Baptism

We have a great joy today, to have both sacraments in our worship. And I have great joy today, to participate in both, as my son is baptized and as we as God's people come to the table.

It is in my role, though, as an officer of the church that I want us to think through what we are doing here this morning. Why are we going to baptize? And what are we doing when we baptize?

Well, we baptize because we believe God in Christ has commanded us to do so. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations," Christ said, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20).

All Christians agree on this; all Christians agree that God has commanded us to baptize with "one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). But we would go further and say that we are baptizing a child because God in Christ has commanded us to do so, starting in Genesis in Abraham's household circumcision and continuing on in Acts in Lydia and the Philippian jailer's household baptism.

In addition, we baptize our children because God has made promises to us to be a God to our children and us and to set apart our children for his holy purposes. Baptism is a sign and seal of these promises.

Baptism is like a big road sign that points our children onto the proper path of faith in Jesus Christ. It is like a royal seal on a royal proclamation promising salvific benefit to those who believe in Jesus. It is like a jersey that identifies, that marks, the baptized on a different team from the world.

Now, there are those who say that we baptize because we presume that our children are regenerate, born again. If we don't presume regeneration, we are told, then, we are presuming that our children are pagan.

Is this true? Do we, do I, in fact, presume that Benjamin is born again and thus should receive baptism? No, I don't. Does this mean that I presume he is pagan? No, I don't go that way either. I don't presume anything. Rather, we trust in God's promise to be a God to our children and to us; we train our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, catechizing them in our most holy faith; and we leave the question of his current spiritual estate open, safely in the Lord's hands for "the Lord knows those who are his" (2 Timothy 2:19; cf. Numbers 16:5).

Some day, hopefully sooner rather than later, Benjamin, along with Samuel and Elizabeth and Andrew, will make a profession of faith. Lord willing, he will confess that he is a sinner, deserving God's wrath. He will confess that he has no resources in himself to stand in the day of God's judgment; all his works are filthy rags before a holy God. He will repent of his sins and his innate rebellion against God and he will turn in faith to Jesus Christ, trusting in his blood and righteousness alone for salvation. Then, he will come before the session, and he will have his faith examined, and he will be admitted as a communicant member of this church.

If, when, that happens, what can we say? We can say that "the grace promised" in his baptism, the grace "really exhibited" in his baptism, that grace was "conferred…in God's appointed time" in the work of God's Word and Spirit.

In that day, baptism as a road sign that points Benjamin to Christ was effectual.

In that day, baptism as a royal seal of God's gospel promises of Christ and his benefits to Benjamin have come to fruition.

In that day, as Benjamin clings to Christ by faith, then all that baptism points to and guarantees—ingrafting into Christ, regeneration, remission of sins, newness of life—it will all be his.

But why? Because somehow this water was magical? Because these words were just right, a hocus pocus that caused grace to happen? Because Sara and I have enough faith or because we did everything right as parents? No—this will happen, Lord willing, as God by his grace keeps his promises for his own glory.

But what if the worst happens? What if, God forbid, Benjamin grows up and goes to college and walks away from the church and does not claim God's promise of salvation in Christ for his own? Is baptism pointless? Has God failed?

I would say, no and no. Baptism is not pointless; indeed, "it [is] a great sin to condemn or neglect this ordinance." God tells us to do this; God has his purposes in this sign. In addition, we don't know the end of the story. Hopefully, Benjamin will out live Sara and myself; and as long as he lives, God's promise in the Gospel will be held out to him.

But would God's promise be ineffective if Benjamin does not own Christ someday? Not at all. There are mysteries of God's purposes in play, certainly; after all, both Ishmael and Isaac were circumcised; both Esau and Jacob. Simon the Sorcerer was baptized. Baptism neither ties God down nor are his purposes frustrated; it can be a sign of judgment as well as a sign of grace.

