For our scripture reading tonight, I invite you to turn with me to Romans 5 as we read together the first 11 verses, a familiar and comforting portion of that chapter. I invite you also to turn in the back of the Psalter hymnals to page 85. Page 85, we find Article 33 of the Belgic Confession begun on the bottom of that page and continued on the top of the next page, page 85 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Romans 5, beginning in verse 1. Hear now the Word of God. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? For if when we were God's enemies we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life? Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Shall we bow together in prayer? Father, we do pray for your blessing upon this, your word, which we have read, your word to be preached. We thank you for your word, which is a light upon our path, a lamp unto our feet. We pray, Father, that you would indeed instruct us by your Holy Spirit. Open our hearts. Illumina us, O Lord, that we might be receptacles of your word, of your grace. And may you strengthen our faith, Father. And may we indeed leave this place as more faithful servants of the Most High God than when we first arrived. Bless the preaching of your word, and may you, O Lord, be praised. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, beloved in the Lord, Article 33 of the Belgic Confession, if you have already looked there, has the title that says that it's, as the title says, it's about the sacraments. And this article introduces, then, two lengthy articles about what we believe the Bible teaches are the two and the only two sacraments and what the Bible teaches about those only two sacraments which were instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ and given to the church, to His church. Those two sacraments are baptism and the Lord's Supper. And I encourage you to read through those two lengthy articles at some point in the very near future. But now then you might wonder, well, why did we then read Romans 5, 1-11? That passage doesn't speak about either baptism or the Lord's Supper. At least not directly. And again, beloved, that's the challenge of considering together the articles of this faithful summary of the teaching of Scripture. As we know, these articles of the Belgian Confession are broad and they seek to put in summary form the teaching of the whole of Scripture about the different doctrines of Scripture. Now, of course, nowhere in the Bible will you find the word sacrament. In the Christian church, the word sacrament has referred to something special, something sacred, something set aside for the worship of God. Louis Burkhoff, in his systematic theology, defines a sacrament as a holy ordinance of God, instituted by Christ, in which by sensible signs the grace of God in Christ and the benefits of the covenant of grace are represented, sealed, and applied to believers, and these, that is believers, in turn give expression to their faith and allegiance to God. And answer 66 of the Heidelberg Catechism gives this definition. Sacraments are holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our use of them, He might make us understand more clearly the promise of the gospel and might put His seal on that promise. And this is God's gospel promise to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ's one sacrifice finished on the cross. Sacraments, beloved, are holy signs and seals for us to see. Well, what are we to see in the sacraments? The Gospel promise. Salvation in and through Jesus Christ. That's the promise of God's Holy Word. We are to see, as it were, the cross of Jesus and the work that He accomplished on that cross. That's what both baptism and the Lord's Supper point to. You see, beloved, the signs and seals cannot be separated from the thing signified and sealed. And of course, there are many Scripture passages we can turn to in order to consider that thing signified and sealed, namely the Gospel promise, including Romans 5, verses 1-11. And we also touched on a few of those this morning when we considered reconciliation with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Beloved, because of the unbreakable connection between the sacraments and the gospel promise to which they point. Our confidence and our assurance is that whenever we witness the administration of baptism and participate in the Lord's Supper, we enjoy with our eyes, also with other senses, the sense of smell and taste and touch, but we enjoy with our eyes the visible message of salvation. Follow along if you have the article open, Article 33, the sacraments. We believe that our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and infirmities, has ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His promises and to be pledges of the goodwill and grace of God towards us and also to nourish and strengthen our faith, which He has joined to the word of the gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which He declares to us by His word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts, thereby confirming in us the salvation which He imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of an inward and invisible thing by means whereof God works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the signs are not empty or meaningless so as to deceive us, for Jesus Christ is the true object presented by them, without whom they would be of no moment. Moreover, we are satisfied with the number of sacraments which Christ our Lord has instituted, which are two only, namely the sacrament of baptism and the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, of course, as you can imagine, as we consider the day in which the confession was written, the time of the Reformation, it was written in part to answer against the abuses, for example, of the Roman Catholic Church, the over-abuse, you might say, of the sacraments, and of the Anabaptists, the under-use or under-significance of them. And as we consider the precious gift of salvation and the visible demonstration of that gift, we notice simply the purpose, the place, and the power of the sacraments. Beloved, we are weak and sinful people. We may not like to hear that. But in reality, that's no surprise to any of us, I trust. We all struggle every day with sin, some more than others. Often, any one of us in a different way than our neighbor. And at times we struggle with our faith and what we claim to believe. We believe the truth of God's Word to be sure. But sometimes we might wonder