is an expression of faith. So, what we do, namely baptism, or the Lord's table, or prayer, or preaching, is not a means of grace, but rather is an expression of faith. And for that reason, everything that we do falls into the category of obedience that is supposed to come from the heart. And hence, the baptism and the Lord's table is an ordinance, that if you hear the word, belongs more to the category of ordinance or commandment or obedience. That is that the Lord's table and baptism are in the category of expressions of faith that are just expressions of obedience that is supposed to come from the heart.

And then the debate progressed and progressed and progressed and progressed. Of course, there's no controversy if my brother or sister just decides just to use the word sacrament. There's a lot of other reasons why, you know, sacrament can be a difficult word But one will need to go into the theology of what some of the Reformers meant by means of grace and grace in each one of the ordinances. But we are going to consider, at least from my words, as an ordinance. And the ordinance then, my brothers and sister, is then an expression of faith.

That is, that for us to do, first of all, we need to have faith. And for us to have faith, we need to have grace. So the place of grace in the transaction is precedence, or what do you call it, before before everything. The grace of the Lord is the one that moves and produces the faith in the saint and the faith of the saint is the one that is supposed to work in love to obey that which the Lord has commanded individually and collectively. That which the Lord has commanded individually in the scriptures and that which the Lord has commanded corporately the Lord's table, and baptism.

So what are these ordinances? These ordinances, my dear brothers, my dear sister, are expressions of faith. But there's something more that we need to add to that definition. It's an expression of faith, and what that expression, those two expressions of faith, corporate faith, corporate coming of the saints, What these expressions of faith are going to manifest are aspects of our union with Christ. Both baptism and the Lord's table are expressions of faith that speak of our union with Christ from different perspectives.

Baptism is a manifestation of our faith that manifests certain aspects of our union with Christ. And the Lord's Table is another expression of faith that manifests another aspect of our union with Christ. Now, my dear brothers and my dear sister, it is very important that we see both baptism and the Lord's Table as expressions of obedience from the heart of faith. Because when we see them that way, we already presuppose that the only one who can exercise baptism and the Lord's table is the true Christian. Because for the person to exercise baptism and the Lord's table, they need to have an expression of faith.

So faith has to be given, grace is necessary. While the brethren that interpret this in a different way as means of grace, they can have in the context of the church people who have no faith in their hearts, but still they can be recipients of the grace of the sacraments in their words. So they will have their kids who have been baptized, also participating in the context of the church, and at times even partaking of the Lord's table as means of grace, and some of them will profess faith later on. You will see the complications that that has with our understanding of how obedience works. So, we call them ordinances because they are an expression of faith, and now very importantly, that speak of Our union with Christ.

Now, let us take it to the next level. Let us see how each one of us, brethren, is to enjoy union with Christ upon baptism, and how each one of us is to enjoy... Okay, baptism is gone, but the Lord's table, how we are to enjoy and to see union with Christ. The first thing that I need to do before we get into those manifestations of union with Christ, for both of them, is just simply briefly speak to you about union with Christ. Now, my dear brother, brother, sister, union with Christ for your soul happens experientially in three moments.

Your soul, independently of Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church, independently of this world, independently of the universe, independently of the vast majesty of the universe, your soul, your heart has been united to Christ in three moments. The first one, you know what that one is, right? before the foundation of the world. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, in Christ, even as He chose us, before the foundation of the world. In Him, He chose us that we will be holy and blameless without a spot.

In Him we were chosen before the foundation of the world, before any decree of creation or fall or redemption will be even conceived. However, that happens in the mind of God. The saint was found by the Father in the Son in union with Christ. And what is the answer to that? In the mind of God abides.

But the only thing that we can say is love. because he loved a group of people unto himself, they were found in Christ. When the father looked unto him, they were found in him, chosen in union with Christ, then taken from the side of our Savior, of the husband of the church, and put into the world for them to be redeemed and then finally united to him. That is the first moment of union. And that is not only individually, brethren, but also corporately, right?

