1689 London Baptist Confession (part 66)

Our Father, we come before you this morning just thankful for the opportunity to worship you, to look into your word, to see what you've revealed to us about yourself. Even as we think about the fact that the things that you've granted us, we ought to study.

And the things that you've not shown us belong to you, and we have to trust you. But Father, you've given us many things in your word. You've given us men over the centuries to study your word, to concentrate, consolidate it into confessions and statements of faith.

And Lord, it is these that we study, but we want to be faithful to your word. Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for all the blessings that are ours in Christ. Lord, bless each one here.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Man, it sounds like we have kids on microphones upstairs. Well, this morning we come to a point in the London Baptist Confession of Faith where we're going to see and study really some differences between...

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Positive Ordinances

I just thought it was interesting looking at the Westminster Confession of Faith and the London Baptist Confession of Faith. And you'll understand when I say that this morning we're going to be looking primarily at baptism and then next week at the Lord's Supper.

So let me just kind of read, this is chapter, whatever it is, section 37 of our notes, of baptism and the Lord's Supper. And it says, the confession says, Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be continued in his church to the end of the world.

Now when you hear that an ordinance is positive, I thought about that and I go, okay, what's a negative ordinance? What does that mean? And what is a positive ordinance? Well, they're positive in the sense that they are additions to the moral law of God.

Our King, the Lord Jesus, commands the church to do these things. Now I found a source that said this about positive institution or positive command. The confession means by that that it is an institution or a command that is not, now this is not really all that clear so we'll have to expand on it a little bit, is not inherently moral.

What they mean by this is if you look at baptism or you look at the Lord's table, in and of themselves you would not look at those things and say, well, it is sinful to not do them. In other words, and here's the big contrast, people know because they have God's law written in their hearts, they know that it is sinful to kill, to steal, to lust, they know these things.

Even if they don't want to confess them, they know these things because God has given them a conscience, has instituted these things in their minds. But when it comes to baptism, we don't automatically think, if I fail to get baptized, that's a sin, right?

People wouldn't naturally think that. And so the Lord Jesus, when he gives us those commands, they become sinful to disobey. It is sinful for a Christian not to be baptized. It is sinful for a Christian not to partake in the Lord's table.

And that's essentially what the confession is arguing here. Now, what is the purpose of an ordinance? A .H. Strong writes this. He says, by the ordinances, we mean those outward rights, which Christ has appointed to be administered in his church as visible signs of the saving truth of the gospel.

I'll say that again. Visible signs of the saving truth of the gospel. So when we see baptism, as we will this morning, or when we partake in communion, these are visible signs of the saving truth of the gospel.

We're going to talk about baptism this morning some more. But when you think of the Lord's table, well, how is that a visible sign of the truths of the gospel, saving truths of the gospel? Okay, you're participating in it, right?

When you think of the bread, you think of the cup. What do they represent? His body and his blood or his death, right? And so how is that a symbol of the gospel? Well, simple. His body broken for us, his blood shed for us, his life given for us.

Without that, apart from the sacrifice of Christ, we have no gospel. We have no good news. We have no redemption. So in that sense, it would be that picture of our salvation. Now, we have two ordinances as opposed to seven sacraments of Rome.

And it's important to keep that in mind, because the confession is very particular about what an ordinance is and how many there are. So I thought we might just take a moment before we I actually have handouts this morning, which is exciting before we go to the handouts, I wanted to just kind of examine the seven sacraments of Rome.

And according to Rome, each of these administer grace to the recipients. Now, I want to say that again. They administer grace to the recipients. What does that bring to your mind? And I'll be a little more specific.

Who is the dispenser of grace? In Rome, the church is the dispenser of grace. Do we see that in Scripture? I don't really think so. I think we would see that God is the dispenser of grace. He gives grace.

So, the seven sacraments. The sacrament of baptism. And listen to this. And we're going to talk about the contrast of what baptism is versus what Rome says it is. It removes the guilt and effects of original sin.

Adam sinned. I guess we could say Eve sinned. Adam sinned. Adam fell. Adam was our representative. Right? And they say that this baptism washes away the original sin and incorporates the baptized person into the church, the mystical body of Christ on earth.

