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Turn in your copy of the confession 
there to chapter 28. Chapter 28, does anyone need 
a copy of the confession? Okay, yeah, one here for Charlotte. Thank you, kind sir. We're in the chapter, it's something 
of an introductory chapter that sets up baptism and the Lord's 
Supper, their larger treatments, in chapters 29 and 30. It's a 
small chapter, two very small paragraphs, one sentence per 
paragraph, but significant on its own in capturing what the 
particular Baptist believed with regards to the sacraments, the 
two of them, and also expressing well what the Bible teaches, 
of course, with regards to these two ordinances or sacraments. 
So I'm going to read these two paragraphs, and then we'll get 
into the study proper. 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. These holy appointments are to 
be administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto 
called according to the commission of Christ. It's a very interesting 
thing to note that this This paragraph in the Second London 
Confession of Faith, or excuse me, this chapter in the Second 
London Confession of Faith is significantly, significantly 
shorter than the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Savoy 
Declaration, their Paedo-Baptistic brethren. And there, I think, 
are some good reasons for that that we'll note as we move along, 
one of them being The simplicity and the simple, concise emphasis 
that the particular Baptists put on the language of positive, 
sovereign, institution, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the only lawgiver, 
as James Renahan notes, these words connected intimately, though 
they're concise, they capture significant elements with regards 
to what the sacraments, what the ordinances are all about. Just to introduce our study here, 
a couple quotes regarding the importance of our focus, the 
Christian's focus, on the ordinances or sacraments. We'll use those 
terms interchangeably, and we'll note We'll note something of 
a terminological use by the particular Baptists here in paragraph 28 
a little bit later, but to frame our minds with regards to the 
importance of the sacraments, here's Calvin. When I consider 
just a bit of context here, He's speaking against the use of images 
in churches, against the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and others, 
their use of images, whether sculptures or paintings, crosses 
of silver and gold, those sorts of things. He writes this, but 
connects it to the sacraments. When I consider the proper end 
for which churches are erected, It appears to me more unbecoming 
their sacredness than I well can tell. To admit any other 
images than those living symbols which the Lord has consecrated 
by his own word, I mean baptism and the Lord's Supper. The images 
that we have in the Protestant churches are not images made 
of wooden stone or paint or any other thing, but those living 
symbols, baptism in the Lord's Supper, pictures of the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is Hansard Nullus, a particular 
Baptist connected to the Second London Confession of Faith. He 
wrote regarding the importance of sacraments, Christ and his 
saints, do enjoy mutual communion and spiritual fellowship one 
with another at the Lord's Supper and in all other of his holy 
ordinances. Those believers who slight or 
neglect any of the holy administrations and ordinances of God do want 
that fellowship, that is, do lack, do lack that fellowship 
with the Father and that communion with Jesus Christ in the Spirit, 
which other believers do enjoy. Oh, dear friends, be not wanting 
to your precious souls, either in slighting or neglecting the 
ordinances of God. Why should you cry, oh, my leanness, 
my barrenness, when you refuse his gracious invitations to heavenly 
banquets at his table? So the sacraments, the ordinances 
of the Lord Jesus Christ are vital to the Christian. As we'll 
note, they are channels whereby the risen Christ by his spirit 
nourishes us in our walk with Christ. So this chapter, again, 
very introductory in nature, setting up the following chapters. 
The difference between this chapter and the sort of mother confessions 
of faith, the Westminster and the Savoy, the difference is 
significant. One of the differences besides 
its size is the absence of the word sacrament. Now, They're 
not excluding it because they don't like the word sacrament. 