It's not that someone was united to Christ in this way, he was the bride, he was like Eve in the wreath of Adam. He was there, united to the Lord Jesus Christ, your soul was there. The second experience of union with Christ happens when? When we believe. The day of your salvation, my dear brothers and sisters, remember the day of your salvation, whenever that was in the past, the day of your salvation, in that day of your salvation, you were united to Christ, what they call vitally united to Christ.

And the means by which we are united to Christ is faith. The grace of God is given and we are united by faith in the person of Jesus Christ, vitally coming from the word vida, that means life, vitally into the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to us with His sovereign grace when we were dead in our trespasses, blind in our eyes, and then He opened our eyes. regenerated, gave us a new heart and this new heart now was able to respond in repentance and faith. And upon repentance and faith, we were converted.

The righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of God was given to us by this faith. Now we were justified, we were adopted into the family of God, never to be separated, united to Him before the foundation of the world and experientially, because we don't have experience of that, union in eternity past, but the experience of what we call, generally speaking, conversion, right? That we were united to the person of Jesus Christ. Death, alive, darkness, light, stone and flesh, the world, now the kingdom of Christ. That change, the transformation in union with Christ.

And then the final one, of course, is the final state, right? The final state. And the final state, you know, some people call that individual scatology. So in other words, when you die, when you die, the one that dies and closes his eyes to never open them again in this world, whose breath stops never to continue to breathe once again, whose heart stops never to pump in this world once again, immediately the eyes of that person are open to see the one who loved him or her and gave himself for her or for him. They're just taken up to glory.

And then, of course, there may be a wait of... I don't know how the time will work, but there will be an awaiting for the Lord to come and take the church, because the final consummation of that union is not individual, brethren, is collective, is the bride, is the church that will be united to the Savior, final consummation of that union, individual and corporately. And that is the glorious union that we have with Christ. Imagine the angels, If there was any manifestation of sin in them, they will be tempted to say, why them? Why them?

Why them and not us? We have no sin against you. We have obeyed you. We have done everything that you say. We have been worshiping you and all of those things.

If there was any Adam race trait in them, but there's none. It is only the grace of the Lord that keeps them so that they also rejoice with the redeemed and servants of the redeemed, seeing the redeemed being united fully to the Lord Jesus Christ, union with Christ. And brethren, These ordinances... I was like, for one second, about to say sacraments. These ordinances, my dear brethren, speak in different ways of our union with Christ.

So let us just take the first one, okay? So we have, say, generally speaking, the ordinances are an expression of the faith of the believer that speaks of an aspect of union with Christ. First one, baptism. Let's go to Romans chapter 6. And in Romans chapter 6, my goal is just simply show you something of the union with Christ, simply here, a couple of practical statements about baptism, and then we move on to the Lord's table, speaking about union with Christ in the Lord's table, a couple of practical things in the Lord's table, and we finish and we can pray.

So let's come to Romans chapter 6, please. Even in the spiritual aspect of baptism, you will see that the way that the Baptist does baptism is the biblical way, of course. It says, my dear brethren, let us read together Romans chapter 6, I said, from verse 1. to verse 6, okay? Let us read together, and I want you to pay special attention to the rhetorical question in verse 3, and how the Apostle answers that in verse 4, 5, and 6.

Let us read together. So, verse 1 and 2 is not so important for the context of what we want to say, but we're going to read it. Verse 1. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in seeing that grace may abound?

By no means. How can we, now speaking of Christians, who died to sin, still live in it? The rhetorical question comes in verse 3. Do you not know that all of us, that is Christians, who have been baptized into Christ, into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? 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 may walk in the newness of life.

For if we, Christians, have been united with Him in a death like this, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like this. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Let me just explain or paraphrase a little bit here the words of the apostle. In the rhetorical question here, he says in verse 3, Do you not know that all of us who had been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" Speaking to Christians, it's like speaking to you, brothers or sisters, and saying, do you not know?

that when you became a Christian in the moment when you were baptizing Christ, that is, speaking of that vital union when you had faith, baptized, united to Christ, do you not know that when you were baptizing Christ, you were baptizing to His death? Imagine this, the Apostle Paul is speaking to you upon your conversion, the day of your conversion, and you don't know what has happened just to you, but you know that you are a new creature, and he comes to you and he says, Do you not know, my dear brother and sister, that now this that has taken place to you, this union that now you have with Christ, it's also union with His death? The Apostle is now taking you from that moment in the past, to even further in the past. He's taking you to the moment 2,000 years before your salvation, when the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross. And He says, this which has just happened to you, His union to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the past, 2,000 years ago.