for ourselves, is it true for me too? Is it really for me too? And it's for that reason God gave to His church visible demonstrations of His promise and the truth of Jesus Christ. Last week we considered the truth that believers are called to walk by faith and not by sight. Yet, as Article 33 says, that our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and infirmities, has ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His promises and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God towards us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith. And again, as the Heidelberg Catechism says, signs and seals for us to see. Beloved, the purpose of the sacraments has you and me in mind through and through. God, knowing that we are prone to wander and walk by sight because of the sin that remains in us against our renewed will, He gave the sacraments which in simple fashion, with simple everyday elements, Help us to understand the truth of salvation. There's nothing complicated here. The boys and girls can understand this clearly. In His grace, God gives tangible signs and seals of His promise to save us from the guilt of sin and to free us from sin's bondage. It's as simple as water, bread, and wine set apart by God for a holy purpose. The sacraments are a wonderful source of spiritual nourishment and a reminder of God's favor to us in Christ. They are signs and seals of a covenant relationship with God. And therefore, we cannot think of the New Testament sacraments, namely baptism and the Lord's Supper, apart from remembering the Old Testament sacraments. Baptism takes the place of circumcision in the Old Testament. Paul makes that clear in Colossians 2. And the Lord's Supper takes the place of the Passover as our Lord Jesus Christ, the final and perfect Passover Lamb, Himself instituted the Lord's Supper with His disciples on the night in which He was betrayed. Circumcision, we know, was a rite of purification and of membership in the covenant. In Romans chapter 4, Paul speaks of Abraham being justified by faith. And he says in verse 11, And he that is Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Even circumcision, a sign and a seal of the promise of God. And baptism as well, a sign, you might say, of cleansing, of purification and membership in the covenant of God. And the Passover was a sign of deliverance from bondage by the blood of another. and a sign of nourishment for the journey, even as the Lord's table reminds us of the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His body broken and blood shed for you and me, and a sign that we are secure, nourished for all eternity. Both circumcision and Passover were sacraments of blood, which emphasized that a sacrifice was needed for reconciliation with God. And both then pointed forward to the promise of Jesus Christ. Whereas baptism and the Lord's Supper look back to the very same Christ who has come, who has shed His blood, and made the needed sacrifice so that reconciliation with God is secure. The sacraments separate the church from the world. And they make a visible difference between the church and the world. And they point to the truth, as Paul says, that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the catechism calls the sacraments holy signs and seals. They are holy because they are ordained and given by the Lord for a holy purpose. Signs, we know, point to something that is yet invisible, something that cannot yet be seen. Boys and girls, we can think of all kinds of different signs, can't we? Think of a billboard as you're driving down the highway. You might have an advertisement for a gas station or for a restaurant or for a hotel. And those things are not right there sitting underneath the sign. They might be 20 miles down the road. Or we can think of road signs that are common to us. There are road signs that warn us of a sharp curve ahead. Or if there is road construction ahead, you might see a sign warning that there is a flag man or a flag woman ahead. And that flag person will then give us further directions, slow down or stop. You see, we can't see these things when we see the signs, but the signs tell us they are real. The sacraments as signs teach us without mistake of what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The water, the bread, and the wine or juice are bound to the Word of God and they are a visible sermon. These simple everyday elements, as they are received in the sacraments, set aside, set apart, and received in the sacraments, preach powerfully and clearly of the cleansing and refreshment of our lives through our Lord Jesus Christ. They point to the reality of Christ's body and blood, the reality of His sacrifice for you and me, the reality of God's promise of these things for you and me. And just as a seal is a pledge or a guarantee of something. Boys and girls, we're not talking about the seals that swim in the ocean, but a different kind of seal, a pledge or a guarantee of something. The sacraments are seals to us of a wonderful and a powerful truth. Boys and girls, on packages of food, you should find the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration Seal of Approval, which guarantees this food is good to eat. It doesn't guarantee that it's necessarily good for you, but it guarantees that it's good to eat. You won't die from it. If you look on money, if you look on a dollar bill, for example, you will see the seal of the U.S. government guaranteeing that a $1 bill is worth a dollar, or that a $100 bill is worth $100. In the Old Testament, the king would use his ring as an official seal for a number of things, including to guarantee laws. Or if a letter was sent with the king's seal, that meant you'd better pay attention to what was written on it because it was considered to be true and authoritative and binding. Or if your mom or dad writes a check for something and signs their name, that name is a seal guaranteeing that that check is good. God's people live by His promises and the sacraments are seals or pledges that God's promises are real and sure. You see, the water of baptism not only points to the blood of Jesus that washes away our sin, but it is a promise. It is a guarantee that for those who truly believe on Him, our sin is really and truly washed away. And the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper not only point to the body and blood of Christ, but they do promise and guarantee that Jesus Christ gave Himself for us to take the punishment we deserve. They are a guarantee that