Loveland Protestant Reformed Church
709 East 57th Street;
Loveland, CO 80538
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. June through August)
Vol. 6, No. 23 Pastor: Rev. Garry Eriks
Phone: (970) 667-9481
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Two Sacraments
The Irresistible Call of the Gospel
(6)
How Conduct
Family Worship (2)
Why two sacraments and only two? That question needs answering over against the
errors of Romanism with its seven sacraments and also over against the tendency of some
Protestant groups to exalt such things as foot-washing and other rites to a place in the
church where they are in effect sacraments of the church.
First, how do we know that something is
a sacrament? The answer is that it must be a symbolic
ritual commanded by Christ Himself and confirmed by the command or practice of the
Apostles. This rules out foot-washing which,
though done by Christ, is neither commanded by Him (He only says: “do as I
have done to you”), nor confirmed either by the command or example of the Apostles
(cf. Volume IV, Number 17). This we refer to as the “institution” of
the sacraments.
Now it is clear that the other five
sacraments of Rome do not meet these criteria. Confirmation,
penance and orders are not symbolic of anything, and such practices as last rites (extreme
unction) and orders are not commanded either by Christ or the Apostles. Nor is marriage, though symbolic, required by
Christ or the Apostles.
All that, however, does not answer the
question, why two sacraments, and more particularly, why these two - Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper. That question must be
answer that we may the more profitably make use of the sacraments.
The reason why there are two and only
two sacraments in found in the sacraments themselves.
Together they symbolise the whole of our Christian life. Baptism symbolises our entering into God’s
covenant and salvation and the way that we enter. The
Lord’s Supper symbolises our life within that covenant as we enjoy and live out the
salvation He has freely given us. There is no
need or place, therefore, for other sacraments, for there is nothing else to symbolise.
The wonderful thing about the
sacraments, though, is that in picturing these different aspects of our Christian life,
they give a united testimony to Christ. Together
they say that it is all of Him, through, Him, by Him and in Him - that without Him we are
nothing and have nothing.
Together they say what Peter says in
Acts 4:12: “Neither is their salvation in any other; for there is none other name
given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved.” Their testimony is that of Paul in Ephesians 1:3,
that we have “every spiritual blessing” in Christ.
Not only that, but they speak of the
fact that His death and His blood are central. Baptism
says that it is by His blood that we enter in. The
Lord’s Supper adds that His blood that it is by His blood and sacrifice that we live
and move and have our being, our strength and nourishment when once we have entered. His sacrifice is everything to us.
What wonderful gifts God has given us
in the sacraments. Let us not then use them
carelessly or faithlessly.
Rev. Ron Hanko
No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is
written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me. John
6:44, 45.
We are nearing the end of our
consideration of John 6:44, 45. But we must
say something about verse 45, which we have not mentioned as yet. Why are these words added here?
By His reference to "the
prophets," Jesus is referring specifically to Isaiah 54:13. We ought to have the text before us. It reads as follows: "And all thy children
shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." The Lord's words are: "And they shall be all
taught of God."
The Lord rewords the passage in Isaiah,
not because by doing so He gives all of us the right to do the same, but because He gives
us here an explanation of the passage in Isaiah, an explanation which He alone is able to
give because He is the Author of the passage in Isaiah, and He is, of course, the Author
of these words in John 6. He refers to His
own writing.
But there is good reason why the Lord
refers to Isaiah 54:13 in the way that He does.
Without going into detail about the
passage in Isaiah, it is clear that this verse belongs to a section in which Isaiah is not
only predicting the coming captivity, but is also preparing a Word of comfort to the elect
remnant of the captivity while they are in Babylon when all they can do is hang their
harps upon the willows, because they cannot sing the songs of Zion in a strange land
(Psalm 137).
God's Word is that He will rebuild
again Jerusalem -- not in the way in which pre-mils speak of it being built in Palestine,
like the old temple; but spiritually in the gathering of the church and the saving of the
elect in the new dispensation.
Part of that salvation is described in
the passage which Jesus quotes. God Himself
will teach Jerusalem's children.
In the Old Testament times God did not
"teach" His people directly as the text says He will do to Jerusalem's children. He taught them, indeed, but He did so through
prophets, priests, and kings. This was
necessary because the Spirit of the glorified and exalted Christ had not yet been poured
out on the church. That happened on
Pentecost.