Now, does baptism wash away original sin? That is to say, think about that. Because it suggests then that baptism as an infant brings a person to moral neutrality with God. So, is it any wonder that in Catholic hospitals, that people are running around trying to baptize babies?

Of course. Because they want to help that person. The second part of it incorporates the baptized person into the church. And it so offends me. And I know I've mentioned this before, but I hate it when I go to Catholic funerals.

Sorry. Why? For this very reason. And Becky's had a few of those in her family. Others have, too. And it's not anything against them. But when the priest stands up and says, we know that so-and-so is in heaven, the first reason they list is baptism.

Because they're a member of the church, the dispenser of grace. It's terrible. It's blasphemous. I sat there. I remember Steve Nelson's mom's funeral. And I was just clenching my fists. I'd get so, you know, his mom's in heaven because she was baptized as a baby and because she participated in knitting circles.

And I'm not even making that up. The sacrament of baptism. So that's one. The sacrament of confirmation. It's interesting that they used to do it immediately after baptism. They would confirm that little person, little baby, a member of the church.

Now you have to kind of wait and go through some classes. But here's what they say about confirmation. It perfects our baptism. There was something wrong with it in the first place, I guess. And brings us the graces of the Holy Spirit that were granted to the apostles on Pentecost Sunday.

That's what they say confirmation does. Third, the sacrament of holy communion. The sacrament is the source of great graces that sanctify us and help us grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ. I'm not even going into what they say about the transformation of the bread and wine.

That's... Fourth, the sacrament of confession. Go to the priest, confess your sins. Gives us grace in reconciling us to God. Fifth, the sacrament of marriage. It reflects the union of Jesus Christ and his church.

True, but it's not a sacrament. Sixth, the sacrament of holy orders. This is the continuation of Christ's priesthood, which he bestowed upon his apostles. There are three levels to the sacrament. The episcopate, the priesthood, and the deaconate.

The deaconate. Yeah, that. Diaconate. Seventh, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. Traditionally referred to as extreme unction or last rites. That is administered both to the dying and to those who are gravely ill or about to undergo a serious operation for the recovery of their health and for spiritual strength.

And they say that each of these seven items bring you great grace. And, you know, I think if we went further, we'd find that apart from participation in all these seven, you can expect a good chunk of time in purgatory.

So that's Rome. To just finish what the confession says about the ordinances, these holy appointments are to be administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto called according to the commission of Christ.

So, I mean, if you read this, it seems that baptism, Lord's table, basically should be done by elders. But I think it could be reasonably argued that they can delegate this. But it does make me think that these ordinances ought not to be performed outside of the local church.

Pastor Mike and I were just talking about the idea of, you know, some couples want to have communion as part of their wedding ceremony because they want to take it together for the first time. And that may be very sweet and nice and everything else.

But it doesn't go with the whole intention of communion, which is for the local body. Okay, now, I want to hand out these. Maybe I can get somebody to help me here. Hand out these handouts. Thank you, John.

Because I saw, I just saw the contrast between the two and I thought we might spend two. Now, the left ones you have, on the left-hand side, you have the Westminster Confession of Faith. And on the right-hand side, you have the London Baptist Confession of Faith.

And I've sort of had to rearrange the London Baptist Confession of Faith so it was a little more analogous with it. We should be close to having enough. So, okay, we'll see how we are. I think we're pretty close.

Westminster Confession on Baptism and Infant Baptism

All right, so on the left-hand side, Westminster Confession of Faith. It says, baptism is a sacrament, and there's that word, a sacrament of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ. Would we agree with that?

It is definitely ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think we have about three or four extra. And they list Matthew 28, 19, which is the Great Commission to make disciples and baptize, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible church.

Now, didn't we just read that? Or didn't we just hear that? About Rome saying that. Get baptized, you're part of the church. I don't like that. I don't like that because I don't think it's true. I mean, you get removed from the church later on.

But, again, I think it has to do with this idea of how many of you ever listened to the debate between R .C. Sproul and John MacArthur on baptism? And it's interesting because right before that or some months before that, Sproul had debated Alistair Begg.

And I never listened to that debate, but from when I heard about it, R .C. took him to the woodshed. And so I guess he thought he'd dispense with MacArthur, too. And so he challenges MacArthur, and MacArthur says, sure, if you want to, you know, on one condition.