And then he gives the answer in verse 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. If someone was going to write a catechism question and ask to what Christ, if there were many Christ, but you will understand by the answer the type of question that I'm asking, to what Christ are we united upon salvation? And if the options were to the Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father, the answer will be wrong.

The Christ to whom we are initially united to is the Christ who died, then the Christ who resurrected, the Christ who ascended, and the Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father. That is, upon the coming of the Holy Spirit on a person, man or woman, a Christian, that person is taken to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that person, in order to be saved, he or she has to die. The old self has to die, buried with Christ into the tomb. And then just as Jesus Christ was resurrected by the Father, or He was resurrected, the same power that resurrected the Lord Jesus Christ gives the regenerated life to the person, which is now the life of the victorious Jesus Christ, And this life of this victorious Christ is the ascended enthroned in heaven, so that He becomes our advocate, sends the Holy Spirit, baptizing the Spirit into the body of Jesus Christ, sealed until the end for the promise of the eternal inheritance, And then you have to see it there when He says, for if we have been united with Him in a death like this, namely upon the cross, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like this, fully united to Christ. We're not united only to the King.

We're united to the King and everything that He did to be there. perfect life, death upon the cross, mightily resurrected, united in His resurrection and ascension, and seated at the right hand of the Father. So that is that when the person is saved, goes into the past to be united upon the cross, and my dear brother, my dear sister, going into the tomb, the old self, and then being resurrected in newness of life. And here the spiritual language is used to speak of salvation. The church has used this through the ages to speak.

Remember the definition, expression of faith, right? Why? Because when we are baptized, we're going to the watery grave. And if there is no one to take us out of the watery grave, we remain under the watery grave. And then the hands of one who has the Spirit of God in him, representing this, takes us out and then buried with him in baptism unto death.

resurrected to walk in newness of life. That moment happened in the water? No, it happened in the heart, here in Romans chapter 6, right? When we were united to Him by faith, but it was an expression of the faith. How can there be a Christian who knows that has been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, and then understand what baptism is, a manifestation of obedience, and not to desire to obey the Lord?

Because, once again, it's an ordinance, it's a commandment, it's an instruction out of the gratitude of the heart that has been regenerated and saved, then now to manifest. Now, let me come, please, with you to 1 Peter, and then we'll make just the final comment there. Come to 1 Peter chapter 3, please. In 1 Peter chapter 3, there is a very important word, that is so glorious about what happens in baptism, 1 Peter chapter 3, sorry. So you may remember from your Bible how the Apostle Peter compares what happened with Noah and the judgment that came upon the ancient world, Woda, with baptism.

And then he says in verse 21, Baptism, which corresponds to this, speaking to what happened with Noah, now saves you. And now there we are just pierced in the flesh. What do you mean that baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, Peter? Why do you put those words there? What do you mean by saying that baptism now saves you?

If you continue, you will understand, because that salvation happens in the end of verse 21. It says through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is what Paul has said in Romans chapter 6. So the external practice of baptism, going into the water, now out of the water, is a manifestation of our salvation that has happened through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ in the spiritual activity. But that is not so much... I preached, I think, one or two sermons on that verse, if you want to remember that.

But that is not so much the point that I wanted just to make there. I had to make that. I was not going to just simply jump over that. But it says, "...baptism which corresponds to this now saves you."

And it says, "...not as a removal of dirt from the body." But then he says, "...but as an appeal to God for a good conscience." In brief, my dear brethren, this means, that when a person is baptized, the person has a clear conscience that when they come out of the water, when they have come out of baptism, they have this appeal before God with a good conscience of their innocency.

Innocency is the word? Innocence. that they are not guilty, that they have this appeal to God, or this good conscience, this clear conscience, appeal to God for a good conscience. They come out of the water and they have a clean conscience before the Lord, that the Christian is expected to preserve through their life. Right?