But the children of these Old
Testament saints would be taught directly by the Lord.
That is, the Lord would teach them directly by means of His Holy Spirit in their
hearts. He is the Spirit to Whom Christ
refers as the Spirit of Truth whom Christ will send to the church that the Spirit may lead
the church into all truth (John 14-16).
The Lord refers to this passage in
Isaiah, therefore, in order to explain to the people how the Father draws His own elect to
Christ. The Father draws them by teaching
them the truth. This teaching is not the kind
of eaching which a teacher does in a classroom where only some of the students are paying
any close attention to what the teacher says -- and even they will probably forget what
they learned unless they do a great deal of revising.
But our heavenly Father teaches us in
such a way that the Holy Spirit impresses the truth upon our hearts and minds so that we
love that truth, find in it our great delight, and make that truth a part of our lives.
At the very center of that truth is
Christ Himself through Whom God reveals all His truth.
And so one taught by the Father through the Spirit of Christ, goes to Christ. He cannot and will not go elsewhere. He has found in Christ His all. He rests in the arms of Christ.
The promise in Isaiah is that of peace
for Jerusalem's children. Jesus speaks of
being raised up at the last day. The two are
the same -- even if they do not seem exactly identical.
Peace is the blessed gift of being in
harmony with God and living in fellowship, peaceful and joyous, fellowship with the
everlasting God. That will happen when we are
raised on the last day and, when we, with both body and soul, are brought into heaven to
live with God forever.
This is the blessedness given to all
who come to Christ because true peace in life everlasting can be found only in Christ Who
made peace through the blood of His cross.
And it is all the work of God. Prof. H. Hanko
How Conduct Family Worship? (2)
In
answer to the question: “What form should family worship take?” we continue to
make some more concrete suggestions about conducting family worship. We remind our readers, however, that for the most
part there are no specific rules about family worship given in Scripture other than that it
ought to be done. What we offer,
therefore, are suggestions only, but we offer them with the prayer that God will use them
to encourage His people in this important work.
Prayer is another necessary part of all
worship of God. Ordinarily in the family the
father should lead in prayer (or the mother in his absence) especially if the children are
very young. Effort should be made, however,
to teach the children to pray by having them recite a simple prayer as part of family
worship and by asking the young men of the family to lead the family in prayer as they
grow older.
This is particularly important for the young men of the family in that as they grow older they will be asked to pray publicly and for others, a very serious calling indeed (I Tim. 2:8)! It is in the home that they are trained for this calling.
It
is helpful also that the family take a few moments before bowing together in prayer to
talk about the things that must be prayed for (prayer as part of family worship should be family
prayer). It is not unprofitable that a list
of various needs be kept at hand so that these various needs are prayed for regularly. This also encourages the members of the family to
think of these needs in their private devotions.
Nor
ought prayer be made only for family needs. The
family ought to pray for the church and its members, for the preaching of the gospel, for
missionaries, for the leaders of the church, for teachers, friends, and relatives, as well
as for the nation and its rulers. Nor ought
we forget as families that there is more to prayer than petition and intercession. Sins must be confessed, God must be praised and
thanked also in family prayer.
We
believe, too, that attention ought to be given to the manner in which the family members
pray. They should be reminded that they are
praying to God and that they must be careful even about such things as their posture and
outward conduct in praying out of reverence for the great God to whom they pray. Certainly they should not be allowed to slouch and
lie about when the family is praying.
Psalm Singing is another important part of all
worship. Not only is it one of the chief ways
in which we praise God, but it is a way in which we “teach and admonish one
another” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Without
getting into the reasons why we believe these verses refer to the singing of Psalms only,
we believe that they give good reason for including the singing of praise in our family
worship. Concerning the actual singing of
Psalms, however, we have few suggestions other than that it ought to be done.
It
does no good, though to speak of “how” if families are not interested in family
worship. The need for it is paramount and
nicely summed up in the words of the Directory for Family Worship (part of the
Westminster Standards): “Besides the public worship in congregations, mercifully
established in this land in great purity (this was written 350 years ago) it is expedient
and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families be
pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of
godliness, both personal and domestic be advanced.”
Rev. Ronald Hanko