************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 33 ************
Doctrine: Sacraments
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on July 18, 1999
B.C. 33
1 Corinthians 10:1-22
"The Sacraments"
Introduction
Nothing in the church, absolutely nothing, has been as argued about and fought over as the sacraments. Nowhere has debate so dimmed the grace and glory of our Savior's gifts to His church as in the area of the sacraments. Especially in the Reformation period, the quickest way to get into a fight was to start talking about the sacraments.
First, it was Protestants against Roman Catholics. Protestants regarded Roman Catholic sacramental practice and doctrine as being unbiblical. The Roman Catholics, in turn, regarded the Protestants as being anti-church and anti-Christ.
Second, it was Protestants against Protestants. We know that Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin could not agree with each other on the question of how Christ was present in the Lord's Supper. And, none of them could agree with the Anabaptists, who rejected infant baptism. The disagreements about the sacraments grew so intense they actually resulted in fist-fights. For instance, around 1550 in the Holy Spirit Church of Heidelberg two Protestant ministers were about to serve the Lord's Supper to the congregation. The two ministers, the Revs. Hesshus and Klebitz, disagreed on the Lord's Supper. Suddenly Hesshus knocked the cup of wine from Klebitz's hand and the two men fought and wrestled with each other right in front of the startled congregation.
How do we account for all this arguing about the sacraments? How can sincere Bible-believing Christians have such a radically different understanding of the sacraments? Part of the blame has to be placed on our seeing and knowing. As the Apostle Paul tells us, on this earth we only see in part and know in part (1 Cor 13:12); but too many times, instead, we wrongly think we see the whole and know the whole. Satan uses our own spiritual blindness to turn our eyes away from the Christ presented by the sacraments. Satan loves nothing better than to see sincere Bible-believing Christians fight and argue among themselves.
The sacraments have always been a source of enmity and argument in Christ's Church. Yet, why did Christ give the church the sacraments? Certainly not to fight and argue about them! The sacraments are meant, among other things, to be a source of unity and oneness for Christ's church; they are to draw believers closer to Christ and to one another.
Articles 32-35 of the Belgic Confession of Faith deal with the sacraments. Two things ought to be kept in mind as we look at these articles. First of all, we are still talking about the true church and the marks of the true church. Don't forget, the true church has the right administration of the sacraments. This serves as a reminder that the sacraments are meant to be ceremonies of the church. The sacraments are not meant to be private affairs. There can be no kitchen sink baptisms or individual celebrations of the Lord's Supper. The sacraments are God's gifts for God's people as a whole. The sacraments, in other words, are to be celebrated only when and where the church gathers.
The second thing to keep in mind is that the sacraments are meant to secure our bond to Christ. They are meant to strengthen the tie between us and our Savior. When we eat the bread and drink the wine of the Lord's Supper, or when we witness the water of baptism, we should be drawn more closely to our Lord.
I Ordained of God
A One of the most vital questions we can ask about the sacraments concerns their origin. Where do they come from? Who instituted them? Are they of God or of man?
In the last century or so there has arisen a course of study called "Comparative Religions." Many scholars in this area have called into question the uniqueness of the Christian faith. They claim to have discovered parallels between Christianity and other religions in numerous areas. They point, for instance, to how every world religion has some kind of Messiah figure, a savior; many religions have a flood story; every religion has a code of morality similar to the Ten Commandments; every religion has a special book of sacred writings – and many of these writings contain details that are remarkably similar to what we find in the Bible; and every religion has special ceremonies and rites. Under this view there is nothing special about the Christian religion and certainly nothing special about the Christian sacraments. Sacraments, say these scholars, are purely human creations that only express man's need for ceremony.
We cannot agree with these kinds of conclusions. And, we must insist on the uniqueness of the Christian faith. The Christian religion is not like any other religion. Our sacraments are not like the ceremonies of pagan or other faiths. We believe the Christian religion and faith are special and unique because they come from God. And our sacraments are not mere human inventions; they too come from God. It is God, and not man, Who has determined the number and kind of sacraments. The sacraments are God's gift to His church.
B The Belgic Confession points out to us that God has ordained two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. And, we have to be satisfied with that number.
There is a reason, of course, that the Confession of Faith says this. There was a time when the church had more than 30 sacraments. In this number was included such sacraments as the blessing of church buildings, sick animals, fountains, fields, ships, homes, and statues either by holy water, with the sign of the cross, or with crucifixes. By the 15th century the Roman Catholic Church had settled on the seven sacraments they have today:
baptism
confirmation (similar to our Profession of Faith)
Eucharist or Lord's Supper
penance, including the whole ceremony associated with confession and repentance
marriage
ordination
extreme unction or preparation for death
With these 7 sacraments the Roman Catholic church controls the spigots of grace and the spiritual lives of believers from cradle to grave.
In contrast to this, as I already said, we are to satisfy ourselves with only two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Why do we satisfy ourselves only with these two? Why do we not add marriage or ordination or Profession of Faith? Because God did not institute any of these as sacraments. Because God in His Word recognizes only two sacraments we satisfy ourselves with those two.
