THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH. By the ordinances, we mean those outward rites which Christ has appointed to be administered in his church as visible signs of the saving truth of the gospel. They are signs, in that they vividly express this truth and confirm it to the believer. In contrast with this characteristically Protestant view, the Romanist regards the ordinances as actually conferring grace and producing holiness. Instead of being the external manifestation of a preceding union with Christ, they are the physical means of constituting and maintaining this union. With the Romanist, in this particular, sacramentalists of every name substantially agree. The Papal Church holds to seven sacraments or ordinances :— ordination, confirmation, matrimony, extreme unction, penance, baptism and the eucharist. The ordinances prescribed in the N. T., however, are two and only two, viz. :— Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. I. Baptism. Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in token of his previous entrance into the communion of Christ’s death and resurrection,— or, in other words, in token of his regeneration through union with Christ. 1. Baptism an Ordinance of Christ. A. Proof that Christ instituted an external rite called baptism. (a) From the words of the great commission. Mat 28 :19—”Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; Mark 16 :16 —” le that believeth and is baptized shall be saved “— we hold, with Westcott and Hort, that Mark 16: 9-20 Is of canonical authority, though probably not written by Mark himself. (6) From the injunctions of the apostles. lets 2 : 38 —”And Peter said unto them, Repent je, and be baptised every one of jon in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins.” (c) From the fact that the members of the New Testament churches were baptized believers. Rom. 6 : 3-5 ~” Or are ye ignorant that all ve who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him by the likeness of his death, we shall be also by the likeness of bis resurrection “; Col. 2 :11,12—” in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (d) From the universal practice of such a rite in Christian churches of subsequent times. II. The Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is that outward rite in which the assembled church eats bread broken and drinks wine poured forth by its appointed representative, in token of its constant dependence on the once crucified, now risen Savior, as source of its spiritual life; or, in other words, in token of that abiding communion of Christ’s death and resurrection through which the life begun in regeneration is sustained and perfected. On the Lord’s Supper in general, see Weston, in Madison Avenue Lectures, 183-186; Dagg, Church Order, 203-214. 1. The Lord’s Supper an Ordinance instituted by Christ. (a) Christ appointed an outward rite to be observed by his disciples in remembrance of his death. It was to be observed after his death; only after his death could it completely fulfill its purpose as a feast of commemoration. Luke 22 ■ 19 —” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it. and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cap is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you”; 1 Corinthians 11 : 23-25 —” For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, how that the lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you; this do in remembrance of me. In like manner the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” Observe that this communion was Christian communion before Christ’s death, Just as John’s baptism was Christian baptism before Christ’s death. (6) From the apostolic injunction with regard to its celebration in the church until Christ’s second coming, we infer that it was the original intention of our Lord to institute a rite of perpetual and universal obligation. 1 Cor. 11 : 26 —” For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come”; cf. Mat. 26 : 29—”But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom “; Mark 14 ; 25 —” Verily I say unto you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (c) The uniform practice of the N. T. churches, and the celebration of such a rite in subsequent ages by almost all churches professing to be Christian, is best explained upon the supposition that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance established by Christ himself. Acts 2 : 42 —” And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers “; 46 —” And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they did take their food with gladness and singleness of heart”—on the words here translated “at home” (*m’ o!>cok), but meaning, as Jacob maintains, ” from one worship-room to another,” see page 540, (c). Acts 20 : 7 —” And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them “; 1 Cor. 10 :16 —” The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread.” 2. The Mode of Administering the Lord’s Supper, (a) The elements are bread and wine. Although the bread which Jesus broke at the institution of the ordinance was doubtless the unleavened bread of the Passover, there is nothing in the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper which necessitates the Romanist use of the wafer. Although the wine which Jesus poured out was doubtless the ordinary fermented juice of the grape, there Is nothing in the symbolism of the ordinance which forbids the use of unfermented juice of the grape. Neither the one nor the other is to be regarded as essential to the validity of the ordinance. Cider, milk, or even water, may be substituted for wine, when this latter is not to be obtained, just as dried flsh is substituted for bread in Iceland. Adon Irani Judson, however (Life, by his Son, 352), writes from Iturmnh: “No wine to be procured in this place, on which account we are unable to meet with the other churches this day in partaking of the Lord’s Supper.” For proof that Bible wines, like all other wines, are fermented, see Presb. Rev., 1881:80-114; 1882 :78-108, 804-399, 586. Per contra, see Samson, Ulble Wines. On the Scripture Law of Temperance, see Presb. Rev., 1888 :287-824. (6) The communion is of both kinds,— that is, communicants are to partake both of the bread and of the wine.

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