What's that? I get to go first. And, you know, he pretty much buried R .C. We were there. And I remember R .C. gets up, and he sort of chuckles a little bit. And he says, now that my friend John has shown you that it can't possibly, baptism can't possibly apply to infants, let me tell you why I believe it anyway.

And I just said, you've lost. And, actually, I think it was more like the Bible teaches that it can't possibly be for babies. And he says, let me tell you why I believe it anyway. And it had to do with the confession.

So I don't think we should let the confession trump Scripture. Well, we shouldn't. So baptized into the visible church. Now, can you think of problems with that? And the Westminster Confession of Faith, by the way, lists 1 Corinthians 12, 13.

That isn't something I put on there. That's something they put there. So if you look at 1 Corinthians 12, 13, excuse me, let's see if that convinces you. See if I can make you into a paedo-baptist this morning with my powers of persuasion.

For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. Are you convinced? What's that? Okay. So we should then baptize babies? Okay.

And here's the thing. What's the context of 1 Corinthians 12? Spiritual gifts, right? So how many infants are running around exercising their spiritual gifts? I would say that that's not too compelling of an argument.

It goes on to say, but also unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, that they were, well, now it's interesting, because what is the covenant of grace? We don't talk much about it. Covenant of grace.

Okay, we'll move on. Question is, though, if it is a sign and seal of covenant of grace, let me just take big picture. Who is the guarantor of the covenant of grace, if there is such a thing as the covenant of grace?

Okay, the Holy Spirit or just grandly big picture God, right? So do you suppose that if a person bears the sign and seal of the covenant of grace, let's say it's the Holy Spirit, would God revoke that?

And yet what happens is somebody is born into a Presbyterian home, they get baptized, they grow up, and let's say they just walk away from the church and the faith. Well, then they're going to be removed from the church.

And what does that say about the sign and seal of the covenant of grace? They, like what R .C. did, is he made a one-for-one correspondence between baptism and circumcision, which I always wonder about that anyway, because only young men were circumcised, but everybody gets baptized.

Pastor Bob was pointing out that, you know, it's really by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and that's just being placed into the body of Christ, has really nothing to do with the physical act of being baptized.

But even if it was the physical act of being baptized, it doesn't suggest babies should be baptized. Let's see. Of his ingrafting into Christ, just continuing on the Westminster Confession of Faith, that these are signs and seals of all these things happening, ingrafting into Christ, right?

Gentiles being brought into the body of Christ and shows that they've been regenerated, they've had their sins remitted of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to walk in the newness of life. In other words, to live like a Christian, live life like a Christian, which sacrament is by Christ's own appointment to be continued in his church until the end of the world.

So that's what baptism means in the Westminster Confession of Faith. Now, the London Baptist Confession of Faith says this. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, with Christ, in his death and resurrection of being ingrafted into him, of remission of sins and of giving up into God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life.

Okay, so these are really close, except for one thing. You know, it's a sign to the person being baptized, right, in the London Baptist Confession of Faith. And over here on the other side, it's a sign to everybody in the church that this person belongs to Christ because he's been or she has been baptized.

Now, moving down to the second section, it says the outward element to be used in this sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost by a minister of the gospel lawfully called thereunto.

London Baptist Confession of Faith, the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now, it doesn't say a minister of the gospel lawfully called.

That's kind of in the previous section sort of indicated. But, you know, here in the Presbyterian Confession, that would mean somebody who's been licensed by the presbytery, and that's it. Second paragraph there.

Dipping of the person into water is not necessary, but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person. London Baptist Confession of Faith, immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary.

Contrast to the due administration of this ordinance, and we'll talk about what that means in just a few minutes here. So you can see a contrast there in the dipping and the sprinkling kind of idea. The third paragraph, not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized.

So mom or dad is a believer. The children should be baptized. And London Baptist Confession of Faith says, those who do profess repentance towards God, faith in and obedience toward our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.

The Presbyterian, the Westminster Confession of Faith goes on to say this, although it would be a great sin to contemn, and I meant to look it up, it's not condemn. They really mean contemn. Anybody know what contemn means?

Is that what it means? No, I'm asking. Okay. Okay. I don't have my little phone, so I can't look it up. Although it would be a great sin to condemn or contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it.

