Theological term
Sacramentalism
3 sermons · All terms
2LCF Chapter 22 - Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
The 1689 London Baptist Confession chapter 22 grounds all religious worship in the regulative principle: God alone determines the acceptable manner of his own worship, and nothing not warranted by Scripture may be introduced. This session surveys the chapter's four movements — the regulative principle (paragraphs 1–2), the specific elements of worship (paragraphs 3–5), the appropriate location for worship (paragraph 6), and the Christian Sabbath as the appointed day (paragraphs 7–8). General revelation establishes the duty to worship; special revelation alone prescribes the way. The practical application is that Christians are bound neither to ecclesiastical tyranny (Rome, Anglicanism, independent pastoralism) nor to the inventions of men in God's house, but only to what God has commanded in his Word.
2LCF Chapter 28 - Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
The two ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper are positive and sovereign institutions of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only lawgiver, to be administered in His church until He returns. This study of 2LCF Chapter 28 traces the confessional and biblical foundations of these ordinances across multiple chapters of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, demonstrating how doctrines of Scripture, Christology, sanctification, saving faith, and ecclesiology together undergird their proper observance. The sermon distinguishes the Baptist use of 'ordinance' from both Roman Catholic sacramentalism and the Paedo-Baptist covenantal framework, while insisting that these are not optional ceremonies but dominical injunctions binding the conscience of every believer. Christians are called not merely to be informed about baptism and the Lord's Supper, but to obey and rejoice in them as holy appointments given for the strengthening of faith and the glory of Christ.
The Thief on the Cross
Luke 23:39–43 presents the conversion of the thief on the cross as one of the most remarkable examples of sovereign grace in all of Scripture. Examined under two broad headings — the conversion of the thief and the response of the Savior — the sermon traces five marks of genuine conversion in the criminal's transformation from blasphemer to confessor, and then turns to Christ as willing, able, and glorious Savior. The passage is shown to demolish both works-righteousness and sacramentalism, grounding salvation entirely in grace through faith in Christ alone. Hearers are urged not to defer repentance, to call upon Christ while He may be found, and to come to the Lord's Table with eyes fixed not on their own obedience but on the excellence of the Savior.
