A website of Psalms sung a cappella from the Psalter.

http://www.thepsalmssung.org/

Of Baptismal Regeneration, Paedocommunion, and Intinction.

Last night, while reading "Children at the Lord's Table: Assessing the Case for Paedocommunion" by Cornelis P. Venema, a connection between three issues aligned for me for the first time. Venema's book lays out a case against allowing children to partake of the Supper before they have professed faith. Within the PCA [Presbyterian Church in America], three controversies have been raising their head lately, all from the same group of people: agitating for intinction (dipping the bread in the wine to partake, rather than separate actions), paedocommunion (allowing children from birth up to partake of the Supper before making a credible profession of faith), and a variation of baptismal regeneration (saying all baptized children are regenerate/believers by virtue of their baptism). These three items are all foreign to historical Reformed and Biblical Theology, so I wondered why do "Federal Vision" types seem to hold all three?

Venema traces the emergance of the idea of "baptismal regeneration" in the late 300s, and then observed about the emergance of the practice of infant communion this:

"[In ancient eastern churches] the baptized member is immediately given the body and blood of Christ by 'intinction' (dipping of the bread into the wine). Unlike the Roman Catholic church, the Eastern church teaches that the mystery of the Eucharist must be communicated in both elements, is administered by intinction, and is given to infants upon their baptism and chrismation." [pg 19]

It then all made sense. If one believes a baby is always regenerated by baptism, they then are undoubtably a believer. If they are a believer, they take the Lord's Supper, and if they take the Lord's Supper and cannot yet drink from the cup, you need to dip it for them.

Thus is one example of how one error in theology (baptismal regeneration) can distort many other areas, and this without mentioning how it distorts the idea of union with Christ and justification, which then become benefits bestowed without faith - an idea at enmity to the gospel. The more you know, the more clear it is that "Federal Vision" is another system entirely and not merely a variation of Reformed Theology. It is a hop skip and a jump away from Rome, and has no place in evangelical churches, let alone Reformed Churches.

The Parting of the Ways

Below is a selection from J. Gresham Machen, a founding member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, "The Parting of the Ways." in The Shorter Writings, 217-227. In it, Machen lays out the case for the renewal of Presbyterian Reformed witness in the midst of the PCUSA's tolerance for heresy in its pulpits. If you are interested in Machen's writings you can read Christianity and Liberalism (his best book for today’s audience) or SelectedShorter Writings, from which this is selected.

"If [The Presbyterian Church] stands for Christ, it will do the work which he has put it into the world to do. And that work is the work of witness-bearing. "Ye shall be my witnesses," said the risen Christ, according to the book of Acts; and these words are really a correct summary of New Testament Christianity from beginning to end. New Testament Christianity is not a life as distinguished from a doctrine, or a life which has doctrine as its flower and fruit, but - just the other way around - it is a life founded upon a doctrine. It is a life produced not merely by exhortation, mot merely by personal contacts, but primarily by an account of something that happened, by a piece of good news, or a gospel. The apostles set forth the great event after it had occured - they said "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." The Savior himself in the days of his flesh proclaimed the same great event by way of prophecy: "Repent ye," he said, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," and "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." But whether the event was in the past or in the future, both apostles and Jesus proclaimed an event; Jesus gave to his disciples a message in which he was to be offered as the Savior of the world.

            But if so, it is important above all else to get the message straight. When a witness takes his seat on the witness stand, it does not make much difference what the cut of his coat is or whether his sentences are nicely turned. The important thing is that he tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So it is with that witness stand which is called the pulpit. It does not make so much difference about the manner in which the message is delivered; there can even be charity for imperfections in the spirit and motives of the messenger; but what is important above all things is that the content of the message should be true."  [217-218]

Many persons seem to regard the duty of witness-bearing as a merely personal or individual thing…It is really quite impossible to be a member of a body and evade the responsibilities involved in membership…It is not merely this one preacher who is saying these things so diametrically opposed to the gospel of Christ, but it is the whole Presbyterian church. The constitution of the church plainly regards the preacher as a representative of the whole body, as a man who sets forth the system of doctrine taught in the Word of God, and it plainly gives the courts of the church power to remove any preacher who is preaching what is contrary to that. But with power always goes responsibility. The whole church is saying to many a little one, especially now that the issue has once been raised: “This that you hear in the First Presbyterian Church of New York is the way of salvation; heed the exhortation, and you will be saved.” And the responsibility of the whole church is also the responsibility of every individual member; the government of our church is democratic, and democracy involves responsibility for the individual. Every individual member of the church – to say nothing of ministers who are members of church courts – has a vital responsibility for what is done in the pulpits and still more plainly in the agencies and boards. Individuals must witness for Christ, but the church must also witness in its corporate capacity, and no individual is walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel if he acquiesces in a corporate witness that is false.” [220-221]

“If a man may “Interpret” a perfectly plain confession of faith to mean its exact opposite, what is the use of having any confession at all?” [225]

“The public testimony of this preacher, and of the many preachers like him, is diametrically opposed to the gospel of Christ and is leading men away from the true Savior of their souls; it is producing a confidence in human goodness, in human ability to obey the commands of Christ, which it is the first business of the Christian preacher to break down. For our part, we feel compelled to relinquish all confidence in such goodness and to trust in the crucified Savior alone.