In other words, well, and they explain it, as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it. And in other words, baptism doesn't necessarily have to precede regeneration and salvation, for which I'm very thankful.

That all are baptized, or that all who are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated. In other words, they say, just because you're baptized doesn't mean you're going to be saved. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is ministered.

Yet, notwithstanding, by the right of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Spirit to such, whether of age or infants, as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's own will in his appointed time.

Let me just translate that for you. It means that you can be baptized, and that might be a sign and seal of the Holy Spirit, if you're one of the elect. And if you're not, then it doesn't. I find that just a very odd thing.

But you could see there, I mean, they have to write a lot more about baptism because they have all these qualifications for it. Any questions? Yeah, John. No. The question was, do they re-baptize? Let's say, you know, you baptize a baby, and then, you know, 15 years later, they make a profession of faith.

The answer is no, they wouldn't re-baptize them. They would just presume that now is the time when the Lord has chosen to regenerate them. So they wouldn't re-baptize. Yeah, Joni. Okay. So you had it right there.

Contempt, show contempt for, despise, or scorn. Yeah. Yeah. They really didn't. Pastor Bob said, not only do they not re-baptize, but they're pretty hostile to that idea. They have a term for those who baptize a second time, and that is anabaptist.

There's a lot of theology that goes with the anabaptist. But, yeah, they weren't too crazy about that and are not too crazy about it. In fact, I've even heard, how about this? There are some Presbyterians who are so serious about not baptizing again that they will take a Catholic baptism as genuine, right?

If the person comes to faith later on, re-baptize as an infant. Yes, in the Roman Catholic Church. Well, it's according to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, good to go. How about this one, though?

Baptized in the Mormon Church. And there are Presbyterians who argue that that's a legitimate baptism because you're baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Well, don't even get me started on that.

But they say, you know, it would be wrong to re-baptize. You know, that's a good question. I don't know why they're so against it. John asks if it might be because they're against baptismal. They're afraid that it might lend credence to baptismal regeneration.

I don't know if that's it or if it's just that they hold infant baptism in such a high place that they don't want to. Yeah, there might be some variance there. Because, you know, the person who didn't want to re-baptize Mormons, I don't think that would be a majority position.

So, yes. Pastor Bob was relaying that when he was in the mission field that they had a Presbyterian family come and serve alongside them. And one of the kids got saved and thought, I need to be baptized as a believer.

And the parents just were steadfast against that. Yeah, and it seems very odd to me. I mean, I would want to see, I mean, of course I'm a Baptist, but I would want to see, you know, my kids give testimony and be baptized.

Other thoughts, questions, Charlie? Yeah, I don't really get it. I mean, it does seem, well, and if we look back historically, you know, again, putting it in the context of Rome, and I meant to look this up, maybe we'll do this next week, but there are a long list of groups that held what Rome thought were aberrant theologies.

And what happened to all of them? Rome tracked them down and killed them, right? So Luther comes along and, you know, kind of reestablishes the gospel, as it were, and the Reformation starts spreading.

Is it any wonder, if you just think about it as a matter of survival, that they would lean towards infant baptism? Because if you get the kids into Lutheranism or whatever ism it is, well, now they have, whether they're believers or not, they have a vested interest in defending against Rome, right?

So you've got an army. And, you know, I wouldn't say that's a good reason for it, but I think, in my mind, that's part of the reason why they just did it. Yeah, I mean, this is a big issue, and I think it was MacArthur who said, you know, it's time to finish the Reformation.

Let's get rid of infant baptism. From time to time he says provocative things. I don't know. Gets himself in trouble. Yeah, it depends on the church. And, actually, that's why R .C. Sproul, Jr. was defrocked, because he was practicing that.

And, you know, when you think about it, it's consistent, right? If baptism is a means of grace and infants should get it, then why not communion too? So, Anitra? Right, but you weren't baptized as a baby, right?

I was not baptized. And, see, the child or the young person that Bob was talking about was. But, yeah. And you're not really part of the church, right? I mean, they don't go to five-year-olds and go, what do you guys think of the color of the carpet or, you know, anything.

I mean, they don't have it, and they don't expect them to. Right, and that would be the confirmation process or whatever they call it. Okay, good. Anyway, I just thought that was interesting, so I thought I'd highlight that this morning.

