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Below is the Audio Script:
The Church: Rites and Rituals
Memory Text: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let
every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38,
NKJV).
The lesson brings up three key words: rites, sacraments, and
ordinances. Historically they have been
used interchangeably. But they have
different meanings. We will not discuss
that here. Suffice it to say that
neither rite nor sacrament appear in the King James Version. The word ordinance appears twice in the NT,
but never associated with baptism, foot washing or communion. Ellen White uses ordinance for them.
These practices had no merit within themselves. Lesson Sunday 1
However much importance we place on the “ordinances,” we
must always remember that these are not conduits of grace or acts by which we
earn salvation or gain merit before God. Sin, and what it has done to us, is
way too serious a matter for rituals, even those instituted by Christ Himself,
to be able to redeem us. Only the death of Jesus on the cross was sufficient to
accomplish the salvation of beings as deeply fallen as we are. As we understand
them, the ordinances are outward symbols of our acknowledgment of what Christ
has done for us and of our union with Him (and all that this union entails),
and they serve their purpose well. They are a means to an end, not an end in
and of themselves.
baptism (Friday 1)
“Baptism is a most sacred and important ordinance, and there
should be a thorough understanding as to its meaning. It means repentance for
sin, and the entrance upon a new life in Christ Jesus. There should be no undue
haste to receive the ordinance. Let both parents and children count the
cost.”-Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 93.
Baptism is death unto Christ. Recognition of your death in Christ. You died
with Him. It implies that whatever life
you have you lived before was not right.
Your life is not your it is His.
It is out of gratitude. All I
left behind is dung.
Our lesson says
The New Testament uses several images to describe what
baptism means. First, baptism symbolizes a spiritual union with Christ (Rom. 6:3-8),
involving participation in His suffering, death, and resurrection, as well as
the renunciation of one’s former lifestyle. In this way, baptism is linked with
repentance and the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38);
the new birth and reception of the Spirit (1 Cor.
12:13); and, consequently, entrance into the church (Acts
2:41, 47).
Foot wash
Both Peter and Judas participate. This means that Although
each may participate it does not mean that each is repented and clean; it is a
matter of choice.
We call it the ordinance of humility. But, it is Not only humbling for washing someone
else’s feet. Consider Peter interaction
with Jesus in John 13. Jesus says unless
I wash your feet you have not part with me (John 13: 8). So, it is called the ordnance of humility not
only because you act as a servant in washing someone else’s feet, but also
because it is a recognition that only Christ can truly cleanse us.
Lord’s supper
The Lord’s Supper replaces the Passover festival. So there
is a lot of parallels. The Passover met its fulfillment when Christ, the
Paschal Lamb, gave His life. Before His death, Christ Himself instituted the
replacement, the great festival of the New Testament church under the new
covenant. Just as the Passover festival commemorated Israel’s deliverance from
slavery in Egypt. (Passover is symbolic of coming out of Sin,
Egypt is Sin). Putting in a converted
mind in an old nature body (new wine in old bag). The Lord’s Supper also commemorates the
deliverance from Sin. The blood, grape
juice, and the water represent Jesus blood.
Bread represents His body. Not
only broken for us but that we take it in.
The Passover lamb’s blood applied to the lintel and
doorposts protected the inhabitants from death; the nourishment that its flesh
provided gave them the strength to escape from Egypt (Exod.
12:3-8). So, Christ's sacrifice brings liberation from death; believers are
saved through the partaking of both His body and blood (John 6:54)
- John 6:54
New International Version (NIV)
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Those who partake Jesus’ blood and flesh bring eternal
life. What is sternal life? In John 17: 3 it says that it is knowing
Christ and the Father. Knowing Christ
and the Father is eating the flesh and drinking the blood. It is through the Word that we know Jesus and
the Father the best, and the hearing of the Word yields faith (faith come
though hearing and hearing through the Word.)
Going back to John 6.
There we find that many were offended at Jesus’ words in verse 54 and stopped
following Him. Eating flesh and drinking
blood was offensive to many so they stop following. Ellen White says they fought conviction. Conviction that what they desired is not what
Christ was working toward. They wanted
national prominence. They knew Christ
was going away from that. Remember, He
had no place to lay His head.
Ellen White says of the Passover,
“The Passover pointed backward to the deliverance of the
children of Israel ,
and was also typical, pointing forward to Christ, the Lamb of God, slain for
the redemption of fallen man. The blood sprinkled upon the door-posts
prefigured the atoning blood of Christ, and also the continual dependence of
sinful man upon the merits of that blood for safety from the power of Satan,
and for final redemption.”-Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1,
p. 201.
So, communion also prefigures our continual dependence upon
the merits of the blood of Christ. Also,
in communion we look to remember the cross and look forward to the time of His
return.
1 Corinthians 11:26
New International Version (NIV)
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
With these words we see how closely entwined the Second
Coming and the Communion service are. That makes so much sense, too, because
the Second Coming is, really, the culmination of what happened at the cross.
One could argue that the biggest reason for the First Coming-which included His
body being broken and His blood shed for us-was the Second Coming. The First
Coming is what paved the way for the Second.
Each time we partake of communion, we dwell on the Cross and
what it accomplished for us. Yet, what it accomplished for us cannot be
separated from the Second Coming. In fact, what Jesus did on the cross for us
doesn’t reach its ultimate culmination until the Second Coming.
Matthew 26:29
New International Version (NIV)
29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the
vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s
kingdom.”
He is waiting to drink from the fruit of the vine with
us. Will we not haste the day when this
happens.