In their writings outside of the Confession, they use it, 
and they use it regularly, and they use it favorably, interchangeably 
with the ordinance, with the language of ordinance. So the 
particular Baptist, they like the word sacrament. They use 
it with regards to baptism in the Lord's Supper. But as Dr. James Renahan notes, they're 
excluding it here for polemical reasons, that is for opposing 
error, the reasons to oppose particular errors at the point 
of baptism in particular. The Baptists in our confession 
are almost identical at the point of the Lord's Supper. There is 
only some subtle differences in wording that bear no theological 
difference. But at the point of baptism, 
of course, the differences are significant. And they're using 
ordinance exclusively here in favor of sacrament, not because 
they don't like sacrament, But because they're seeking to oppose 
the language of baptism as a seal, and maybe more positively, they're 
asserting the reality that baptism is, as the Confession says, a 
positive and sovereign institution. In other words, it's a commanded 
ordinance to be obeyed only by such as who are able to obey 
the giving of a commandment. It's an ordinance, it's ordained 
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is for the subject or for 
lawful subjects to obey, they must be able to obey. And so 
the Baptists are using the language of ordinance in that manner as 
a command a positive and sovereign institution that is to be obeyed 
by Christians because only those who have been regenerated and 
given the gifts of faith and repentance can properly obey 
the commands or the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. There is an absence of the word 
seal. The Westminster Confession of 
Faith and the Savoy Declaration use the language of, Sacraments 
are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace. The Baptists 
exclude the word seal here, they use the word sign, but they exclude 
the word seal because, as the appendix concerning baptism notes, 
we conceive the seal of that covenant of grace is the indwelling 
of the Spirit of Christ in the particular and individual persons 
in whom he resides. So the Baptists choose to exclude 
the word seal because they don't see the sacraments as seals, 
and with emphasis perhaps on baptism, baptism as a seal of 
the covenant of grace, but much rather, and biblically speaking, 
the seal of the covenant of grace is the regenerating power of 
the Holy Spirit and the subsequent indwelling of the Holy Spirit 
that obtains with all who are Christ's own. So the absence 
of sacrament isn't because they hate the word, but rather it's 
because they're emphasizing ordinance as something that can be obeyed. Absence of the word seal, because 
properly the seal of the covenant of grace is the Holy Spirit. And the inclusion of the word 
positive. The Baptists here of baptism 
in the Lord's Supper chapter use the language of positive 
law. The Westminsterites and the Savoyans 
do not include positive because by the Baptists including it, 
they're asserting again that it is a divine command given 
by God that must be obeyed. And so, calculatingly, the Baptists 
use it, and we'll note in a little bit more detail why they emphasize 
that. But positive laws are simply, 
as Renahan defines, added commandments given by revelation, differing 
from moral or natural law, in that the knowledge of it will 
only come externally by means of divine disclosure. An example 
in the Old Testament are the ceremonial laws. The eating of 
certain things weren't inherently morally offensive or against 
the nature of God, but God gives the people of Israel these particular 
ceremonial laws for a time, connected to a particular covenant, in 
order that they might be holy representatives of God, and in 
order to prefigure the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
is the fulfillment of them. In the New Testament, baptism 
and the Lord's Supper are positive laws. They're given They're given, 
and the nature of them are not particularly moral or natural, 
but rather they are external, given by divine disclosure, and 
connected to a particular covenant. In the case of baptism and the 
Lord's Supper, the new covenant, or the covenant of grace, ratified. The historical context briefly 
here is obviously in the 17th century there are debates over 
baptism. The Lord's Supper was a big topic 
in the 16th century, not that it wasn't in the 17th. The Lord's 
Supper amongst the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, and the 
particular Baptists, it was a doctrine of expressed harmony. They shared 
the same doctrine. But of course, they did not share 
the doctrine of baptism. And the Baptists, in our confession 
of faith, In the introduction, they speak to the fact that with 
their Paedo-Baptist brethren, they call them that, and they 
should, and so should we, of course, their Paedo-Baptist brethren, 
insofar as there are doctrines that they share one with another, 
they are faithfully expressing those same doctrines almost verbatim 
throughout the entirety of the confession. But where they do 
differ, for example, at the point of baptism, they express faithfully 
what they believe, not to be an offense to their paedobaptistic 
brethren, but in order for conscience's sake to reflect what they believe 
the scriptures accurately teach. So they weren't simply trying 
to be, you know, divisive. They weren't trying to be these 
rebels or renegades against the common thought. but rather they 
wanted to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and to divine 
revelation in asserting credo-baptism against paedo-baptists. So brethren who disagree. We 
won't get into the significant persecution that the Baptists 
endured at the hands of Pato Baptists. We'll leave that for 
someone else to teach you. You can find a book or something 
like that. But if you have any questions 
as we move through, we can certainly talk about that. Let's look at, 
in the Confession of Faith, the ordinances prior to this particular 
chapter. So we're in chapter 28 of the 
ordinances of baptism in the Lord's Supper, but just back 
up for a moment to see, to work through a number of sentences 
and paragraphs that set the foundation and that speak to the topic of 
the ordinances. You can back up for a moment 
to chapter 8 and paragraph 5. Though baptism and the Lord's 
Supper aren't mentioned here, what we want to do by reading 
this paragraph is to establish the foundation for the ordinances, 
and also the foundation for the recipients, the lawful recipients 
of the ordinances. So notice in paragraph 5 of chapter 
8, the Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, 
which he through the eternal spirit once offered up unto God, 
hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, 
and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of 
heaven for all those whom the Father hath given unto him. So 
this is the salvific foundation for baptism in the Lord's Supper. Baptism is a sign that signifies 
for the person baptized their death in Christ, their crucifixion 
with Christ, their burial with Him, and their resurrection with 
him. So a sign of their union with 
their ascended mediator who has perfected salvation, who has 
purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for 
all those whom the Father hath given unto him. So it sets the 
foundation. Those who are baptized are the 
recipients of the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those 
who take of the Lord's Supper are those who are the recipients 
of the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ who are in union 
with him and who profess faith and repentance in his glorious 
name. You can move forward to chapter 
14 in paragraph one. You've heard the language before 
of the ordinances or sacraments as means of grace. This is a 
phrase owned by the Reformed throughout its centuries. The 
baptism and Lord's Supper are a means of grace. In the Confession 
of Faith, and also with the Westminsters and the Savoys, they're separating 
themselves from the Roman Catholic Church and those who would believe 
a, have a false doctrine of sacramentology. In the Roman Catholic Church, 
they teach that the, by the simplicity of the work performed, Grace 
is communicated salvificly to the recipients. They use a Latin 
term called ex opera operato, which simply means from the work 
performed. We get our language of operation 
or opera. The opera is a work or a performance. So from the work performed is 
how the Roman Catholic Church believes that grace is communicated. In other words, by virtue simply 
of the water that's blessed and by the elements themselves, grace 
is communicated. The Reformed have a doctrine 
of the means of grace, where there isn't this power inherent 
in the elements or the work performed, but the power comes from on high, 
from God the Father, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit, as 
he works upon our souls through these means ordained by God. 
