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Q. 95 To whom is Baptism to be administered---A. Baptism is not be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to Him- but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptised.--Today, I want to show you from scripture that we are not to neglect the baptism of either those who profess or of their children.

As we come to the first chapter, we may think of all the things that pull us as so many voices calling us to ignore God's voice -or at least tone it down a bit- and listen to them. Hebrews confronts us from the very first verse with the voice of God. Everything in this letter-indeed-everything in the Bible-boils down to this. God Himself has spoken in His Son. Will you hear Him, or will you follow the voice of another-

Q. 94 What is Baptism---A. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to the Lord's.--I will endeavour to explain this and to support it from the Bible so that you can better understand what baptism is. Mark begins his gospel with baptism, calling it the beginning of the gospel. He doesn't explain what baptism itself is because it was already known from the Old Testament.

Last week, I presented a song for us to sing as we undertake our study of Hebrews. We will sing this Psalm as I preach through the first two chapters of Hebrews. The Song is Psalm 118. There is so much in this Psalm that I decided to do two sermons on it.

Q. 93 Which are the sacraments of the New Testament---A. The sacraments of the New Testament are, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.--That is a simple question to memorise and answer, but it is not such a simple question to explain because the church has very divergent views. The view presented in our catechism is that of the churches of the Reformation -500 years ago- which sought to return to the teaching and worship appointed by Christ in the scriptures by Christ and His apostles. Ritualism had grown up in the first 1000 years or so such that the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church held to seven sacraments. Some modern evangelical churches do not believe there are any sacraments at all. Today I will attempt to set forth the Biblical teaching about this.

Today, we are taking up a theme song, Psalm 118, to go with Hebrews chapter 1 - 2. Psalm 118-22 is the verse around which the whole Psalm revolves- -The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.-

Q. 92 What is a sacrament---A. A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ- wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.--What a gracious Saviour He is to give us sacraments as an additional help to our faith- Our scripture reading is from a passage that shows us His zeal for helping our faith.

Today, we are starting a new sermon series in the Epistle to the Hebrews. This week, I want to do a general introduction to the entire book of Hebrews.--The original recipients would have been expected to read the whole epistle in one sitting-a reading that would take about forty-five minutes. They would have read to the end and seen what the author expects his hearers to do with this letter. I am going to use this concluding section for our scripture reading.

Q. 91 How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation---A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them- but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of His Spirit, in them that by faith receive them.--Do not think that you are blessed simply because you were baptised and eat the Lord's Supper.

Q. 90 How is the Word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation---A. That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer- receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.--As you can see, the reception of the Word is a very serious matter. There are four soils, and only one of them receives the Word for salvation- Only the soil that is said to -hear the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it, and bear fruit with patience- bears fruit for eternal life. God must give us such a heart because none of us has it on our own, but if we are to be saved, we must have such a heart. The parable of the lamp shows that we must receive the Word instead of avoiding it. Jesus' command summarises it all when He says, in verse 18- Take heed how you hear.

Whenever we receive new members, and especially when we receive a covenant child by baptism, it draws attention to the fact that we are all citizens of heaven if we are in Christ. For this reason, I began a two-part sermon series last time called -Citizens of Heaven.-

Q. 89 How is the Word made effectual to salvation---A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading but especially the preaching of the Word, and effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith, unto salvation.--This afternoon we are going to look at how God uses the Bible in our lives.

Before we begin our new sermon series in Hebrews, we will have a few more sermons on various matters. This week, I want to have the first of two sermons from Philippians 3-20 on being citizens of heaven. I chose this Citizens of Heaven theme partly because we are having a baptism and receiving new members, but also because I want to remind you of what a great privilege it is to be a citizen of heaven.