Dr MJ du Plessis Reformed Church Bellville Date: 27 November 2005 (evening)

Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Psalm of praise: 149:1, 2
Prayer
Psalm 130:2
Scripture reading: John 3:22 – 4:3
Scripture text: John 3:26 en 4:1; Catechism Lord’s Day 26

John’s disciples came to him and said, “Teacher, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you said was the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going over there instead of coming here to us.” (John 3:26 NLT)

Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is baptizing and making more disciples than John” . . . (John 4:1 NLT)

Sacraments are meant for believers only. They are seals of God’s amazing grace granted to them. They are visible signs of the truth that God includes all the believers in his covenant of grace.

There are two sacraments: the holy baptism and the holy supper. However, they are not separated and can not be separated from Christ. Both preach the death and resurrection of Christ and consequently through his death and resurrection, the resurrection of the believers.

Both the sacraments had their origin during the Old Testament period. Also in a specific order.

First the circumcision. The Lord instructed that it had to be done on the eighth day. It was therefore administered to babies (boys).
Many years later the Lord introduced the Passover – on the occasion of the exodus from Egypt. It is celebrated by all from the age of twelve – those under the covenant.
Under the old covenant the principled applied that one had to be inducted into the chosen people before he could celebrate Passover. In other words: Circumcision preceded partaking of Passover.
From this it is already clear that baptism precedes the Holy Supper, because in the new covenant circumcision changed into baptism and the Passover into the Holy Supper.
However, the meaning of the two sacraments remains exactly the same:
- Through the baptism we are inducted into the people of the covenant.
- Through the Holy Supper we celebrate the salvation of the people of the covenant.
- On both occasions we celebrate our salvation from sin and death, and our eternal life with God.

The Jewish people let their children do confession of their faith at a very early age.

Usually at the age of twelve, and then they also started partaking of Passover.
The reason was that they got married at a very early age in those days. On average girls had their first child at the age of 14.

Now we should not come to the conclusion that the Passover was of less importance than circumcision because circumcision was administered on the eighth day already and Passover only at the age of 12.

Both were equally important, because whoever did not circumcise his sons, and also those who failed to celebrate Passover, were sentenced to death.

Let’s reflect on how seriously the Lord enforced these after He had introduced them:

How many of us would still have been alive today if this law were still applied in the way the Lord demanded it under the old covenant. ?
How many members of the church in this age would have been sentenced to death had they failed, with no good reason, to have their children baptised or failed to partake of the Holy Supper!

We should really take note of how God felt about it under the old covenant!

And this is what’s going to happen to us if we fail to have our children baptised.
This will also happen if we have them baptised but fail to bring them up properly so that they will learn to fear the Lord!

In the Scriptures we find a great resemblance between the meaning of anointing in the Old and in the New Testament and the holy baptism.

For example, a prophet was anointed by order of the Lord. A fragrant ointment or oil was poured out on his head and it ran down onto his shoulders.
The anointment was the sign that a person had been chosen for that specific office, while the beautiful fragrance was the sign that the Spirit of God was then with him.
Die salwing was dus ’n teken dat iemand tot daardie amp uitverkies is.
It was also a sign that this person would receive wisdom from God to serve in this office and to teach the people, to whom he was sent, to fear the Lord.

Exactly the same applies in respect of the holy baptism. Jesus Christ also had Himself baptised. He went to John the Baptist to be baptised. This was done to satisfy all justice.

Baptism is a Divine calling,
But also a command.
It is also a sign and seal of God’s special grace over the one who is baptised.
This is the fruit/result of predestination. M.a.w.In other words, you are baptised by God because He wants to show that you are a chosen person who partake in the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can also say that baptism is induction into the congregation. A person becomes a member of the congregation when he is baptised, not only when he publicly confesses his faith. A baptised child is as much a member of the church as a member who has confessed his faith in the presence of the congregation.

Hence, beloved young brother and sister, although you still attend the catechism class, you can also be disciplined like the adults, and you can even be banned from the congregation if you seriously sin and persist in doing it!

The holy baptism is also a visual sign of God that He enables us to fulfil our calling and work as believers.

Through the will of the Father,
and through the grace of Christ,
and through God the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

To be baptised in Christ means that you are a Christian now.

Children are Christians just like us grown-ups!
We Christians are all prophets, priests and kings. When we were baptised we were actually anointed as prophets, priests and kings, because now we have the anointment of the Holy Spirit.

