LBCF Chap 28: Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Okay. All right. Chapter 28. Here's where we really start to part company with the

Presbyterians with the Westminster Confession. All right. We, our confession breaks things down a little bit differently, so you can't even go chapter by chapter.

All right. You have to kind of piece it together because we take a little bit of a different order. We're still in part three.

All right. And it's only four parts and two paragraphs. You would think that this would be longer.

All right. But it differs drastically from the

Westminster Confession. The Westminster Confession has five paragraphs, and the 1689 has just two very brief paragraphs.

Okay. The title of the Westminster chapter is Of the Sacraments. Here, it's

Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptists have typically shied away from using the word sacrament.

Not that it's a bad word. The problem is when the

Presbyterians use the word, they do not mean it to be sacramental. They are not a sacramental church in that the sacraments confer salvation.

All right. The Baptists, just to be more on the safe side, they don't really use the word very frequently.

I do. I have no problem using it as long as we understand that we don't hold to sacramentalism.

Okay. Does everybody understand that, the difference? All right. So, Of the

Sacraments, the Baptists choose to address the issues covered in the Westminster in the subsequent chapters.

So, the five chapters that, I'm sorry, the five paragraphs that the

Westminster puts under Of the Sacraments are switched between this chapter and Of Baptism, which is next, and then the

Lord's Supper. Yes? When you say sacramentalism, is it talking about the sacraments having an impact on salvation?

Yes. For example, like Roman Catholicism. You are saved by grace through faith, according to Roman Catholic theology, and the sacraments.

Okay. That's sacramentalism. Okay. And we don't hold it. Again, I have no problem calling it a sacrament, because what does a sacrament mean?

Something that's set apart. Something that is holy. And we do consider it set apart and holy.

But again, most Baptists prefer to use the term ordinance. Okay. All right.

Of course, the substantial difference is in Baptism. All right. So, we'll look at the institution or specific character of the ordinances.

Remember, this is just an introductory chapter. We'll get into what is entailed in Baptism, and then the

Lord's Supper and the next two chapters. This is chapter 28.

That'll be chapter 29 and 30, and that will be the end of Christian living and Christian liberty.

And we have two final chapters on eschatology. Okay. And that'll take us about six months.

No, I'm only kidding. All right. Paragraph 1A. Baptism and the

Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution. Okay.

That's pretty basic. All right. In other words, what we're saying is these are ordinances or sacraments, if you prefer, that are instituted by God sovereignly.

These are not inventions of the church. These are things that God himself has positively and sovereignly instituted.

And of course, we hold to only two ordinances or sacraments, as do the

Presbyterians and almost, of course, all Reformed churches, as opposed to the Roman Catholic Church, which has seven sacraments, all right, which include marriage, holy ordinances, penance, extreme unction, you know, a lot of other things, the last rites.

Okay. Part 2 is still paragraph 1. The authorization or exclusive author of the ordinances, appointed by the

Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver. And you hear that every time we have the

Lord's Supper, right, as we read from 1 Corinthians 11, that the Lord gave to me in the night he was betrayed, gave, et cetera.

And we talk about it. So it's an institution by Jesus Christ, the lawgiver.

And then the perpetuity of it, to be continued in his church to the end of the world.

And you'll notice, usually when we're partaking of the cup, almost always, very, without very many exceptions, what do we say?

Till he comes. All right. And that's the reminder of the perpetuity of the

Lord's Supper. Okay. To be continued in his church to the end of the world.

Now, part 4, in paragraph 2, these holy appointments are to be administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto called.

In other words, our confession makes the statement that the Scripture teaches that only those who are called to the eldership in a local church are to be administering the ordinances of baptism in the

Lord's Supper. Why would that be? Why would that be so?

Why can't the dad of a home baptize his children? Yes, because it's an ordinance of the church.

It was given to the church, not to the families. Remember, we have very distinct separation of the covenant institutions.

It's not up to the church to raise the children, it's up to the family to raise the children. The church helps in that by teaching, but that's the job of the family.

There are things that the church cannot go into your home and tell you to do, not without violating the Scripture. Baptism in the

Lord's Supper are church ordinances for the edification of the church, not individual families.

So therefore, both baptism and the Lord's Supper should never be practiced by a family outside of the confines of the church, and then only by church officers.

Okay? And that's according to the commission of Christ. Questions?

Told you it was short. It's interesting. Here we are, Reformed Baptists. What's our biggest distinctive from everybody else is how we baptize people, and yet when you get to baptism and the sacraments, it's the shortest.

And there's a simple reason for that. It's just clearly taught in Scripture. All right, so I'm gonna stop here.

We will get, next week we have a whole another chapter. Chapter 28 is of baptism. Chapter 29 is of the

Lord's Supper. I may not be able to get through both of those in one. We'll see. Baptism is fairly short.

Again, you would think that would be longer, but it's not, and then we'll do the