So notice chapter 14, paragraph 1. The grace of faith, whereby 
the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, 
is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is 
ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word. So Christians are 
made through the ministry of the Spirit, working through the 
Word preached. Now notice, by which also, so 
by the spirit working in their hearts, by the administration 
of baptism, excuse me, the by which also pertains to the ministry 
of the word. So not only is the ministry of 
the word effective unto salvation, but it's also effective to increase 
and strengthen faith. By which also, and by the administration 
of baptism and the Lord's Supper, prayer and other means appointed 
of God, it is increased and strengthened." So there you see the ordinances 
or the sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, as means of 
grace. And notice the connection here 
between believers. Those who believe to the saving 
of their souls are brought forth by the Spirit through the ministry 
of the Word, and then though they being and they only being 
the recipients of baptism in the Lord's Supper, by those sacraments, 
by those ordinances, that faith given by God is increased and 
strengthened. You can turn to chapter 17. Here in chapter 17, there's a 
wonderful link. This is the doctrine on the perseverance 
of the saints. And you'll notice here, there's 
a wonderful link between the unbreakable glory of triune salvation 
and the ordinances themselves. So notice here in chapter 17, 
paragraph 2, speaking about the unbreakable glory of triune salvation, 
this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free 
will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election flowing 
from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon 
the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, 
and union with Him, the oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit, 
and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant 
of grace, from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility 
thereof. Now, just before we reread paragraph 
three, as it touches upon the ordinances in a summary fashion, 
notice the clause connected to triune salvation, the nature 
of the covenant of grace. That's very important for our 
doctrine of baptism specifically, as opposed to the paedo-baptists, 
because the nature of the covenant of grace is unbreakable. there 
are none included in the covenant of grace who are not believers 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, children of believers 
are not members of the covenant of grace. So the nature of the 
covenant of grace, the particular Baptists here speaking with respect 
to its unbreakable nature, because it is based upon the perfection 
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, connected to the immutability 
of the decree of election, and connected to the blessed sealing 
and abiding of the Spirit. Therefore, those who are members 
of the covenant of grace are only those who are the recipients 
of perfect triune salvation. And now notice then paragraph 
three. Speaking of these, Christians saved by triune grace, and though 
they may, through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the 
prevalency of corruption remaining in them, now notice this clause, 
and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into 
grievous sins and for a time continue therein. It then goes 
on to speak of the glorious truth that yet they shall renew their 
repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the 
end. This gives us great hope as Christians when we're, you 
know, when we're when we sin, when we fall, when we stumble 
in our remaining corruption, and when we perhaps entertain 
doubts with respect to our souls, we can be reminded, not as an 
excuse for sin, but as a reason to glory in perfect triune salvation, 
that though we stumble, yet God shall renew us and renew our 
repentance. But notice that clause, that 
some fall away from God, not fully and finally, but for a 
time incur God's displeasure because of the neglect of the 
means of their preservation. In other words, as we noted from 
the outset, baptism and the Lord's Supper are vital to the soul 
and the soul's nourishment for the Christian. If we neglect 
baptism in the Lord's Supper, and this clause includes the 
preaching of the word, prayer, the singing of psalms and hymns 
and spiritual songs, and also other means appointed by God, 
such as occasional times of fastings, but if we neglect, for our case 
here, baptism in the Lord's Supper, we may, for a time, incur God's 
displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit. There is something connected 
to our walk with Christ, or our walk with Christ is intimately 
connected to our obedience to baptism in the Lord's Supper. 