indeed, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that we are and will be saved from God's wrath through Him. Beloved, God confirms His gospel promise to us in a visible and tangible way. As one minister said, we actually get wet and hold in our hands and taste with our mouths the bread and the wine. The church father Augustine called the sacraments visible signs of invisible grace. In other words, I can't see, you can't see the blood of Jesus wash away my sins or your sins. But I can see the water baptism that pictures that cleansing. I can't see the broken body and shed blood of Christ, but I can take in my hand and taste with my mouth the bread and the wine which point me to His body broken for me, His blood shed for me. Our Lord said, this is my body. This is my blood now we know of course that he didn't mean that the bread and the wine were literally his body and blood so that his disciples were physically tasting and chewing and swallowing christ's physical body even as he sat right next to him nor did he mean that the elements would magically change into his body and blood but there is such a close connection there that as The Catechism also says, in question and answer 75, the question says, How does the Lord's Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ one sacrifice on the cross and in all His gifts? First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely His body was offered and broken for me and His blood poured out for me on the cross. As surely as I see them. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of Him who serves and tastes with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given me as sure signs of Christ's body and blood, so surely He nourishes and refreshes my soul for eternal life with His crucified body and poured out blood. The reality is that when you believe the promise of baptism and eat the bread and drink the wine with a believing heart, then by faith you really receive Jesus Christ and all of His promises are true for you. As we were reminded this morning in Adult Sunday School, God's Word is certain. It's certain. Even the Word He gives to us in visible form. Beloved, praise God that He knows us perfectly. And He knows perfectly what we need and that He supplies it. And so simply, water, bread, and wine. But then we also need to remember the place of the sacraments. The place of the sacraments in the church. Article 33 says, God joined the sacraments to the word of the gospel. The better to present to our senses both that which He declares to us by His word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts, thereby confirming in us the salvation which He imparts to us. Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper in connection with the gospel message He Himself preached. So simply, this is my body, He said. What? Broken for you. This is my blood, He shed. What for? Shed for you. As well, we read in Acts, when the early New Testament church came together for worship, they never broke bread apart from the Word and prayer, but always with the Word and prayer. And our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to go to all the nations and preach and baptize. Preaching and baptize. The signs are nothing without the thing signified. If there is no sharp curve in the road up ahead, then the sharp curve ahead sign is meaningless. And the sacraments do not in any way replace the pure preaching of the Word of God, but they are visible proof of the reality of the Gospel message preached. A confirmation. They are a visible proof of the truth that at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Beloved, the sacraments have no place, no purpose, no effect or power apart from the Word of God. They have no message apart from the Word of God. But with the preaching of the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit uses to work faith, to give or begin faith in the believer's heart, the Holy Spirit uses the sacraments to nourish and strengthen that same faith as the sacraments make the promises of the Gospel of salvation, again visible to us, and seal or guarantee these promises and place them in our hands, as it were. Boys and girls, we said a little while ago that through the sacraments, especially the elements, the bread, the water, the bread, and the wine, the promises of God, of His salvation, are made tangible. When something is tangible, that means you can touch it. You can feel it. It's pulpit. It's tangible. It's Bible. It's tangible. The water, the bread, and the wine are tangible. The water on our head and the bread and wine in our hands and on our lips are our proof and a guarantee, real proof and guarantee of God's promises made real. Just as certainly as the bread is bread, and the water is water, and the wine is wine, so too are God's promises real. It's like an engagement ring. When a man gives a woman an engagement ring, That ring that she sees and feels and wears is a pledge in order to guarantee that the man's promise to her is trustworthy and sincere. We can and we must consider then as well, though, both the similarities and the differences between the Word and the sacrament. They are similar in that both are ordained by our gracious God. Both have the same central content, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness of His personal work. Both are completely dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit for their power and their effect. But they are also different. The hearing of the Word of God in faith is indispensable and necessary for salvation. There's no salvation apart from it. Romans 10 makes that clear. How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. But on the other hand, the sacraments are not necessary in order to be saved as the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Another difference is that the Gospel is to be preached to all men everywhere, but the sacraments are restricted to and reserved for believers and their seed whom God gathers into His church. And then finally, the Word of God creates, nourishes, and strengthens faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. But the sacraments do not, God does not use those to create faith, only to nourish and strengthen faith by that same power. God did not give the sacraments because His Word was incomplete or ineffective or weak, but again, He gave them because of our weakness, because of our infirmities. The sacraments do not add anything to Scripture, but they are like pictures in an illustrated book, as we said, of visible