I love his name. Not God against
us, God with us. Another freebie, not part of
the message. When I was reading along with
Claire in the passage he was reading out of 1 Peter, I thought
it was interesting that, let me read it to you. struck me. If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy
are you. God rests, the spirit of glory in God rests upon you. On their part, he's evil spoken
of, but on your part, he's glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody
in other men's matters. I thought, well, thieves, murderers,
evildoers, and busybodies in other men's matters. That's interesting
how that is put in that place. And another thing when it says
in verse 18, if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall
the ungodly and the sinner appear? I used to read that as the righteous
are just getting in by the skin of their teeth, but that's not
what that means at all. If the righteous with great difficulty
be saved and know the great difficulty that the Lord went through to
save his people. That's something to chew on.
Turn back to first Corinthians 11. I've entitled this message, Keeping
the Ordinances. And I hope through this, the
Lord will bless us with a greater understanding of the ordinances,
these gospel ordinances. Now, first Corinthians 11 is
not an easy passage to preach through. This has got a section
of head coverings. women's head coverings, men not
wearing them, what does that mean? And I remember Scott Richardson,
pastor of Katie Baptist Church, the women there wore head coverings. And somebody said, why do your
women wear head coverings? He said, there's something in
the Bible about that. I wouldn't deny that. But what is meant
by women's head coverings, what is the gospel significance and
what he says about the Lord's table. But he says in verse two,
now, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things
and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. And Paul commends
them for keeping the ordinances. What are the ordinances? What
does that mean? Now the word ordinance is translated
every other time, tradition. You keep the traditions. I wanna read a passage from 1
Thessalonians 2, 15, where Paul says, therefore, brethren, stand
fast and hold fast the traditions which you've been taught, whether
by word or our epistle. Now the word means, What is transmitted
either orally or by writing. And that's the way Paul uses
the word here, keeping the traditions. Now this was stated before there
was a full canon of scripture. That's very significant. This
book is a closed book. There are no new revelations. There is no additional information
from what is in this book. Somebody can't say, well, I've
got a revelation from God. Here's a tradition to add to
it. No, you can't do that. You can't add to it. You can't
take from it. I love what Paul said in first
Corinthians chapter 13, verse 10, when that which is perfect
is come. What's the only perfect thing
we have in this world? The Word of God. When that which
is complete, the Word of God is complete. There is nothing
that can be added to it. There is nothing that can be
subtracted from it. When that which is perfect is
come, that which is in part shall be done away with. Now this word
ordinance or tradition. is usually used in a negative
sense. Let me show you that in Mark
chapter seven. Mark chapter seven, beginning
in verse six. He, the Lord Jesus answered and
said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites. That's something the way the
Lord would talk to people. I don't suggest this right off the bat,
but he could say it. He looked at these people and
he says, well, as Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it's written,
this people honors me with their lips. their heart is far from
me, how be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men." The man-made commandments, I was
going reading. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold
the tradition of men as the, there's the word, you hold the
tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other
such things like you do. And he said unto them, full well,
you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own
tradition. For Moses said, honor your father
and your mother, and whoso curses father or mother, let him die
the death. But you say, if a man say to
his father or mother, it's Corbin. that is to say a gift by whatsoever
thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free and you
suffer him no more to do for his father or his mother, making
the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which
you have delivered in many such like things do you." Now here,
the Pharisees found a way to save their money. Your parents are in need. Honor
your father and mother. You ought to do what you need
to do for your father and mother. And the Pharisee said, now I've
earmarked that money for the church. It's willed to the church. When I die, that money's going
to the church. or the temple or whatever. Therefore,
I can't use that to help my mom and dad. This is earmarked for
the church. And that's why the Lord says,
you bunch of hypocrites. You're trying to make void the
word of God through your own traditions. And that's how the
word is generally used, man's traditions. Now, in our worship service, Is what
we do scriptural or is it man's traditions? The traditions of
religion, the traditions we've made up. And I think it's interesting,
the Bible doesn't give a manual as to how to conduct a worship
service. There are many ways, I suppose, but I know this, in
a worship service, this is scriptural reading the Bible. publicly,
praying publicly, singing hymns of praise, preaching. As a matter of fact, this is
what worship is based around, centered around the preaching
of the gospel. Now I've had people, who have
contacted me, this has happened numerous times, and they say,
what kind of worship do y'all have? Is it contemporary or is
it traditional? Neither. It better be scriptural. Is what we do scriptural? And notice he mentions the observance
of ordinances. You've kept the ordinances as
I delivered them to you. Now we have two ordinances and
they're physical, they're material. There are material things used,
baptism and the Lord's table. In baptism, water is used, in
the Lord's table, Fermented wine and bread is used. And Paul begins this with a commendation. He says, now I praise you, brethren,
that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances I delivered
them to you. Now, right after he begins with
this praise, he begins to rip them. I don't know how else to
say it, but that gives us some idea that whenever you're gonna,
if you have to criticize, begin with a positive. Paul did. He said, I praise you. that you've
kept the ordinances, but look what he says in verse 17. Now in this that I declare unto
you, I praise you not that you come together for the better,
but for the worse. And that's quite a statement. When you meet together, it's
not for your benefit. You're actually worse off by
meeting the way you're meeting. And he was talking about their
observance of the Lord's table. There was a party spirit. There
were people shaming other people during the Lord's table. And
he says, I am condemning you for this. There was insubordination
in the church of the male and female roles. That's spoken of
with reference to the head coverings and Lord willing, we're going
to consider that next week. There were divisions in the church.