You can turn to chapter 22. This is, again, tracing some 
of the confessional lines that lead up to chapter 28. Notice in chapter 22, first we 
have the divine revelatory rule that rests behind the sacraments. Notice paragraph one of chapter 
22. The light of nature shows that 
there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is 
just, good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, 
loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all 
the heart and all the soul and with all the might. But the acceptable 
way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and 
so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped 
according to the imaginations and devices of men, nor the suggestions 
of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed 
in the Holy Scriptures. Now, all of that paragraph is 
important for our topic, but perhaps no clause more important 
than the last one, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy 
Scriptures. Infant baptism is not prescribed 
in the Holy Scriptures. That's why the Baptists use the 
language of ordinance, and that's why they use the language of 
positive and sovereign institution appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the only lawgiver. Christ, the only lawgiver, has 
not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures that infant baptism should be 
practiced. He has prescribed that believer's 
baptism should be practiced, and we'll see that next time 
we study the chapter on baptism specifically, but God has not 
determined that he may be worshiped by any way other than those things 
which are prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. Infant baptism, and 
we'll bring this out next time, infant baptism, or we should 
say any element of worship and any means of grace cannot be 
established by the principle of good and necessary consequence. 
It must be something that is specifically prescribed by God 
in the Holy Word. And we'll open that up a little 
bit more next time. But notice paragraph five, after 
we see these things In chapter 22, after we see these things, 
according to the divine and revelatory rule that only those things prescribed 
by God in the Word are to be observed, notice paragraph 5, 
the reading of the Scriptures, preaching and hearing the Word 
of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, 
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the 
Lord, as also the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience 
to Him with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear. Moreover, 
solemn humiliation with fastings and thanksgivings upon special 
occasions ought to be used in a holy and religious manner. 
That paragraph captures the means of grace. What are the means 
of grace? The answer is paragraph 5. How 
does the ascended Christ feed His people? How does the ascended 
Christ, by His Spirit, increase the faith of believers and strengthen 
them in their walk with Him? Paragraph 5. And notice that 
these are all parts of religious worship of God to be performed 
in obedience to Him. That's an important clause. Those 
who are the subjects of baptism must be able to render obedience 
unto God. If they're unable to do so, they 
are not the lawful recipients of that sacrament or ordinance. 
And it's a part of religious worship that is to be taken very 
seriously, as all elements of worship are, and that is emphasized 
or amplified by these following sets of words with understanding, 
faith, reverence, and godly fear. When we approach the sacraments, 
we're to approach them with a great understanding. We're to spend 
time knowing them. We're to know them, the truth 
of them, what they mean, what they are, who the lawful recipients 
are, and all of those things. And they are to be approached 
with, as God always is, with reverence and godly fear. And 
now you can turn to chapter 26 as the doctrine of the sacraments 
touch upon the doctrine of the church, of course. And it speaks with regards to 
the obligations, what we're about to read, speaks with regards 
to the obligations of the church to her ascended Lord in obedience 
to the command concerning the sacraments. but also it speaks 
to our obligations one to each other in the observation of the 
ordinances or sacraments. Notice in paragraph five of chapter 
26. In the execution of this power wherewith he is so entrusted, 
the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world unto himself through 
the ministry of his word by his spirit those that are given unto 
him by his father. Just for a very brief moment, 
notice the Trinitarian glory of that first part of the sentence. Father, word, spirit. that they 
may walk before him in all the ways of obedience which he prescribeth 
to them in his word. Those thus called he commandeth 
to walk together, in particular societies or churches, for their 
mutual edification and the due, that is the proper, performance 
of that public worship which he requireth of them in the world. 
So we see this great obligation with respect to Christians, one 
to each other under the triune God, to engage in the church 
in proper performance of public worship. That proper performance 
of public worship already brought out in chapter 22 with regards 
to the means of grace and doing only those things prescribed 
by Christ, the only lawgiver, in His Holy Word and according 
to New Covenant truth. Notice paragraph six as well. 
The members of these churches are saints by calling. which 
is very important, visibly manifesting and evidencing in and by their 
profession and walking, their obedience unto that call of Christ, 
and do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment 
of Christ, giving up themselves to the Lord and to one another 
by the will of God, now notice, in professed subjection to the 
ordinances of the gospel. So there is this part, and exclusively 
on the part of saints by calling, those who have been, that by 
calling there, I could bear a twofold weight, those who are saints 
by effectual calling and also by name. And then we have this 
statement that these give up themselves to the Lord and one 
to another. So we have this vertical, obedience, 
a cheerful and joyful Christian obedience, and we have this horizontal 
obligation to subject ourselves to the ordinances of the gospel, 
and those, of course, including baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
So now, finding our way back to chapter 28, with the rest 
of our time, we'll look at the structure and the content of 
these two very small paragraphs. The first thing that we see here 
is that there are two sacraments in the New Testament Church. There are not seven, as the Roman 
Catholic Church teaches. There are not zero, as some Christians 
would have us believe, or one, as others would have us believe. 