II Sign and Seal Joined With the Word
A Many of you, I am sure, realize that the word "sacrament" does not even appear in the Bible. It comes from a Latin word which means "guarantee, trust, binder." In Roman culture and society the word "sacrament" originally designated a sum of money deposited by two parties involved in a law suit. As soon as the court decided the case the money of the winner was returned. The loser's money was forfeited and usually offered to the gods to appease their anger. The money was a guarantee that both sides were serious. This earnest money was called a "sacramentum." The same word was also employed in the Roman army. There it designated the oath of loyalty which a soldier pledged to his country and commanding officer.
The term "sacramentum" or "sacrament" speaks of binding, pledging, signifying, and sealing. Among Latin-speaking Christians it was judged to be a very suitable term to talk about those ceremonies that:
... seal [God's] promises in us,
... pledge his good will and grace toward us,
and also ... nourish and sustain our faith.
B The Confession of Faith also tells us what sacraments are and what they do.
They are visible signs and seals
of something internal and invisible,
by means of which God works in us
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sacraments are visible signs. A sign points to or suggests something. A road sign, for instance, tells us there is a curve or a stop sign ahead. Or, it tells us to turn left or right or to keep going straight ahead in order to get to our destination. Without signs on the road we become lost.
This reminds me of what was done in England during the time in World War II when invasion by the Nazis seemed imminent. The English took down all road signs so that the invading Nazis would not have any idea about where they were or where they were going.
What are the road signs of the sacraments? They are the water and its sprinkling, the bread and its eating, and the wine and its drinking. What do these signs point to? They all point to Christ and our salvation by way of His death upon the cross and His resurrection from the grave. The sacraments, in other words, direct our attention towards Christ and what happened on Good Friday and Easter Sunday as the only way of salvation.
Sacraments are also visible seals. Seals are used on documents like birth certificates, marriage licenses, driver's licenses, Last Wills and Testaments, Living Trusts, and every other sort of official document. A seal authenticates or certifies these document as being real and genuine and true. Seals are also given to persons. When Pharaoh made Joseph the second most powerful man in Egypt, Joseph was given Pharaoh's seal or signet ring. This confirmed or sealed Joseph's position in the land (Gen 39). The Apostle Paul tells us that Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit; the seal of the Spirit confirms that we belong to God and can look forward to all the blessings of salvation (Eph 1:13f; 2 Cor 1:22).
What is the "internal and invisible thing" that the sacraments seal? They seal to us the reality of our salvation in Christ through His blood and Spirit. The sacraments are God's pledge, God's guarantee, that He really does save us because Christ died and Christ arose.
C In its definition of sacrament the Belgic Confession of Faith points out that baptism and the Lord's Supper never stand alone. God has added or joined them to the "Word of the gospel." In the Roman Catholic Church the sacraments stand on their own – they don't need the Word and often are administered apart from the Word of God. But Reformed churches insist that the sacraments be administered within a setting in which the Word is read and proclaimed and explained.
There are similarities between the Word and the sacraments. Both are ordained by our gracious God. Both point to Jesus Christ and His work of salvation. Both are dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit to become effective in the lives of God's people. And, both are given to us by God because of His special concern for us and our salvation.
Yet, there are also differences between the Word and the sacraments. The hearing of God's Word is indispensable to one's salvation; no one can be saved apart from the Word. This is nowhere said about the sacraments. Furthermore, the Word of the Gospel must be preached to all people everywhere. The sacraments, on the other hand, are not meant for all people everywhere; rather, they are restricted to believers whom God has gathered into His church. In the Word God appeals to our hearing. In the sacraments God appeals to our seeing, tasting, touching, and smelling.
III Effective by the Holy Spirit
A The sacraments are effective in the lives of believers only by the power of the Spirit. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the sacraments have power in and of themselves. The Roman Catholic Church goes so far to say that the sacraments contain grace. Therefore, just by partaking or participating in them the believer is blessed and saved. This, of course, gives enormous power to the church and priests – the power to either dispense grace or withhold grace.
B The sacraments are not containers of grace. Instead, they are means of grace used by the Holy Spirit to "nourish and sustain our faith."
The two sacraments instituted by Christ are not fruitful in and of themselves; rather, they are fruitful only by the power of the Spirit. It is the Spirit that produces and sustains our life in Christ through the means of the Word and the sacraments. So, we are not washed by the water in baptism nor fed and nourished by the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. Rather, it is Christ's blood and Spirit which cleanse us from all sin and it is through the Spirit that our souls are nourished unto eternal life.
C When we participate in the sacraments the Holy Spirit uses them. He uses them
to seal (God's) promises in us,
to pledge his good will and grace toward us,
and also to nourish and sustain our faith.
Notice, all of this has to do with Christ. God's promises of life everlasting and salvation and forgiveness all find their fulfilment in Christ. God's good will and grace towards us finds its fulfilment in Christ. And it is in Christ that our faith is nourished and sustained. The Holy Spirit uses the sacraments to point us to Christ.
Conclusion
Finally, I want you to notice that God knows us. He knows our "crudeness and weakness." He knows our need for what we can see and touch and taste and smell and feel. He knows how weak our faith is and how much it needs support from every side. He knows our sin and our need for comfort and the assurance of forgiveness.
Because God knows all this about us He "has ordained sacraments for us." Out of grace He gives us the sacraments.