Other thoughts or questions before we go into, yes? A sacrament, yeah. It doesn't say what will happen if you don't, right? Now, I'll tell you, what do you think the number one reason people don't get baptized is?

Besides that they're not saved. That would be the number one reason. What do you? Fear. Yeah, they don't want to get up in front of the church and give their testimony. What's that? Yeah, that's an argument for pedo-baptism, right?

It's already done. No testimony needed. Okay, any other questions? Bob, I think if I recall correctly, and you correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was somewhere around the 3rd century when infant baptism became more prevalent, and then I'm sure when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire, that became even more prevalent because, you know, everybody's a Christian, so baptize all those babies, Charlie.

That's a good question. I think all we would have, you know, the question is, you know, is there a biblical example of giving your testimony before you get baptized? Well, or, yeah, or dunking people while they're testifying.

Or if they're going on too long. All right, enough of that. You know, which is why now we practice holding your nose because there were some problems. That's a good point. I mean, I think, or a good question, I think what we would see in the Bible, though, is people make some profession of faith or exhibit some desire.

I mean, like, you know, you think about the Ethiopian eunuch. There was nobody for him to testify before, right, that we know of. I mean, he may have had some people accompanying him that aren't mentioned in the text.

But he listens to Stephen and he says, you know, there's some water, what prevents me from being baptized? So I think what we would typically see is, you know, even in Pentecost, Peter gives this sermon and the people are, you know, cut to the heart and they say, what must we do, right?

And so it's repent and be baptized, each one of you. So it's had that change of mind. But it started with them saying, you know, we know that we've sinned. What do we do? We know that we were wrong. Other thoughts about that, Bob?

Okay, Romans 10, 9. If you believe, you know, that... I can't even recite it now. That Jesus is the Christ and the living God, you know, you shall be saved. So could that be a confession that they were making at that time during baptism?

Yes. I think we have the examples and I think we would typically say that, you know, who is it who gets baptized? Disciples, right? Believers, followers of Christ from the Great Commission. So any last, Charlie?

And we're going to get to that. We're going to get to the whole thing. In fact, I have a quote from a living Baptist talking about it. So about people who can't get in the tank or, oh, what were you going to say?

I mean, that would be an interesting thing, you know. I think probably what we would do in a situation like that, I mean, yeah, probably do exactly that, a Q &A type of thing. Depends on how severe it is.

But I wouldn't want people to use it. I have a phobia of public speaking. Well, so do I, you know. What's that? Right. So it has to be a deep kind of like, you know, if you do that, I'm going to black out or I'm going to, you know, okay.

Well, then we'll have to. Well, at least that way I won't strain my back until I bring you out. That will be the strain of the back. Yeah. So, you know, I think you have to take every case individually and sort of be sensitive to it.

But I think if somebody just says, I'm afraid, well, okay. Let's walk you through this and see if you can, you know, if we have to blindfold you. I don't really, you know, I just don't want to see a bunch of people.

Okay, here. I mean, that was one of the nice things about Grace Community Church. I remember when Janet was getting baptized. I owe her a dollar now. When Janet was going to get baptized and she goes, you know, there are all those people and everything out.

And I'd been baptized before her. And so I said, you know, some months before that. And I just said, listen, when you're there and they have, because it's a big place and then these lights, because they dim all the house lights.

And so the spotlights are on you. And I said, I have to be honest. I couldn't see anybody out there, you know, so I don't think that made her feel any better, but I couldn't. Well, probably because you were looking for him.

I just kept, you know, I kept looking skyward for the Lord to appear. All right. Well, we have to close because I've got a couple of things to do here before baptism. So let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the clarity with which it speaks. We thank you even for our Presbyterian brethren. We know that they love the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim the gospel. And we thank you for that. Even if we disagree on secondary issues, Lord, we do indeed have fellowship with them in the larger body of Christ.

Father, we thank you for the reformers, just the man who brought the gospel back into the light, out of the darkness it had been in for so many centuries under Rome. Father, even as we look forward to seeing baptism this morning, we give you the praise and the glory for that and for saving many people and bringing them to faith and putting yourself on display in baptism.

It's not about the people. It's not about the baptizer or the person who's getting baptized. It's about how you change lives and regenerate souls. And we praise you for that. In Jesus name. Amen.