But there are two, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism signifying 
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper for believers 
also as a remembrance and a perpetual declaration until he comes again 
of that coming. And these both means of grace 
whereby the ascended Christ increases and strengthens our faith. So 
baptism and the Lord's Supper. ordinances in Christ's church, 
or sacraments. Now, we could speak of sacraments 
in the Old Covenant church, or we should say the Old Covenant 
community, we could speak of sacraments there. The Passover 
was a measure of a sacrament that remembered the Exodus and 
pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, and is not only a, Well, 
the Passover itself, specifically the event, was a type of Christ 
or pointed forward to Christ. And the ordinance itself is a 
type, in essence, of the Lord's Supper, a remembrance of the 
lamb slain and the blood spilled to protect the people of God. 
And then the ceremonies, circumcision and the ceremonial law, would 
be, in essence, ordinances or sacraments of positive institution 
that were given to Old Covenant Israel. But within the Old Covenant, 
not as things connected substantially and directly to the covenant 
of grace itself. So two sacraments or ordinances 
in the New Testament church, baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
Now notice the nature, secondly, the nature of these ordinances. 
They are of positive and sovereign institution, and then in paragraph 
two, they are holy appointments. And this is language deliberate 
on the part of the particular Baptists in contrast to or to 
combat the doctrine of infant baptism, positive and sovereign 
institution. Remember that language of positive 
law being something given by direct divine revelation to be 
obeyed and connected to a particular epoch or covenant. And so baptism 
and the Lord's Supper are of positive institution. They're 
given by God for a time, in this case, to be observed to the end 
of the world from, really, from the resurrection of Christ until 
the end of the world. These two ordinances are given, 
and they are of positive institution. That language, again, essential 
and emphatically deliberate on the part of the Baptists to assert 
that the recipients of the ordinance must be those who can obey the 
command itself. And they are of sovereign institution. This is is really doubling up 
or further emphasizing the reality that these come from a particular 
position of lordship. They're given not by men, as 
we'll see as the language continues, they're given not by men, but 
they're given, and so importantly so, by the Lord Jesus Christ, 
by the triune God himself. Notice, as we see here, this 
language also of holy appointments. The baptism in the Lord's Supper 
are exactly that. They're holy. They're sacraments. They're given by God, and so, 
as we've already noted, to be received with understanding, 
with faith, with reverence, and with godly fear. We speak often, 
and maybe we use it a little bit more with the Lord's Supper 
pointedly, but when we talk about the elements, of bread and wine, 
we first give a negative statement that these elements do not actually 
change. Like the Roman Catholic Church 
teaches, the bread changes in substance, though to the outward 
senses it's still bread, yet it changes in substance to the 
actual body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the wine, actually 
changes in substance, though it's still wine to the outward 
senses, it changes in substance to the very blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, which is repugnant to scripture and common sense, 
as our confession says, and the foundation for multitudinous 
superstitions. But we do positively, though, 
assert that the bread and the wine are taken from a common 
use, and consecrated unto a holy use for use in the Lord's Supper. And so that's why the Baptists 
here, though they're not using the word sacraments, but remember 
they like that word, though they do use the word holy appointments, 
it is a holy thing to observe baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
The water, though it is simply water and remains such, Nevertheless, 
it's been taken from a common use and has been consecrated 
unto a holy use for observance of the blessed sign of baptism. Nothing magical changes, nothing 
magical occurs with regards to the substance of the water, but 
it's different than a pool in the backyard that the children 
are splashing around in and floating ducks in. It's taken from a common 
use or a profane use, and it's consecrated for holy use for 
the giving of that particular ordinance. And so the confession 
uses this wonderful language, speaking to the nature of baptism 
in the Lord's Supper, that they're holy appointments. They are sacred 
in their origin and in their purpose. They're holy because 
they symbolize divine realities. The baptism is symbolizing, is 
signifying that blessed divine reality that the recipient of 
baptism is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, has 
been effectually called, has been justified, has been adopted, 
has been sanctified, has been given the graces of faith and 
repentance. The Lord's Supper signifies and 
emphasizes and remembers the death of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and looks forward to his coming again. And in that, like baptism, 
grace is communicated to the soul by the ascended Christ to 
the recipient of baptism. And if we have that, just to 
stop upon the reality of the means of grace in light of infant 