preaching. Boys and girls, when you're young, even some of you at the age you are right now, and the pictures in your books help you to understand the story a little better. God gave to us the only pictures we need, beautiful pictures to understand His promises in Jesus Christ. And what He teaches us through the Gospel message, He illustrates in pictures through the sacraments. And that is that our complete salvation rests in Christ. Beloved, apart from the preaching of the Word, the sacraments lose their significance. There is no meaning. There is no message. And that means the sacraments are administered only in a worship service where the Word is faithfully preached. Yet we cannot then overlook the power of the sacraments. Article 33 says, They are not empty or meaningless so as to deceive us. Instead, beloved, they are effective in that they confirm and nourish and strengthen our faith when properly connected to the Word of the Gospel. But the power and the effect does not come from the sacraments themselves. As a means of grace, as we call them, along with the preaching of the Word, as a means of grace through which our confidence in God's promises becomes stronger, God's grace that we enjoy through the sacraments doesn't come merely from the exercise of the sacraments, from participating in them. Neither does it come from the elements, the water or the bread or the wine. By themselves, again, the sacraments are simple outward signs and seals. They are not magic formula. The Roman Catholic Church says there are seven sacraments and that one receives God's grace just by participating and receiving the sacrament. The grace of God is inherent, included somehow in that sacrament. Which means that even an unbeliever can be a receiver of God's grace. But we know that doesn't make sense. It cannot be true. That's not what God teaches. The power of the sacraments comes from the Word of God and the true object of the sacraments to which they point. Namely, Jesus Christ and all of this applied by the Holy Spirit. John Calvin said the sacrament can produce no more effect upon our minds than the splendor of the sun on blind eyes or the sound of a voice on deaf ears. Beloved, we know that the water of baptism all by itself does not wash away our sins. And we know that the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper itself barely nourishes our physical body, let alone our souls. but through the power of the Holy Spirit as we witness the sacrament of baptism and participate in the Lord's Supper by faith, being reminded of Christ's saving sacrifice, more and more God's promises to us are ratified. That God's promise to us in our baptism is true. All of my sins are washed away. Christ's sacrifice was for me too. He took my place. so that I am reconciled with and have peace with God and that I will be satisfied for all eternity. The sacraments are only powerful and effective for those who have been given the precious gift of faith to believe. Paul makes that clear in Colossians 2, where he says that it's not the circumcision made with men's hands, not that physical right, that physical act that matters, but the circumcision of the heart. Apart from the circumcision of the heart, the thing signified. The sign itself is meaningless. But if one participates without true faith, that doesn't strip the sacraments of their truth. They still remain true, but there is no positive effect for the unbeliever. But there is a negative effect. As Paul says, if one eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, that one eats and drinks judgment unto themselves. By doing so, apart from faith, that one blasphemes God. Regardless of our faith, the Lord means what He signifies and seals in the sacraments, but they only have power for you and me through faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Beloved, one day our faith will become sight as we will see our Lord Jesus Christ face to face. But until that day, we see Him by faith in the Word of God, which we receive with our ears. And we see Him in the sacraments, which bring the same Word and its truth to our eyes. Boys and girls, every day, every day, whether you think about it or not, you live with the mark of God's promise on your forehead. Oh, the drops of water may be long gone, but not God's promise. God's promise is still there. God's promise is still true. It is still sure. It is a guarantee to you that if you understand your sin and repent of your sin and believe only on the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, all of your sins are washed away and you are secure for eternity. And then as well, beloved, our blessing as a people of God is that every time we witness the sacrament of baptism as God's promise is signified and sealed to another covenant child. And every time we eat of the bread and drink of the wine in faith, God ratifies, He confirms, or validates His promises and the truth of His promises to us. And every time we hear those wonderful words, this is My body broken for you. And this is My blood shed for you. every single time we hear those words in faith. We are reminded that God's wrath has been turned away from us to Christ. And indeed, we have now, by His grace, we have received reconciliation with God. What does it mean to be reconciled with God? One of the places we read about that is in Colossians 2. Our assurance of pardon from this morning. Verses 13 and 14. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross. Beloved, every time we celebrate the sacraments in faith, God's Word and His oath is confirmed to you and me. I am your God. You are my people. Praise God that in a world of darkness, He has given us the eyes of faith to be comforted by and to walk according to the light of His truth in Jesus Christ our Lord. And beloved, may that give each one of us strength for life, for this life and the next. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, once again, we are reminded of your love so amazing and so divine that you not only tell us what we need to know, not only tell us about that precious gift of salvation, but you have seen fit to show us, to show us in the beautiful signs, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. We pray, O Lord, that day by day, Lord's Day by Lord's Day, as we sit under the preaching of Your Word and as we participate in the sacraments, that You would strengthen our faith. Indeed, purify us, O Lord. Prepare us for the day of Christ Jesus. Prepare us for the day that You usher us into glory forever and ever. Amen.