We certainly do not wish to “split” the church; on the contrary, we are working for the unity of the church with all our might. But in order that there should be unity within the church, it is necessary above all that there should be sharp separation of the church from the world. The carrying out of that separation is a prime duty of the hour. Those who try to save men by the ethical principles of a Jesus whom they have reconstructed through rejection of the New Testament witness should form one body; those who glory in nothing save the cross of Christ should form another body. And that latter body is the Christian church. What our Savior demands of us above all else is faithfulness. He has placed us in the world as witnesses, and the supreme duty of his witnesses is that they should testify faithfully to him.

The Presbyterian church, we are convinced, is still predominantly Christian; it would stand for Christ if it knew the real meaning of the hostile propaganda which is now attacking the center of its life. At such a time clearness is demanded of every Christian man; the hour for merely pleasant words is over; love demands the plain speaking of the truth. We are witnesses; and if we are faithful to our sacred trust we must witness truly, whether men hear or whether they forbear.

What shall our decision be? Shall we transfer our allegiance to another gospel? Or shall we, by the help of God’s Spirit, be faithful to the Lord and Savior who bought us with his precious blood? [226-227]

Martyrdom of Stephen

Acts 7:54-8:1 - The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, whe called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution.

My Sermon on the Martyrdom of Stephen.

Favorite Christmas Passage

"And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.   And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,   and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days."

-Revelation 12:1-6

Lawlessness is not Sanctification, but Sin.

"Not under law but under grace" does not mean "we shall sin that grace may abound!"

My Sermon on Romans 6:1-14: Sanctification - The Dominion of Grace

 http://www.providencepres.net/index.php?option=com_sermonspeaker&task=singlesermon&id=10130&Itemid=145

The Sabbath in Scripture, the Confession and BCO

Genesis 2

² Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host ofthem. ² And on the seventh day Godfinished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from allhis work that he had done. ³ So Godblessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all hiswork that he had done in creation.

Exodus 16

²⁷ On the seventh day some of the peoplewent out to gather, but they found none. ²⁸ Andthe Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandmentsand my laws? ²⁹ See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives youbread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of hisplace on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So thepeople rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 20

⁸  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep itholy. ⁹  Six days you shall labor, anddo all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventhday is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall notdo any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or yourfemale servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and restedon the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed theSabbath day and made it holy.

Deut 5

¹² “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep itholy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Sixdays you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ butthe seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your maleservant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of yourlivestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servantand your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and anoutstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your Godcommanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Nehemiah 13

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah peopletreading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loadingthem on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, whichthey brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the daywhen they sold food. ¹⁶ Tyrians also,who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them onthe Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! ¹⁷  Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and saidto them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbathday? ¹⁸  Did not your fathers act inthis way, and did not our God bring all this disaster^[a] on us andon this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning theSabbath.”
¹⁹ As soon as it began to grow dark at thegates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should beshut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath.And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be broughtin on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Then themerchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once ortwice. ²¹  But I warned them and saidto them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will layhands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. ²² Then I commanded the Levites that they shouldpurify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy.Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to thegreatness of your steadfast love.

Isaiah 58

¹³  “If you turn back your footfrom the Sabbath,
    fromdoing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
    andthe holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    orseeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
¹⁴ then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Matthew 11-12

²⁸  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I willgive you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, forI am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ Formy yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

^12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on theSabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain andto eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him,“Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³ Hesaid to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and thosewho were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and atethe bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for thosewho were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you notread in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane theSabbath and are guiltless? ⁶ I tell you, something greater thanthe temple is here. ⁷ And if you had known what this means, ‘Idesire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ Forthe Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹ He went on from there and entered their synagogue. ¹⁰ Anda man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to healon the Sabbath?”— so that they might accuse him. ¹¹ He said tothem, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,will not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹²  Of how much morevalue is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Thenhe said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, andit was restored, healthy like the other. ¹⁴ But the Phariseeswent out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

¹⁵ Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followedhim, and he healed them all ¹⁶ and ordered them not to make himknown. ¹⁷  This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophetIsaiah:

¹⁸  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
    my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
¹⁹ He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
²⁰ a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
²¹      and in his name the Gentiles willhope.”