baptism, The infant Baptists, the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists 
here at this time, and most Reformed infant Baptists in our own day, 
would emphasize that the sacraments are means of grace. What does 
this mean for an infant who is, though the child of believing 
parents, but is outside of saving faith, is not really in Christ 
as mediator, properly speaking? If means of grace increase and 
strengthen faith, what category or how can we navigate and wriggle 
out of the reality that means of grace are specifically connected 
to those who are the recipients of grace, amazing and victorious. And so holy appointments, they 
reflect divine realities of salvation and they do reflect covenant 
fellowship, covenant covenant realities, but the covenant of 
grace, properly speaking, ratified by the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
members of the covenant of grace are believers only, and so they 
are the rightful recipients of the outward signs respective 
of that covenant. So the nature of these ordinances, 
they're positive, they're sovereign, they are given by the Lord Jesus 
Christ to be obeyed by those who can obey, and they are holy 
appointments. They are not simply common things 
to be done in a common manner, but sacred and holy things to 
be done in understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear. And 
notice, thirdly, the giver of the ordinances. This language 
of the giver of the ordinances is calculated in specific, just 
like the language of positive and sovereign institution are 
not. not just to combat infant or 
pedo-baptism, but also to simply glory in the precious truth that 
the ascended Christ, as he promised, has been given all authority 
in heaven and on earth, and so commands his people to receive 
the laws of liberty with joyful and cheerful compliance. But 
notice the language here. 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. This wonderful language with 
regards to appointed by the Lord Jesus, let's just treat that 
first. There's a connection being drawn 
here. The language isn't somehow here 
in these two sets of clauses. to exclude Father and Holy Spirit 
with regards to a Trinitarian view to the giving of laws and 
the giving of the sacraments here, but rather to emphasize 
two things. First, the connection of baptism 
in the Lord's Supper exclusively to the New Testament and the 
ratification of the covenant of grace by the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper 
are appointed by the Lord Jesus. The scripture reference that 
they draw out here is Matthew 28 and the giving of the Great 
Commission. And so remember, well, let's just turn there for 
a moment. We have yet to go to our Bible, so let's do that. 
As people of the word, it's good to turn to the word. Matthew 
28. This is connecting not only the 
Lord Jesus Christ as Lord of all, but also as the only lawgiver 
with respect to baptism and the Lord's Supper and all which He 
commands. This is, of course, the Great Commission. Notice 
at verse 16, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the 
mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, 
they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke 
to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven 
and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father 
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe 
all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. So two things there, the language 
of the Lord Jesus Christ is connected, of course, to this first clause, 
all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. The Lord Jesus Christ as mediator 
is given by the Father, all authority in heaven and on earth. And this 
by virtue of his perfect work, which includes his ratification 
of the new covenant in the shedding of his blood. And so as the Lord 
over all, notice, he gives this command to the church, and this 
will connect us to paragraph two as well, speaking of the 
lawful administrators of the ordinance, but notice he gives 
this command to the disciples and to the church, go therefore 
and make disciples of all the nations. So this speaks to the 
evangelical priority with respect to the ordinances or the sacraments. The Gospel is proclaimed by the 
Spirit, joined to the Word's proclamation, the Gospel's proclamation. Sinners are brought from deadness 
to life in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 
So there is a chronological and real doctrinal and soteriological, 
that is, salvific priority with regards to the recipients of 
baptism. They must hear the word or, you 
know, ordinarily Ordinarily speaking, those who are brought alive from 
deadness and sin are such by the preaching of the word attended 
by the spirit. But God can save as well by a 
sinner reading the word or that sort of a thing. The language 
of the confession uses ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the 
word in order to capture how sinners are ordinarily saved. 
That is within the context of the church's work. But, of course, 
sinners can be saved by the reading of the scriptures, God can attend 
a faithful family member giving the gospel to an unbelieving 
family member, and those sorts of things. But all of that to 
come back to the fact that disciples are made through the proclamation 
of the word, and then they are baptized. So appointed by the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and the only lawgiver, This not only connects 
Jesus Christ to the giving of New Covenant or New Testament 
ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, but it also has to do 
that man is not the originator and the giver of ordinances. 
