By itself, medicine is never a solution to spiritual darkness. All the fundamental issues of life remain to be brought into proper relation to Christ when the medicine has done its work. Antidepressants are not the decisive savior. Christ is. In fact, the almost automatic use of pills for child misbehavior and adult sorrows is probably going to hurt us as a society.
John Piper

The Ordinances

The Ordinances

“THE ORDINANCES” by James Wilson

If you have your Bibles tonight, turn to the Book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. First Corinthians chapter 11. We’re going to give a little Bible study tonight, pretty much, on the ordinances. Here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we’ll start reading in verse 1: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered [them] to you.”

Let’s go the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, I ask your blessing now on what we’re about to do. God, I pray that you come down and bear witness to everything that’s said and done. And God, I pray that you accept everything that we do here this evening. And may it be well pleasing in thy sight. And God, as we teach and preach these things, Lord, as we observe the Lord’s Supper and water baptism, Father, I pray and ask your blessing, Lord. And I pray that everything we do would mean something, God. And I pray that this would be an evening and a time in which we can reflect on things, look back on things, remember things, and, Father, consider where we are in relation to them. Father, I pray now that you wash me clean in the blood of Christ. And, God, I pray that you fill me with the Holy Spirit of God, and I pray that you honor your word in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, most of you know what we’re about to cover this evening, and that’s good. Some of you don’t know what we’re about to cover this evening, and that’s OK, too. And I always like to know what I’m getting into, amen? And I’m amazed since I became pastor of this church and have introduced myself as Pastor Wilson, I’m amazed at the people who will just take my word for something, just because I’m a pastor. I like to be able to know and to prove the things and the reasons why I do certain things. And I’ll walk up to somebody, and I’ll try to lead him to Jesus Christ. Or I’ll give him some counsel, some advice or something like that. And I’ll have the word of God there ready–and some verses ready– to give him so that he can have a final authority, a solid rock on which they can base the truth, and whether or not what I am telling him is the truth.

And we come to church and we bring our Bibles. And the reason why we bring our Bible is so you can check up on what the preacher is saying, amen? If he quotes you a verse of Scripture and shows you something from the word of God and preaches something from the word of God, he better have some kind of final authority, some solid rock and some foundation for the things which he is saying. You shouldn’t just take his word for it. At least I don’t just take his word for it.

And before I do anything, I like to know what it is I’m getting into. Just like the message this morning, we should prove all things, hold fast that which is good.

Now, here in this passage of Scripture, Paul asks us to keep the ordinances which he gave to us. Now, an ordinance is a prescribed practice, and the definition is “a rite, or a ritual.” And this is a prescribed practice given to us, prescribed by the apostle Paul, who says, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ.” Now, we’re given two ordinances to keep in the Scriptures, in the New Testament Scriptures, to the New Testament saint of God, the New Testament Christian. And those two are communion and baptism–both of which we’ll be observing tonight. We’re having a double-header here tonight, this evening. I don’t know if it’s the first time in the history of this church, but it’s going to happen. Stick around; you’ll see it.

Now, neither of these–communion or baptism–is essential to our salvation. Neither one of them are. A lot of doctrines in a lot of churches teach and preach that they are essential to your salvation, that they have something to do with your salvation in one way or another. But the Bible says that both are figurative. Both are like figures, and both refer back to the gospel–the gospel being the Good News; the Good News is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for us, for our sins. Communion refers back to Christ’s death, in the way His body was broken and the way His blood was shed for our sins on the cross of Calvary. Baptism refers back to the burial and the resurrection. When we take somebody and we baptize him, we baptize him in deep water, because, when we bury somebody when he’s dead, we bury him deep–at least six feet. And when we baptize somebody, we say, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit–buried with Him in baptism, risen to walk in newness of life.” It’s a like figure. It’s a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So both these ordinances are memorials, and put us in remembrance of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

COMMUNION

Now “communion” means “all things common.” “All things put together, all things collective, a commune, a community.” We celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a group, as a body of believers.

If you have your Bibles, turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We’re going to run a lot of Scripture tonight. If you can’t keep up, right them down and just listen. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 16, says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” When we take the communion, the Lord’s Supper, we refer to it as “communion” because we commune together to take it.

Communion Is Not a Meal

Now, it is not a meal. Let’s look over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, one page over. First Corinthians 11, verse 20: “When ye come together therefore into one place, [this] is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one taketh before [other] his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise [you] not.” Look over there in verse 34, at the end of the chapter: “And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.” The Lord’s Supper is not a fellowship. The Lord’s Supper is not a dinner. It’s not something we do to fill our bellies, to get nourishment that way in the flesh. It’s just simply a memorial.

Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 24, next verse: “And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Now, if you go to some churches in this town, you’ll see some people have a short memory, because they have it from week to week. Every week they have the Lord’s Supper. Well, here, he doesn’t command us to have it every week, every time as we come together. He just says, “Have it as oft as you will, in order to remember me.” It is simply a memorial.

Communion Is Not Literal

It’s not literal. Look over here in John chapter 6, verse 51. Christ says here, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this], said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” Which is a good question.