Look what he says in verse 18 of chapter 11. First of all,
when you come together in the church, I hear that there'd be
divisions. among you." Schisms, rents is
the word in the church. He says there are divisions and
then when you look at chapters 12 through 14, the early church
had these supernatural gifts. They could speak in tongues,
they could heal the sick, there are many things they were able
to do and somebody says, well why can't we do them now? Well
that Ended with the apostles. The scripture says when Simon
Magus saw that through the laying on of the apostles hands, the
Holy Ghost were given. One of these persons that had
the gifts, they could not transfer those gifts. Only the apostles
could do that. And they were taking advantage of these gifts
and abusing them and boasting in them and having competition.
Who is best? Who could discern? Who could
speak the most in tongues? And Paul said, all you're doing
is causing confusion. That's the word he uses in first
Corinthians chapter 14, confusion. I remember this was a real church.
This was a gospel church and all the problems that were in
this church, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he talked about the
doctrinal problems. There were people there who were
denying the resurrection. Now, what if somebody in this
church denied the resurrection and all the implications behind
that? And Paul deals with it in 1 Corinthians 15, but this
is what was going on in this church. wrong relationships with
unbelievers, because he says evil communications corrupt good
manners. You are having relationships
that are not good for you. And then there was intimidation.
Look in verse 16, I never really thought of this, chapter 16,
verse 10. Now if Timotheus come, see that
he may be with you without fear. For he worketh the work of the
Lord as I also do. Let no man therefore despise
it. but conduct him forth in peace,
that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren."
Now, Paul had a reason to say this to these people. They were
an intimidating group of people. They would intimidate Timothy.
He would be in fear because of the way they would treat him.
And there was general insubordination. Look in verse 15 of chapter 16. "'I beseech you, brethren, know
the house of Stephanas, that is the firstfruits of Achaia,
have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that
you submit yourselves unto such. And to everyone that helpeth
with us in labor." They had a problem with insubordination and failure
to submit in places where they should submit. Now this church
has a lot of problems. So while they were commended
for keeping the ordinances as they were delivered, We see the
major problems in this church, which could be said of any and
every local church. You know why? Sinners. Saved by grace, but sinners nonetheless. And we see that from the church
at Corinth. There's more information about this church than any other
church in the New Testament as far as what is said and how much
time is spent with this church. And this reminds me, and I hope
we never forget this, the church is a bunch of sinners saved by
the grace of God. overlook so much. May the Lord enable us to do
that. Now, when it comes to how God
saves sinners, that's a non-negotiable. What Christ accomplished on the
cross, that's a non-negotiable. But wherever you have sinners,
you're going to have what happens at this church at Corinth. Now, as I've already said, there's
not a manual about conduct and worship services, but we know
from the scriptures. In a worship service, there's
the reading of God's word. When Paul said to Timothy, give
yourself to reading, he's talking about public reading. It could
be that nobody else in the church knew how to read, and it's very
important for the scriptures to be read publicly. That might
be all some get. So give attendance to reading.
You men, when you read the scriptures, make sure you read the scriptures
well. Read them in a sense that people
understand. Now, if I read the scriptures
right, it ought to be that they're understood when I read them.