The Lord Jesus Christ is, and this could point us back to chapter 
26 in paragraphs four and five where The Pope is not the head 
of the church, but the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator, is the 
only head of the church, and so therefore the only lawgiver. Not to the exclusion of Father 
and Spirit, but rather to the exclusion of men, and to abuse 
of ecclesiastical powers that take to themselves the prerogatives 
of the divine. And now notice, fourthly, we 
don't want to sort of skip a point here, and that is under this 
point, the link between Christ's mediation and the ordinances. We've noted that, I think we've 
noted that as we've moved along, but the link between Christ's 
mediation, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ordinances. Christ the 
mediator mediates the new covenant and the ordinances of it, of 
course, only for those who are the benefits of his mediatorial 
work. Those outside of Christ's mediatorial 
work, the perfection of His saving work, Christ cannot be the mediator 
for those dead in their trespasses and sins. In other words, the 
federal headship of the Babies of Believing Parents is still 
Adam. They're still sons and daughters 
of Adam. They're not sons and daughters 
of God. Unfortunately, there are some paedobaptistic theologians 
who call the Babies of Believing Parents children of God. But we cannot use that language 
of the babies of believing parents properly speaking. We need to 
remember something. Going back to chapter 10 of effectual 
calling. Elect infants dying in infancy 
are the recipients of the amazing grace of God. We need to always 
remember that. The Baptists were not anti-baby. The Baptists were pro-mediatorial 
ordinances. And so the Baptists expressed 
that elect infants dying in infancy are given the graces, are effectually 
called, and given those things that Christians who live to riper 
ages are the recipients of. and they will be in Emmanuel's 
land. But to extend the language of 
the children of God to those who could be unbelievers is to 
transgress the word itself, which reserves that language only to 
those who are brought forth from deadness to life. And so there 
is a direct link to Christ's mediation and those who are the 
recipients of the ordinances. Christ is mediator for the elect, 
those brought forth from deadness to life in Christ, and so therefore 
those who receive the ordinances are to be those who are the beneficiaries 
of his mediation, those who are Christians, those who are saints 
by calling. Fourthly, we also see in these 
two paragraphs the perpetuity of the ordinances, that is, their 
longevity, how long they last. Notice the language at the end 
of paragraph one. They are to be continued in his 
church to the end of the world. And that language of in his church 
is very important also. They're not to be continued in 
believing households. but rather they are particularly 
the province of the church itself, to the end of the world. Our 
obedience to Christ in these ordinances does not expire until 
He comes again in glory to receive His people. And then lastly, 
we see here the administration of the ordinances. These holy 
appointments are to be administered by those only who are qualified 
and thereunto called according to the commission of Christ. 
Matthew 28, 19 is a proof text that we just read. And then also 
1 Corinthians 4, 1, which I believe is the passage that speaks to 
ministers of the gospel being stewards of the mysteries of 
Christ. Those who are appointed as ministers 
of Christ by the Holy Spirit and received by the church, the 
common suffrage of the church, are such as who are the lawful 
administers of the ordinances. The administration of baptism 
and the Lord's Supper is not open to any individual, but is 
reserved for those recognized as called and qualified. Dr. James Renahan recognizes in his 
commentary on the Confession of Faith, referencing chapter 
26, paragraphs 8 and 11, that this includes the officers of 
the church as well as gifted brothers, or those who are not 
specifically elders or an officer in the church, but are seen as 
having been gifted by the Spirit for the ministry of the Word 
and are recognized by the church to engage in such ministry. So that is chapter 28, an introduction to the ordinances 
of baptism in the Lord's Supper. In two weeks' time, we'll jump 
into the study of baptism, specifically chapter 29, and we're gonna do 
two sessions for chapter 29. The first session is going to 
be the theology of Reformed Credo Baptism. the theology of Reformed 
creedal baptism from these four paragraphs, where we'll look 
at the argument from covenant theology, the argument from federal 
headship, the argument from the doctrine of salvation, the argument 
from the clarity of New Covenant revelation, and also the argument 
from the doctrine of worship. And then the second session, 
two weeks after that, we'll look at objections to the doctrine, 
so handling some of those patobaptistic arguments for infant baptism, 
and we'll include in that time a longer, perhaps half-hour period 
for questions and answers. that have been asked and that 
you may have at that particular time. Why don't we close in prayer 
and then we have four minutes for any questions that you may 
have. God, we thank you for this time together. We thank you again 
that we can study truth. We thank you that the Lord Jesus 
Christ has given us these two ordinance for the New Testament 
church that believers are to observe in cheerful and joyful 
compliance. We pray that you would always 
give us that measure of your Holy Spirit to recognize and 
see that these are holy appointments, these are sacraments, these are 
ordinances given for our increase and for the strengthening of 
our faith. And we pray as we go into worship, you'd help us 
to reflect upon you, our God, that we'd reflect upon our Savior, 
Jesus Christ, and that we would glory in amazing grace. And we 
pray in Christ's name, amen. Any questions about anything? 
