Making Use of the Visible Signs
The Importance of the Sacraments in the Christian Life
Good Morning!
As has been the case from when we was back in the single digits of the catechism our Westminster Divines have taken one part of the previous question and have begun to expand on it as we get into the next-to-last section which will cover the sacraments of the Church. Thankfully we don’t have to worry about defining “sacrament” since Q. 92 below does it for us. The key thing to take at this point is that there are ways that God has made to help us grow in grace and we need to be careful not to be wiser than the Lord. As is noted there are only two. Not seven as Rome might think, and not thousands like evangelicalism would conjure up in their never-ending desire to find something new.
In the catechism lesson today we are going to talk about what makes a sacrament a sacrament and why this matters. Here are the Q/A’s for this week:
Q. 91. How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.
Q. 92. What is a sacrament?
A. A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
Q. 93. Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?
A. The sacraments of the New Testament are: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
The first thing that we read above is that as with all things what really matters is Jesus. It’s not the water, the cup, or the bread or even the minister (though all are necessary in their own way). If Christ is not in it then it's worth about as much as a freezer in the Arctic. However, if the Church takes from that idea that it doesn’t really matter how we go about accomplishing the sacrament as long as we ask the Lord to be a part of it then we’ve lost the plot at some point in time.
Isaiah the prophet speaks at length about the reasons why God has refused to accept the sacrifices of Israel. He makes it clear that it stinketh the nostrils of Jehovah because they are neither offered in faith nor in the manner described in the law. If Israel wants Him to take notice and give the promise contained therein then they best get to:
…[seeking] Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God.”
Remember last week when we talked about our need to be diligent with the means of grace found in the Scriptures? Well, as with all things you can’t get anything out of something if you ain’t willing to put the effort into it. You also will not find a benefit if you aren’t following the directions given to you. When it comes to the sacraments there are a few things necessary, including faith, to bring the full measure to bear on your soul.
First of all you need to have a lawfully called minister of the gospel applying the visible signs of God’s covenant blessings. This year at Synod the ARP Church made it clear in a change made to our Directory of Public Worship that you can’t do Zoom/online communion. The same could be said for worship itself. It’s not something you can do by yourself no matter how many people are online with you. The primary problem is not so much the need of physical presence when it comes to the sacraments as it is the proper person to administer the Lord’s Supper, or to baptize. In the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments it is only the officers of Christ’s Church that are given authority by the Lord to oversee His sacraments. Just as you couldn’t sacrifice a heifer yourself in the backyard of your farm in the Judean Hills it is not a possibility to offer up bread and wine in your living room in front of the TV. The mere presence of the elements does not constitute an ordinance of God. Likewise “baptizing” someone in the bath or through the auspices of a camp counselor at Bonclarken (not that such has happened) on the occasion of their faith in Christ is not Biblical baptism anymore than my tossing a football in the front yard with my boys is actually scoring points in the Peach Bowl.
To go over this again there are certain elements that must all be present for the sacrament to “work”.
That includes, again, a lawfully called minister, the gathered body of believers, and the right parts of the sacrament. For the Lord’s Supper that means bread and the cup. There is some disagreement to be sure about what constitutes bread and what we mean by the cup. Church tradition and Biblical example says that you can have unleavened or leavened bread at the Table. What is important is that it is bread. When it comes to the contents of the cup this is a question that wasn’t one prior to the 19th Century and the introduction of grape juice by Dr. Welch. It had always been wine, was wine when Jesus turned the water into it in John 2, it was wine at the Passover meal in Mark 15, at the time the Apostles celebrated it in Acts 20, and when Paul warned the Corinthian Church about fooling around with it in 1 Cor. 11. Now, I’m not going to get into what it should be today in this explainer. Men’s conscience’s need to be clear on it. The point is that we have no right to change up the two elements of bread and cup. We’ll talk more on this in a couple of weeks. It should go without saying that when it comes to Baptism just use water. Don’t add anything to it.
Closing things out by saying that as we get some more into the individual sacraments themselves it needs reminding that the thing that distinguishes a sacrament from all the other stuff we do in a Church service is that they are visible signs of an historical act that are meant to encourage and strengthen our existing hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s part of the reason why it is damaging to us to miss opportunity to partake. One of the benefits of having a regular schedule, for example, at our Church of when we are going to celebrate the Supper is that when we are making plans for vacation and the like we know when we’ll be taking it and so can made sure not to miss, because something else to note here at the end is that the sacrament is corporate, it’s why we eat the bread and take the cup together as one. To absent oneself from the congregation when it can be prevented is to take away from other brothers and sisters in Christ, not to mention from ourselves. Well, that’s enough meddlin’ for now. Y’all be blessed.
Short thing to think more about it:
By His Grace,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church
Thank you for this thoughtful essay.