Make sure, by the grace of God, give much care to this thing
of reading. It's part of public worship,
public prayer, calling upon the name of the Lord. That's part
of public worship. The singing of these hymns. Make
melody in your heart to the Lord, songs and hymns and spiritual
songs. Uh, that is so important. The
specials are so important and they're to be done in such a
way to, to not cause people to be distracted, but, but profit
from the message of the song. Um, preaching. God has manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed to my trust. How
important the preaching of the gospel? Is it pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe? And there is a scriptural precedent
for all that. Now, if somebody says, well,
how many songs should we sing? I don't know. You can sing one,
you can sing two, you can sing 10, I reckon. But the point is,
is it in the Bible? That's what we're looking for.
Is it in the Bible? Now, in the Bible, There are
two ordinances that have tangible elements, baptism and the Lord's
table. Water is used in baptism, something
material. In the Lord's table, there is
wine and there is bread. Now, in the Old Testament, there
were many rites and ceremonies. So many, three different feasts,
all the sacrifices. All the things you could eat
and all the things you're forbidden to eat. Sabbath, holy days. There were so many things that
you couldn't touch. There's so many things that you
couldn't eat. And if you touch them, you are
unclean. This is all material. All the paraphernalia of the
tabernacle and the temple. There were so many physical things
and so many physical rights. And all of those things are pictures
and shadows of Christ. And they've all been done away
with. Now let me show you that in scripture,
turn to Hebrews chapter eight. Well, first look in chapter seven,
verse 15. And it's yet far more evidence
that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arises another
priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment. That's talking about the Levitical
priesthood and he calls it a carnal fleshly commandment, but after
the power of an endless life, for he testifies thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek, for there is verily a disannulling
of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness
thereof, for the law made nothing perfect. But the bringing in
of a better hope did. All these Old Testament rites
and ceremonies are done away with. Look in verse six of chapter
eight. But now he hath obtained a more
excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant which was established upon better promises for if that
first covenant had been faultless all these old testament types
and sacrifices and pictures and ceremonies and feasts and rules
then should no place have been sought for the second for finding
fault with them saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah." Look in verse 13 of the same chapter.
"...in that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, now
that which decayeth and waxes old is ready to vanish away."
Look in verse 9 of chapter 10. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
first covenant, the rites and the ceremonies and the sacrifices
and the law. He takes it all away that he
may establish the second. So it is clear from the scripture,
all these old Testament laws and rules and dietary restrictions. have been done away with. You
say, well, should we keep the law? Well, yeah, you should. I would never say to somebody,
it's okay to break the law. And in Christ, I've kept the
law. Does that mean I think it's okay
to break it since in Christ I've kept it? No, it doesn't mean
that at all. But I know this, all the law does is expose sin.
Ten Commandments, all it does is expose sin. That's all it
was ever meant to do, is expose the guilt of sin. Now, while
many religions institutions have these ordinances or what they
sometimes call sacrifices, most churches only recognize two,
baptism and the Lord's table. There are other religious institutions
like the Catholic Church, that have seven. Baptism, this is
the Catholic church. Baptism, confirmation, where's
that in the Bible? Eucharist, that's what we call
the Lord's table. Penance, what you do after you've
sinned. Anointing the sick, matrimony
and holy orders, and some include food washing along with that
as an actual ordinances. Now, have you ever wondered Why
are they sometimes called sacraments and why are they sometimes called
ordinances? Because they are, well, there
is a difference. A sacrament means a means through
which grace is conveyed. That means if you are baptized,
that's a means through which grace is conveyed to you. When you take the Lord's table,
that's a means through which grace is conveyed to you. And an ordinance is merely the
command to observe it, like a city ordinance. Now, I believe there
are only two ordinances that the church is commanded to observe.
And these are commands. Baptism, a believer's commanded
to be baptized. The Lord's table. When we partake
of the Lord's table, it's an obedience to his command. You
know, when we decide, well, I'm not going to go, there's just
having the Lord's table, that's breaking command because that's a very
simple command that he gives. Baptism and the Lord's table.
But let me say this, grace is not conveyed through baptism.