Hebrews 4

^4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, letus fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but themessage they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faithwith those who listened.^{[a] 3} For we who have believed enter that rest, as hehas said,

“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished fromthe foundation of the world. ⁴ For hehas somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on theseventh day from all his works.” ⁵ Andagain in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

⁶ Since therefore itremains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good newsfailed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ againhe appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, inthe words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua hadgiven them rest, God^[b] would nothave spoken of another day later on. ⁹ Sothen, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God's rest has alsorested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter thatrest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharperthan any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, ofjoints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight,but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

WestminsterConfession 21:8

8. This Sabbath is then kept holy to the Lord when men,after due preparation of their hearts and arranging of their common affairsbeforehand, not only observe a holy rest, all the day, from their own works,words, and thoughts concerning their everyday occupations and recreations, butalso devote the whole time to the public and private exercises of God's worshipand to the duties of necessity and mercy.

Larger Catechism

Q. 116. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth of all men the sanctifying or keeping holyto God such set times as he hath appointed in his word, expressly one whole dayin seven; which was the seventh from the beginning of the world to theresurrection of Christ, and the first day of the week ever since, and so tocontinue to the end of the world; which is the Christian sabbath, and in theNew Testament called The Lord's Day.

Q. 117. How is the sabbath or the Lord's day to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath or Lord's day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all theday, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from suchworldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making itour delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken upin works of necessity and mercy) in the public and private exercises of God'sworship: and, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with suchforesight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch ourworldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of thatday.

Q. 118. Why is the charge of keeping the sabbath more specially directedto governors of families, and other superiors?
A. The charge of keeping the sabbath is more specially directed to governors offamilies, and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep itthemselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under theircharge; and because they are prone ofttimes to hinder them by employments oftheir own.

Q. 119. What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of theduties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them,and being weary of them; all profaning the day by idleness, and doing thatwhich is in itself sinful; and by all needless works, words, and thoughts,about our worldly employments and recreations.

Q. 120. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the moreto enforce it?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it, aretaken from the equity of it, God allowing us six days of seven for our ownaffairs, and reserving but one for himself, in these words, Six days shaltthou labor, and do all thy work: from God's challenging a special proprietyin that day, The seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: fromthe example of God, who in six days ... made heaven and earth, the sea, andall that in them is, and rested the seventh day: and from that blessingwhich God put upon that day, not only in sanctifying it to be a day for hisservice, but in ordaining it to be a means of blessing to us in our sanctifyingit; Wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Q. 121. Why is the word Remember set in the beginning of thefourth commandment?
A. The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment,partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it, and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion; and partly, because we are very ready to forget it, for that there isless light of nature for it, and yet it restraineth our natural liberty inthings at other times lawful; that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it; and that Satan with his instruments much labor to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.

CHAPTER48

The Sanctification of the Lord’s Day

48-1.“The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such

set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven,

to be a holy sabbath to himself.” (WSC 58).

48-2.God commanded His Old Testament people to keep holy the last day

of the week, but He sanctified the first day as the Sabbath by the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. For this reason the Church of the

new dispensation has from the time of the apostles kept holy the first day of

the week as the Lord’s Day.

48-3.It is the duty of every person to remember the Lord’s Day; and to

prepare for it before its approach. All worldly business should be so ordered,

and seasonably laid aside, as that they may not be hindered thereby from

sanctifying the Sabbath, as the Holy Scriptures require.

48-4.The whole day is to be kept holy to the Lord; and to be employed in

the public and private exercises of religion. Therefore, it is requisite, that

there be a holy resting, all the day, from unnecessary labors; and an

abstaining from those recreations which may be lawful on other days; and

also, as much as possible, from worldly thoughts and conversation.

48-5.Let the provisions for the support of the family on that day be so

ordered that others be not improperly detained from the public worship of

God, nor hindered from sanctifying the Sabbath.

48-6.Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and private

prayer, for themselves and others, especially for the assistance of God to

their minister, and for a blessing upon his ministry, by reading the Scriptures,

and by holy meditation, prepare for communion with God in his public

ordinances.

48-7.Let the time not used for public worship be spent in prayer, in

devotional reading, and especially in the study of the Scriptures, meditation,

catechising,religious conversation, the singing of psalms, hymns, or spiritual

songs;visiting the sick, relieving the poor, teaching the ignorant, holy

resting, and in performing such like duties of piety, charity, and mercy.