Yes, Leslie. sacrament being left out just 
from some church history, and Jim can correct me if I'm wrong 
on this, but when we were naming the church, when the church was 
being named, the word reformed was left out for connotations 
at the time. And then secondly, 1 Corinthians 
4, when it says, as stewards of the mysteries of God, how 
do we know that's referring to baptism? Well, I think largely 
it's speaking to the mysteries of Christ with respect to the 
gospel. And you can come in, Jim, when 
Paul's speaking of the mysteries of Christ. I think there are 
a number of ways in which mysteries are captured. It's sometimes 
captured with regards to the incarnation. It oftentimes speaks 
to the mystery of Gentile inclusion in the covenant of grace, like 
in the book of Ephesians. I think it's one of the things 
with proof texting in the confession is that it's not so much, here's 
a proof text for the specific doctrine, but here is a launching 
pad that captures the essence from which you're to explore 
other passages and other things, but I think there, the ministers 
of the gospel are ministers of the mystery of Christ, and so 
others who are not the ministers of the mystery of Christ are 
not to be those who administer according to what those mysteries 
or what those ordinances in this case represent, which is the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. Jim, anything to add on that? 
I would say that 4.1 doesn't refer to baptism, but it refers 
to the man of God who handles the mysteries of God as being 
the steward that would, in the house of God, exercise his baptism. So it's not direct proof text 
that only pastors should baptize, but it's an identification that 
pastors are stewards of the mystery of God. Therefore, they should 
be the ones that baptize in the house of God. Anything? Yes, Wim? Right. Yeah. That's, I would say, confessionally 
speaking and biblically speaking, that the ordinances ought to 
be ordinarily administered in the way that's captured here 
and in the subsequent chapters, where it is to be those who are 
qualified and thereunto called according to the commission of 
Christ. Historically speaking, there's 
a delineation, and James Renahan brings this out in his book, valid and lawful baptisms, for 
example, where a baptism could be unlawful but valid and otherwise 
recognized by the church. And an example would be someone 
who was baptized, an example given is someone who was baptized 
by not a proper minister of the gospel. Churches would recognize 
that as an unlawful baptism, not according to the commission 
of Christ, but they would see it as valid for the person baptized. But I would say, ordinarily speaking, 
with respect to the goings forth of church, that the baptism and 
the Lord's Supper are to be administered only by those so-called according 
to 26.8 and 26.11. Jim? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Probably. I don't know what a good answer 
for that is. I think one thing to say with 
respect to that is there were a lot of things that obtained 
in the Book of Acts that are descriptive and not prescriptive. 
We don't cast lots for the choosing of ministers. No one's healed 
by the hem of garments, that sort of a thing. So at the church 
in her infancy, you know, perhaps until they got to a point where 
there was a proper ecclesiastical structure, had to do those things 
outside of that which is ordinarily obtains with regards to the sacraments. 
But yeah, there's some silence on that one. Yeah, that's right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. in our churches that we've been 
in before, they've done a lot of where the father or the friend 
who brought them to Christ does do the baptism, but I think seeing 
just the authority of the pastor, I don't know, there's something 
that is significant about the pastor doing it, and just how 
God has given that to him, and it just, I don't know, seems 
to minimize it, or like with a, No, I like that comment. Yeah, there's a measure of intimate 
connectedness and emotionalism when it's the family doing it, 
but I think we need to step outside of that and things that are holy 
appointments and recognize the way that God has ordained it 
is that stewards of his mysteries are those who are the administers 
of the ordinances and not just anyone. I think if the Bible is also 
silent about it, then so should we be, you know, in adhering 
to that too. It's silent about, you know, 
not just any old person is allowed to do it, or a father or a mother, 
therefore why should we assume based on that? I don't think 
it's an assumption. I think Matthew 28 already sets 
it up. It's the church's responsibility, 
as specifically to the disciples, and by virtue of that, those 
who are the stewards of the mysteries that follow, which are bishops 
and elders and or deacons and those sort of ministers of the 
Lord probably Matthew 28 does capture and I 
think by this the biblical principle of good and necessary consequence 
or necessarily contained as our confession says that there are 
things that are explicitly set down in the scriptures and those 
things that are necessarily contained that is deduced by law and the connection of many verses, 
including 1 Corinthians 4, 1, as those who are the stewards 
in the church. I think as well, when you get 
to letters that are given, like the letter to Timothy, where 
he's to make sure that things are set in order in the churches, 
I think there's a connection there between that and those 
things that obtain as elements of worship in the gathered assembly. in that it never once speaks 
of a lay person baptized. Oh, sorry. Okay, so my three 
minutes of rambling there is really irrelevant. You know what 
I mean? Like it's silent about, there's 
never once an infant being baptized. Got it, got it, got it. Yes, 
thank