As Paul then will speak of having a good and pure conscience to Timothy and also of himself in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. This is brethren. Remember what it says to the Thessalonians? Work of faith, labor of love, full conviction or full assurance. Because brethren, the person that goes into the water, do you think that they have problems of assurance of salvation?

Do you think that they have problems of assurance of am I safe or not? Or am I forgiven or not? Or am I guilty or not? The person that goes into the water and out of the water fully convinced that his sins or her sins have been paid in full, in much joy. And not only that, but those who are witnessing are seeing a brother or sister to proclaim to the world, to God, to the church, to the angels, I'm innocent.

And of course, I'm not innocent because I just made it from this water, out of the water. I'm innocent because Christ died for me. Brethren, glorious that the Lord may give us more baptisms, to see that union with Christ there. Baptism is for the believer, of course, as we have said. And baptism, as you will see now, the imaginary, I hope that is how you pronounce the word, of Romans chapter 6.

buried with Him right into the watery grave and coming out of the water. That is full immersion into water. Going into the water and out of the water. I saw a baptism of some brethren in... I think I told you about someone...

Some brethren in the United States, they were baptizing this sister now. They were baptizing this sister, and they put her into the water, and then for some reason, I don't know why, the sister just put the legs out of the water. So the head just went into the water, and then the legs went out of the water. And then, so everyone just looked at each other. and said, fully immersion, has to go into the water, because you want to obey the Lord as it is.

The baptism does not convey anything, but into the water and out of the water, the whole being into the grave and the whole being out of the grave, rescued by the Spirit of the Lord, and then the church rejoices in the salvation of the person. That is baptism, my dear brethren. Now, let us come to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. because now I want to speak to you about the second ordinance. In this case, it's going to be the second expression of faith.

The second expression of faith. And in this case, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, this is going to be the Lord's table. And with this one, I just want to be more concise and finish here. It's very clear. It's very clear, once again, that for the Lord's table, Those who participate in the Lord's table are people who have been saved.

Now, in our church, we ask that they have been baptized providentially. Why? Because if a person... Actually, this is a very good point, bro, that allows me just to speak about a matter. Because if a person has been genuinely saved, What reason prevents a person from getting into the water?

Right? If a person has been genuinely saved, if a person has been united to the Lord Jesus Christ and experienced salvation and freedom from sins, what prevents, what hinders a person from going into the water? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. And if that person does not go into the water and they think that they are saved, what do you think that's called?

Disobedience. Because baptism is an expression of faith. Now, that might speak of disobedience or that the person is not certain or sure about their spiritual condition. But once a person arrives to full conviction that they have been forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ, nobody and nothing prevents a person from going into the water. And the sooner the better, right?

The sooner the better that that person gets into the water and out of the water, just to speak of that. But that's why when it comes to the Lord's Table, and that is a very good point, bro, when it comes to the Lord's Table, a reverential heart and a good conscience is necessary to participate of the Lord's Table as we are going to read here. So how are we going to accept in the Lord's table a person who thinks that she or he is saved, and who has had the time, providentially speaking, to be baptized, to come to the Lord's table? No! Because that person is in disobedience, if that is the case.

The person knows that they are saved. But if a brother or a sister has just been saved there, right? In the service, the person has just been saved there. Nothing prevents that person from coming and partaking of the table. Because providence has not allowed this brother or sister to go into the water.

Perhaps he or she is going to get into the water after that, right? But the table is, because of the reverential aspect of the table, this is why we protect the table with those statements when we partake of the table. Now let us just read this, and then I will just make a few comments about this, and we will conclude for the Lord's table. Brethren, let us read from verse 17 onwards. Let us read until the end, and I suppose that we will get some ideas from there.

I want you to pay careful attention to a couple of points that I'm going to make. First of all, is how the Apostle insists on the when you come together. Okay? So just pay attention to that when the Apostle says when you come together. Secondly, pay attention to the instruction that the apostle will give to the church, starting in verse 23.

And thirdly, please pay attention to the reverential or the expectation of reverence when it comes to the table. Verse 17, it says, but in the following instructions, I do not commend you, because when you come together, it is not for the better or for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part. For there must be factions among you, in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.