Grace is not conveyed through the Lord's table. They're just
ordinances we are commanded to observe and they are of critical
importance because the Lord commanded them. That's enough of a reason,
isn't it? I don't have to give any other
reason than this. The Lord commanded these ordinances, baptism and
the Lord's table. Now, there are two glorious truths
that these two ordinances convey to us. Baptism represents a union
with Jesus Christ. You in Christ. The whole gospel is in that statement. in Christ. The only hope that
I have of being saved is being in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what baptism teaches. The Lord's table speaks of Christ
in you. You take that into you. and it
becomes part of you. And the evidence that he is in
you is you look only to what the Lord's table signifies. Salvation only by the broken
body and shed blood of Christ. You have nothing else. Your only
hope, your only ground of assurance, that which rejoices your heart,
that which satisfies you like a good meal, is the broken body. And I say that, I hope, with
fear and trembling, The broken body and the shed blood of Christ
is everything in my salvation. That's the only thing I draw
nourishment from. That's what I eat. That's what
I drink. That is Christ in me. Now, when you're baptized, the
word means immersion. Immersion. You go all the way
under the water. Now, you don't baptize yourself. You're baptized and you're passive
in this thing. You don't do this. You're brought
into the water by somebody else and somebody else brings you
up out of the water. You see this thing of being in
Christ, which is what baptism signifies, union with Christ. There's nothing you do to get
in Christ. Of him are you in Christ Jesus? I don't know any
other way to answer that. Well, how do I get in Christ?
God's got to put you there. That's the only way you or I
can be in Christ. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus. And this is what is so glorious
about this. I've always been in Christ. Ephesians 1, 4 says, according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. I've always been in Christ. There's
never been a time when I've not been in Christ. Staggers my mind. I don't understand it, but I've
always had personality before God. Before I formed thee in
the belly, I knew thee. I've always been in Jesus Christ. That's always been my standing.
Now here's what baptism says. Christ came to this earth when
he lived. Well, before he came, I was in
him. Scripture says all we have is given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. Before he came onto this earth,
I was in him because I'm in him eternally. When he came to this
earth, I was in him. I love what the father said after
the baptism of Christ. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. He didn't say with whom I am
well pleased. He said, in whom I am well pleased. So when Christ came to this earth,
I was in him. When Christ kept the law, I kept
the law because I was in him. Now, I think the best, hold your
finger there in first Corinthians 11 and turn to Hebrews chapter
seven. I've given this so many times,
but I think it's the best illustration that I've seen in scripture of
this. Verse nine. And as I may so say, Levi also
who receiveth tithes, he's the great grandson of Abraham and
he Receive ties. The children of Israel were to
give ties to the Levitical tribe. That's where the priest came
from. And. Verse nine, as I may say, so
say leave. I also receive with ties, paid
ties and Abraham for he was yet in the loins of his father when
Melchizedek met him. Now, when Abraham paid those
ties to Melchizedek, guess who else did? Everybody in the loins
of Abraham. When Christ kept the law, guess
who else did? Everybody in him. I love the scripture where he
said to John the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Now not only was I in Jesus Christ
when he lived, I was in Jesus Christ when he died. I was in Jesus Christ when he
was nailed to the cross. Have you ever heard the song,
I should have been crucified, I should have... I was crucified. In Christ, I went to the tree.
I was crucified. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me. When He died, I died. My sins were punished and paid
for. When He was in that tomb, all
by Himself, He wasn't all by Himself. All of His people were
with Him. When He lived, I lived. When
He opened His eyes, I was in Him. I opened my eyes. You know,
the scripture says we're quickened together with him. When he was
quickened, when he was raised from the dead, I was raised from
the dead. That's what baptism signifies.