Now here the Jews, some of them–and rightly so–aren’t getting the jist of His sermon. They’re saying, “Is this man actually telling us that we need to perform cannibalism on His body in order to be saved and have eternal life?” No, that’s not what it’s saying at all. Look over here in verse 61: “When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. But there are some of you that believe not.” He’s speaking on spiritual terms. He’s not speaking on literal, physical terms.

It’s funny how He waited until He offended a bunch of people and they all walked off. And those people whom He offended are people of little faith. You say, “Well, why didn’t He say so in the first place?” Look over there in verse 35, before He even started the sermon: “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” It’s faith. It’s faith. It’s spiritual; it’s not literal.

I was brought up in a church that did teach and believe that when you took the Lord’s Supper, you were actually eating the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. And that priest had within his power, as an ordained priest of the church, to perform a doctrine which they called “transubstantiation,” in which he took the elements, the bread, the wafer, and the wine, in a chalice, a golden chalice, and he actually had the power–so they believed–to transform that bread and that wine into the literal body and literal blood of Jesus Christ.

And when we came forward to receive communion, and he had the altar boys stick that little pan underneath our mouths to receive our communion, or the Lord’s Supper, the reason why they had that little tray underneath our chin is because if we dropped it, or if we spit it up, then the priest was commanded to eat it himself–because it was the Lord’s body, and it was the Lord’s blood. And when he gave us that wafer, he said, “Body of Christ.”

And we replied, “Amen!”

And when you ask someone from that church, “Have you received Christ?” They say, “Yes sir, I sure did. I sure did.”

Amen, brother! It sounds far out to you, and you laugh, but that’s exactly what they believe. And, you know, it seems pitiful for us to think about it, us Bible-believers. But we used to go to church when I was little, growing up, and we did that every Sunday–Sunday in, Sunday out. And they even had services during the week, and they called this “mass.” The reason why they called this “mass” is because they massacre Jesus Christ every time they perform that ordinance, and perform that service.

But it says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 that it’s a memorial. Why? Because we must never forget, brethren, we must never forget what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary–and the price which He had to pay for our sins. Communion.

The Broken Bread

Let’s look over here in Mark chapter 14, Mark chapter 14, verse 12: “And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?” The broken bread, the broken bread. Christ said, “I am the bread of life”–which we just read. And when He breaks that, before He passes out the elements of the Lord’s Supper, the communion, He breaks it. Why? Because His body was broken on the cross of Calvary for us. It typifies Christ’s body.

And it’s unleavened bread, as we just read here in Mark chapter 14, verse 12. Why? Because leaven is a type of sin.

In Leviticus 2:11, under the Levitical law, the Bible says no offering shall be made with leaven. Leaven is a type of sin. Let’s look over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. You might want to keep your hand in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 there. First Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.” Leaven was an additive; it’s something that you put in there to make that thing bigger than what it really was, to make that loaf rise. Christ said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,” which was false doctrine.

And here the bread which we break and which we eat has no leaven in it? Why? Leaven being the type of sin, Christ’s body was sinless. It was sinless–which He offered for our sins on the cross of Calvary.

The Wine

The second element is the wine. Wine is a type of Christ’s blood, which He shed on the cross of Calvary. And it’s new wine. It’s not old wine; it’s new wine. Back here in Mark chapter 14, verse 25: “Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” It’s not old wine. It’s not fermented. It’s the good stuff; it’s the fresh stuff.

Let’s look over here, and we’ll clear this up in John chapter 2. John chapter 2, verse 10. Christ is at the wedding of Cana, and this is where He turns the water into wine. This is a proof text for a drunkard that justifies his sin of drinking. This is it, right here; this passage: “Well, Jesus Christ made wine.” Well, let’s just see what Jesus Christ made. Verse 9: “When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now.” He’s saying there at the wedding feast, “Every wedding feast that I’ve been to, men bring out the good stuff first, and then when that’s all gone, then they bring out the old stuff, the stuff that’s fermented, the stuff that’s spoiled, the stuff that’s old. But here you saved the best till the last!” It was new wine. It was good wine. It was fresh stuff.

You say, “How is this done?” Isaiah 65:8: “Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and [one] saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing [is] in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.” New wine’s in the cluster; it’s freshly squeezed, brother.

Let’s pick this up again in Genesis chapter 40, verse 10. Genesis chapter 40, verse 10. Joseph is interpreting the dream of the butler, Pharaoh’s butler. Now Pharaoh is king of all Egypt, and the kings usually partake of that which is best, the good stuff. Verse 10: “And in the vine [were] three branches: and it [was] as though it budded, [and] her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: And Pharaoh’s cup [was] in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” The children of Israel, when they wanted the good stuff, the good wine, they used to just keep those vineyards, and they used to press those grapes, those clusters daily, and it produced new wine, not old wine. You’ve got to add a fermentation process, you’ve got to add the yeast to it, you’ve got to spoil it before it becomes old. Or you leave it sitting and lying around, and the sugar that’s contained inside the blood of the grape will ferment by itself. It’s spoiled. That’s why, when you drink too much of it, you feel funny. Why? Because you’re poisoning yourself. You’re drinking bad juice.