For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?

What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. And then He gives the instruction, right? But remember, they're coming together, coming together, coming together.

Verse 23, For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. It says, remembrance of me. In the same way, also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you will proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Reverential aspect, verse 27. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats, drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged, that is, if we examine ourselves, right? If we judge ourselves truly, we would not be judged. That is how he is using those words.

But when we are judged, that is, when we find ourselves with some guilt, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you come together it will not be for judgment about the other things I will give directions when I come. Brethren, if baptism, remember that I said that the ordinances are expressions of our faith that speaks something of our union with Christ. Baptism speaks of our spiritual union with Christ.

So baptism is an expression of faith that speaks of our spiritual union with Christ. Paul says that if we have been joined to the Lord, we are one spirit with the Lord. This is our spiritual union, that is baptism. On the other hand, the Lord's table speaks of our covenantal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That is that when He died, as we have read and we have studied out many times, when He died and when He shed His blood, the new covenant was established.

The old covenant made obsolete and the new covenant was established in His blood. And now those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ become members of the new covenant individually. Yes, primarily, but then when you see the covenant community as a whole as a church. So, when we come together on the Lord's Day and we partake of the elements, we are celebrating our covenantal union with the Lord Jesus Christ that was produced, if you want, I don't have the word, or accomplished by His dead upon the cross. A few things that we need to, first of all, see here.

Coming together. It is important that the church will come together to partake of the bread. And this is something that the church enjoys in the covenant community as they have the presence of one another in the coming together of the saints. Second thing, to remember, it says, do this in remembrance of me. Now, some people have reduced the value of the remembering of the Lord's table when we are partaking of the elements.

But remember what brother said on Sunday and what we have said many times through the book of Deuteronomy. What is what Moses says to the people of Israel? Remember, remember. Remember, right? Remember.

And that is because remembering, my dear brother and sister, is a very important aspect of our faith. Our faith is just not only something supernatural and abstract that is outside of us. Our faith happens through our mind. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. And the more that the word of God is prevalent or abiding in us, the more faith that we have.

And the Lord has always been concerned that his people will remember who he is and what he has done for them and what he says that he will do. So by virtue of what he has said and what has told them that he is and has done and will do, that is their faith. Certainty, assurance, conviction of the things that are not seen. Certainty, conviction, assurance of the things that are hoped for. This is the faith that is empowered by remembering.

And when it comes to remembering, my dear brother and sister, the Lord's table is very special. Because when it comes to the elements or better the sections, if you want, or the parts of the service, preaching and singing and all of those, the Lord's table is the only one that has elements that are to be taken in our hands, that are to be observed with our eyes and with our senses, and even that are to be experienced, that help us to remember. So, we take the cup that is helping us to remember the blood of the Savior. We're taking the bread that is helping us to remember the body of our Savior. And this is guiding us to remember the sacrifice and the death of the Savior to establish the new covenant by which now we are not only individually saved, but we are here together.

And we take the elements in our hands to remember And this is not only that, but it says in Luke chapter 22 that this is a proclamation of the death of the Lord. That is, the church comes together to proclaim the establishment of the new covenant upon the cross. And it is very powerful what it says in verse 26, may your brothers and sisters... It says in verse 26, For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, You proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. There's going to be a day, no more baptisms, right?

No more sinners coming to repentance because all of them have repented already. No more bread and no more wine because now we have the Lamb of God in front of us. Now He has united us to Him in glory. Now we see Him face to face. Now we see Him in the countenance of our brothers and our sisters.

And every day that we take, every Lord's day that we take the Lord's table, the bread and the wine, this is also a proclamation of His death, but in a sense also, Lord, how long? Where are you coming? Is this the last one? Is this the last time that we're going to be partaking of this? And brethren, yes, we do that individually, but we do that as a manifestation of this glorious covenantal community that is going to be in heaven.