You know, when you go under the water, you don't stay under the
water, you come back up. That represents the resurrection
of Jesus Christ when he was raised from the dead. I was raised from
the dead. He was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. Baptism signifies union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that God raised him
from the dead is because he satisfied God's law and justice. What's
the one reason for death? Sin. That's the only reason for
death. He put away sin. The reason he
did not go through the process of decay is because that sin
was put away. He satisfied God. What happened
during that three days? I don't know while he was in
the tomb, but at some point he opened his eyes in life. His
heart began to beat. It hadn't, he really was dead,
but now he lives and everybody he represented lives in him. Now, The justice of God demanded the
resurrection of Christ. The justice of God demands the
salvation of everybody in him. That's how secure our salvation
is. It's because we are in him. Who should be baptized? Believers. Believers. That's the only person
who should be baptized. Infants do not believe and should
not be baptized. Somebody says, but doesn't it
take the place of circumcision? Give me the book, chapter and
verse. There's nothing in the Bible about that. There's no
example of an infant being baptized. The Lord said, whoso believeth
and is baptized should be saved. And that lets us know what the
requirement for baptism is. Believe the gospel. If you believe
the gospel, you should be baptized. You are commanded to be baptized. And I love that passage of scripture,
Mark chapter one, where it says, they were baptized of him in
Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, does that mean before they
were baptized, they made a public confession of all the sins they
committed? Of course not. What that means is, here's what
I confess my sins. I confess that I am so sinful
that the only way I can be saved is if I'm in Him. That's it. is all my salvation simply being
in Him." Now that is the first ordinance that He commended them,
you've kept that ordinance as I delivered it unto you. And what is the evidence that
I'm in Christ? Faith in Christ. What about your life? Listen,
I want everybody to have good lives, whatever that means. I
really do. But that's no evidence that you're
in Christ. The only evidence that you're
in Christ is if you look to Him alone. And if you do look to
Him alone, you are in Him. You've always been in Him. You
always will be in Him. What a standing. He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. Now the other ordinance with
tangible elements we're commanded to observe is the Lord's table.
The bread and the wine go in us. And this is just as important
as baptism. I want us to get that. This is
just as important as baptism. The bread and the wine go in
us and become a part of us and it can't be taken away. What
you eat. becomes part of you. What you drink, it becomes part
of you and it cannot be taken away. Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Now, how do I know He's in me? That's a big claim, isn't it?
For somebody to say, Christ is in me. We sang either tonight
or maybe it was this morning, Christ liveth in me, Christ liveth
in me. Oh, what a salvation is that Christ liveth in me. And
I'm claiming Christ lives in me. Now I've heard people say,
well, it seems like if Christ lived in you, you'd show it. I'm not saying that that's wrong. I mean, I hope we do. One boy
said to his dad, how big was Christ? He said, oh, I'd say
he's the same size as any other average man. He said, well, it
seems like he'd be sticking out of people then. I understand
somebody saying that, but am I saying that that's the evidence
that Christ is in me because he sticks out of me and you can
see him? No, the only evidence that Christ is in you is faith
in Christ. The only evidence that Christ
is in you is if you see in the Lord's table the broken body. Shed blood, doing it in remembrance
of Him. And you know when you do this
in remembrance of Him? When you want Him to remember
you. And that's the only hope you have. Now, what a beautiful,
simple picture the Lord's table gives us. And we do it at night.
Somebody says, why don't you do it on Sunday mornings when
there'll be more people at church? Well, because the Lord said the
same night he was betrayed, he took bread. And that's why I
believe we're going to do it exactly as the Bible says to
do it. The reason we have an order,
first we take the bread, first we take the wine, that's the
way they did it in the New Testament. There is a specific order. And
we only do something if we find a scriptural precedent for it. Baptism and the Lord's table. Now, me in Christ. That's what baptism signifies. I get excited every time somebody
is baptized because I remember once again, my salvation is me
being in Christ. That simple act. I love bringing
the people up out of the water. I think of Christ being raised
from the dead and my salvation being accomplished. Oh, how beautiful
baptism is. How ugly it is when people defile
it and make it the baptism of infants or make it a means of
salvation or the cause of salvation. But it is a beautiful, simple
picture of the gospel, me in Christ, baptism, and the Lord's
table, Christ in me. I live off his shed blood and
broken body. You know, somebody once said,
all we need is Christ. And somebody replied, no, all
you have is Christ. And that is what we eat and drink. Me in Christ, Christ in me. And this is a command, baptism
and the Lord's table. And he, before he starts, rebuking
them for so many things that we're going to come upon in 1
Corinthians. And pray for me as I try to preach
through this. It's not an easy book to preach through. And I
covet your prayers. But he begins with this commendation. Now I praise you, brethren, that
you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I
deliver them to you. Baptism and the Lord's staple,
the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for these
ordinances that you've given us. Baptism that tells us that our
salvation is accomplished by being in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray with Paul that
we might be found in him, not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. Oh, that we might be found in
him and Lord, that he might be in us Lord, we ask that we would feed
spiritually. off of who he is and what he
accomplished, his broken body and his shed blood that accomplished
the salvation of all your people. Lord, keep us for Christ's sake
and enable us to keep the ordinances as you delivered them to us. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.