As a church officer and a parent, I pray that Benjamin's baptism today will be a sign of God's grace to him "in God's appointed time." That the Spirit baptism which this water baptism signifies will spiritually wash him and will make him part of God's true people, the true children of Abraham, in that day when he embraces Christ by faith. And I pray that each of our baptisms will be fruitful for us in a similar way as we improve them during this time for God's glory.

Lord's Supper
Since we have these two sacraments together, indeed side-by-side, it is a good time to ask the questions: how are baptism and the Lord's Supper similar? And how are they different?

Our Larger Catechism (Q. 176) teaches us that baptism and the Supper are similar in several ways. First, God is the author of both. The focus of both is Christ and his benefits. Both are seals of the same covenant, the same promises. Each is to be done by ordained ministers of the gospel and by none other. And each is to be continued in the church until the end of the age.

But the next question (Q. 177) spells out how these two are different. Some of the differences are obvious, or at least, should be. Baptism happens, or should happen, only once in a person's life; the Lord's Supper is to be administered often, in our church on the second and last Sundays of the month. Baptism uses water; the Supper uses bread and wine.

But other differences are more important. The Catechism says that baptism is a "sign and seal of our regeneration and ingrafting into Christ," a grace that is conferred in God's appointed time and that evidences itself in a full-hearted turn to Christ as Savior and Lord. The Lord's Supper, on the other hand, is received those who have already begun the journey of faith, "to confirm our continuance and growth" in Jesus Christ.

Or I could put it like this. Remember I said that baptism is like a road sign, a royal seal, and a jersey that marks the baptized on a different team. That last descriptor is important here. Baptism initiates our children into the visible people of God, into the church people, and into the care of the church and all the benefits that brings. But the Lord's Supper has a different focus; it serves to assure our hearts that as surely as we partake of bread and wine, so surely did Christ die for our sins.

As a result, our Larger Catechism teaches us that baptism is rightly administered "even to infants," as we have just done. Because they belong to our households of faith, they should belong in a visible way to THE household of faith; and baptism initiates them into God's visible people. But the Catechism also teaches us that the Supper is to be administered "only to such as are of years and ability to examine themselves." The emphasis here is not upon adult-only communion but on professing believers-only communion. Our catechism "presumes" that infants or toddlers cannot examine themselves of "their being in Christ" (LC 172), that is, to recognize their sinfulness and turn to faith in Jesus Christ. As a result, our church does not admit children to the table that have not made a profession of faith; not because they are children, but because faith in Jesus Christ is required for a worthy reception of the Supper.

Does this mean that our children are somehow second-class citizens in the church because they don't receive the Supper? That somehow they are "excommunicated" because they "barred from the table"? By no means.

First of all, our children receive wonderful privileges as members of God's visible people, being identified with the baptized team: the weekly preaching of God's Word; the oversight of the elders and the nurture of God's people; and the safety of being in the place where God's promises are regularly fulfilled.

But also, we must recognize that our PCA Book of Church Order instructs us to invite all who are not participating in the Supper to remain. We don't typically do so, simply because we "presume" that no one will leave before the service is over. But the instruction is still important: there is great value in this meal for those who do not partake: the Word, indeed the Gospel of Jesus' body and blood shed for sinners, is proclaimed, both verbally by the minister and in the sign itself, Isn't that what Paul tells us, that in this meal "you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes"?

As parents, we should be telling, we should be catechizing, our children in a whisper as the elements pass, "Samuel, what does the broken bread teach us?"

"That Jesus in his life in the body gained a perfect righteousness for his people. That Jesus' bodily life was pointed to the cross where he died for sinners like me, Daddy."

"Elizabeth, what does the poured out wine teach us?"

"That Jesus shed his blood on the cross for sinners like me, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, Daddy."

"Andrew, what is necessary to gain right standing with God and to have your sins forgiven?"

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, Daddy."

That, my friends, is the proper grounds for your participation in this meal this morning. If you have confessed your faith in Jesus Christ and are a member either of this particular church or another evangelical church, we invite you to come to this meal. This meal is for professing believers who recognize that together we proclaim Christ's death until he comes.

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