Some time later the Lord Jesus called a group of disciples and taught them what one should believe to be saved. He also taught them to do what should be done in the church of the New Testamentbehoort: They baptised believers.

After his death and resurrection Jesus sent the twelve apostles into the world. Just picture this significant occasion again. It was such a remarkable moment!

Jesus was dead.
Then He rose from the dead and appeared to people.
He called his disciples to meet on the mountain.
They arrived and Jesus appeared to them.
The moment they saw Him, they worshipped Him!
During this time of prayer Jesus approached them and said that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him.
Then Jesus told his disciples:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. (Matthew 28:19 NLT)

According to Matthew these were the last words that Jesus said to them before He was taken up into heaven.

The kingdom of God is holy, and hence everyone who enters it receives the sign of holiness, the seal of his grace.

We are called to be citizens of his kingdom and this calling is confirmed by our baptism.
We are called under a new covenant, and the Spirit of God is our Guide in fulfilling this covenant.

However, we should not ignore the last part of the instruction to baptise!

Teach them to obey all the commands I have given you!

The instruction is very clear:

Whoever is not included in the new covenant, must first be taught before he can be included in the new covenant.
But our children are already included in the covenant.
This means that it is our solemn duty to teach our children the Christian doctrine until they publicly confess their faith and then accept the responsibilities regarding their faith.

And if we, as parents, do not fulfil our duty, we deserve damnation before the Lord. This is what happened in the Old Testament. We should seriously reflect on this before we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Do we as parents have the right to partake of a sacrament if we do not teach our children about salvation and fear of God?
How can you as a father and mother enjoy the grace of God while you do not share the knowledge of grace with your children?

Catechism class is not sufficient for your child. It forms but a very small part of your child’s education in faith.

You must teach him to pray.
You must teach him to trust in God.
You must teach him to turn away from sin, and to move on – stronger in faith.
You promised this to God when you presented your child at the font and the Lord sealed him as a chosen person.

This brings us to another aspect of baptism. Baptism is the sign of remission of sins.

Does your child have a sense of sin and the burden of sins? Does he know where this burden or sins are taking him if God does not intervene and save him?.
Have you taught your child to love God?

In so many cases the answer is: NO! Because we do not always keep the promise to God to teach our children about his redemptive counsel! Beloved parents, for this God will bring us to justice.

And to you, children of the Lord:

Through your baptism you are compelled to be holy and to live a holy life.
The Holy Spirit inspires you to learn, and to grow in faith, because as you grow older you must accept the responsibilities of the church, and in a few years’ time the kingdom of God must be further developed by you.
The fact that you were baptised, compels you to obey the Lord.

Then trust the Lord, because He has proved to you, in a visual way, that He is faithful.

And struggle to live a holy life.

Beloved, what applies to our children, applies even more to us!

Let us then live accordingly, and fight against evil so that on Judgment Day our baptism would not testify against us.

Let’s read together Catechism Lord’s Day 26.

69. Q. How does holy baptism signify and seal to you that the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross benefits you?
A. In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing [1] and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly His blood and Spirit wash away the impurity of my soul, that is, all my sins.[2]
[1] Matt. 28:19. [2] Matt. 3:11; Mark 16:16; John 1:33; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3, 4; I Pet. 3:21.

70. Q. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit?
A. To be washed with Christ's blood means to receive forgiveness of sins from God, through grace, because of Christ's blood, poured out for us in His sacrifice on the cross.[1] To be washed with His Spirit means to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and sanctified to be members of Christ, so that more and more we become dead to sin and lead a holy and blameless life.[2]
[1] Ez. 36:25; Zech. 13:1; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 12:24; I Pet. 1:2; Rev. 1:5; 7:14. [2] John 3:5-8; Rom. 6:4; I Cor. 6:11; Col. 2:11, 12.

71. Q. Where has Christ promised that He will wash us with His blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism?
A. In the institution of baptism, where He says: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16). This promise is repeated where Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins (Titus 3:5; Acts 22:16).

Amen.

Closing prayer
Closing hymn: Psalm 138:1

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 27 November 2005 (evening)

(About the Passover) During these festival days each year, you must explain to your children why you are celebrating. Say to them, ‘This is a celebration of what the Lord did for us when we left Egypt.’ (Exodus 13:8)

For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)

. . . further instructions about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:2)

And this is a picture of baptism which now saves you by the power of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is appeal to God from a clean conscience (1 Peter 3:21)