Why is the wine which we partake of new wine? Because the blood of Jesus Christ was pure blood. It was pure, it was sinless, and it was unspotted.

Requirements for Partaking of This Ordinance

First of all, 1 Corinthians 11 back here, verse 27: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” It says here to examine yourself. Why do we examine ourselves? So we can discern the Lord’s body.

Look here in verses 31 and 32: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” Condemned with the world. Examine yourself; discern the body of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” You know, one of the requirements for taking the Lord’s supper is you’re saved, you’re saved, you’re in the body of Christ, you’ve examined yourself whether or not you’re in the faith.

A lost man shouldn’t partake of the Lord’s Supper. If you’re here tonight and you’re not sure whether you’re saved, you shouldn’t partake of the Lord’s Supper. And you should examine yourself, because nobody knows better than you whether you’re saved or whether you’re lost.

Let’s pick this up for a clearer picture here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 29: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,…” Why? “…not discerning the Lord’s body.” Chapter 12, verse 13: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” Verse 27: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” We make up the body of Christ, we believers, children of God, Christians who are saved, who have trusted Jesus Christ as our Saviour. We put our souls’ trust in that Person who died on the cross, had His body broken, and shed His blood for our sins.

Consequences for Eating and Drinking Unworthily

Now, the consequences for eating and drinking unworthily are found in verse 30: “For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” You might get sick, brethren! A lot of people do and don’t get sick, but you can get sick. “For this cause many of you are weak and sickly, and many of you sleep.” You might even die, if you don’t discern the Lord’s body before you partake of the communion.

BAPTISM

Now, the second ordinance which we observe is baptism. We only observe two. Now, Baptists are funny; they’re about the only ones who believe baptism doesn’t save you. Yet we call ourselves “Baptists.”

I was talking to a gal one time at a christening for one of our nieces who got “sprinkled” when she was an infant. And we were at the christening service or the baptism service. And one of the relatives sitting next to me said, “You’re a Baptist, aren’t you?”

I said, “Yeah, we’re Baptists.”

She said, “You don’t sprinkle babies, do you?”

And I said, “No, we don’t sprinkle babies.”

She said, “You believe that a child can be baptized when he’s tall enough, where his head can stick up out of water in the baptistry pool, don’t you?”

I said, “Well, there’s a little more to it than that, you know. We believe somebody’s got to be saved first before we can baptize him.”

It’s funny how stuff like that gets around! All the misconceptions! We Baptists don’t believe baptism saves you–and we’re about the only religion that doesn’t.

In 1 Corinthians 1:17 Paul wrote and he said, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” The gospel is not baptism; the baptism is not the gospel. It’s the gospel that saves you–not baptism.

And we don’t observe John’s baptism. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance for Israel. Let’s turn over here to Matthew chapter 3 and verse 2: “And saying, Repent ye.” This was John’s message. “Repent!” His message was to the children of Israel; it wasn’t to the Gentiles, you and me–it was to the children of Israel. “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Look down here in verse 6, “And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” They were adults; they weren’t infants. Infants don’t go to the River Jordan and say, “Goo goo ga ga ba ga da,” confessing their sins. That didn’t happen. They were adults; they knew full well what they were getting into when they walked down into that water.

You say, “Why?” Because in the Jewish faith, the Levitical laws, everything is purged by sin. Everything is cleansed by water. You read there through Leviticus, and every time something was wrong with you, the first thing the priest told you was, “Take a bath.” “And he shall wash himself, and his clothes, and be unclean until evening.” “And he shall wash himself, and his clothes, and be unclean until evening.” When Naaman came to Elisha to be recovered of his leprosy, Elisha told him to dip himself seven times in the River Jordan. Leprosy being a type of sin, water being a type of cleansing, it cleansed him of his sins. And when Naaman came forth out of that water cleansed of his leprosy, he was converted. He was converted to the God of Israel.

Now this baptism took place for the remission of sins. Acts chapter 2, verse 38, Peter’s message was, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you…for the remission of sins.” The Jews’ sins were put in remission. They were just covered by the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer. They weren’t taken away like our sins are taken away. The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” But the carnal and fleshy ordinances of the Old Testament just put their sins into remission; they just covered them up.

A Believer’s Baptism

Now we practice what we call a believer’s baptism. We can find this over here in Acts chapter 8, and verse 36. This is the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. This is the first incident in Scripture wherein is practiced the same ordinances in the same manner as we practice them here today–the eunuch being an Ethiopian; he’s from Ethiopia. He’s not an Israelite, of the children of Israel; he’s a Gentile. Verse 36: “And as they went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” Why? What hindered him to be baptized? He had to be saved first. He had to be a believer. We call this believer’s baptism.

Let’s look over here in Romans chapter 6, the next book over. Romans chapter 6, we’ll start in verse 3: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

One more time. First Peter chapter, verse 21: “The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” When we baptize somebody, like I said earlier, we identify them with the Lord Jesus Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection. It’s a public profession of faith. They identify themselves in front of a crowd in public, with Jesus Christ who died for their sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

And it’s also a picture of the new birth. They are risen to walk in newness of life.

These are the two ordinances which we observe.