And the church, maybe your brethren, not to extend any longer, the church, and specifically on Sunday when we come together, when the people come together, this is a type of what, or this is a shadow of what heaven is supposed to be. what heaven is supposed to be, the coming together of the saints, the presence of the saints, the presence of the blood and the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the preaching of the word, the Holy Spirit in reverence to the Father, the coming together of the saints. Brethren, you see how important it is for us to indeed come together? You see why the early church will die to partake of the table? You see why we are not to neglect the gathering of the saints and coming and having a heart that desires to come together?

because of all of these important matters. But of course, we have this important thing in verse 27, my dear brothers and sisters, and with this we finish. And that is that every time that we approach this table, are we doing it in a religious, careless way? We are to do it with reverence. brothers and sisters, we are to do it in reverence.

It says in verse 29. Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. Verse 28. This is the attitude that it should be in each one of us individually. Verse 28.

Let a person examine himself then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Some churches guard or protect the table with membership, you sign a document and then you're a member, if you're a member you cannot partake of the table, only members can partake of the table, non-members cannot partake of the table, some churches do things like that. And we believe that the proclamation of the Word, is enough to guard the table. Because if a person comes after the warning has been given, this is for Christians, this is for providentially, this is if your conscience allows. Now, as I said, brothers and sisters, if we believe that the preaching of the Word or just the warning that is given with the Word is to guard the table and to announce that the table is for those who by grace through faith have been saved, those who providentially have partaken in obedience of baptism, and those whose conscience have been examined through the Word, and they can come, sometimes I use the word, with a clear conscience before the table, come with a clear conscience before the table, to take the elements and return and partake.

Why? Because this is a very serious matter, to take the elements in our hands with reverence, examining, Not with a careless heart, with a religious heart, do I need to do this just as another part of my day and then just continue through it. Reverence, my dear brother and sister. Expressions of faith. Baptism and the Lord's Table.

Expressions of faith that speak of our union with Christ. A spiritual union with Christ in baptism. covenantal union, when we see each other and partaking of the elements, where all the body of Lord Jesus Christ in the new covenant are waiting for the revelation, for the blessed hope. He will take us, unite us to Him, remove all of our tears, take all of our sins, and we will enjoy eternity with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, brethren.

This is the time in which we will pray together. So, mighty Lord, guide us in our prayers, dear brethren. Let us pray. Father, Lord, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. The leading, the guiding of your Holy Spirit is the only one that brings us to the feet of Christ, to enter into the throne of grace with certainty, with boldness, and approach you, Father, to give you thanks for everything that you do.

Everything that you do is perfect. There is nothing that you say or something that you do that is not perfect, unloving, and our minds cannot comprehend the depths of your perfections. So as we come before you, I ask, Lord, that you may guide us as a church to corporately obey, as Christ has called us to, with a heart, individually and as a church, that is moved by the beauty of Christ, by the beauty of the gospel, by the power of the gospel. that You will move us, Lord, to obey individually and corporately for the glory of the Father, to bear fruits of righteousness in Christ, to bear much fruit of the Spirit by faith, that it will be manifested individually in us as a church. Bless, Lord, the Scriptures that we have read and put together in this study, Lord.

Bless Lord, the meditations of the saints, and bless more importantly, the hearts of the saints, that even as we are going to partake of the Lord's table, by your grace and your providence, if you allow so, on Sunday, that as we come to that table, And that we take the elements in our hands and as we come together to obey this ordinance that the Lord has given us, that we may do it with a heart that is filled with faith and love, that it will be a manifestation of the abounding grace in us that is moving us to obey. individually, proclaiming the death of Lord Jesus Christ with a reverential heart, remembering the establishment and accomplishment of the new covenant, being strengthened and empowered in faith by the Spirit for obedience and awaiting for the coming of our Savior. We praise you and we give you thanks for everything that you have done, Lord Jesus, for giving your life for us and to save us. And now I pray You may bless this time that the saints are going to spend together in prayer, guide us by your Holy Spirit, guide our prayers, guide our intercessions, help us and guide us with your Holy Spirit, strengthen us as a church. When you see us as a church, as a congregation, when you see us as a local church, you may see us growing in faith, in love, in hope.

You may see us being purified, and the saints being jealous for holiness, and jealous for loving the Church, and jealous for giving themselves into the service of the Church and of Christ. Bless us as a congregation, I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.