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Literature and History of New Testament Times

[231] <h2>LESSON XLII</h2> <h3>THE WORD AND THE SACRAMENTS</h3> This lesson and the two following are intended primarily to encourage in the student the diligent use of "the means of grace." The wise teacher will keep the practical purpose steadily in view. That practical purpose may now be examined a little more in detail. Why should the example of the apostolic Church be followed in the matter of Bible-reading, of the sacraments, of prayer, of Christian meetings? What was God's purpose in providing these simple exercises of the Christian life—what benefit do we receive from them? Perhaps the briefest and simplest answer is that we receive from them what is often known as "reality" in religion. <h4>1. REALITY IN RELIGION</h4> Many Christians are puzzled by the lack of the sense of "reality" in their Christian life. They have believed in Christ, but often he seems far from them. It is not so much that positive doubts have arisen, though certainly the lack of fervency gives doubt its opportunity. Rather is it an inexplicable dulling of the spiritual eye. The gospel still seems wonderful to the intellect, but to the heart it has somehow lost its power. (1) The Need of Diligence.—This condition is due very often to a neglect of "the means of grace," which we shall study in this lesson and the two lessons following. It is a great mistake to suppose that the spiritual life is altogether beyond our control. Undoubtedly it is instituted only by an immediate exercise of the divine power, independent of the human will; undoubtedly the maintenance of it would be impossible without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, in that work of maintenance, we have a very definite part. Many Christians suppose that any performance of religious exercises merely for duty's sake, without immediate spiritual profit, is a mere form. This supposition is erroneous. Not performance of religious exercises without spiritual profit, but performance of them without the desire of spiritual profit, is formalism. The appointed means of grace must continue to be used even when[232] no immediate benefit can be discerned. In the reading of the Bible, in prayer, in public worship, the Christian should first of all do his duty. The result may safely be left to God. (2) The Danger of Neglect.—Without such attention to duty, the Christian life becomes merely a matter of inclination. In times of great spiritual distress we call upon God for comfort and help; but in the long, level weeks of comparative prosperity we think we can do without him. Such thoughts are the height of folly. God is not our servant, he is not one who can safely be left out of our thoughts except when we think we especially need him. If we neglect God in time of prosperity, we may call in vain when adversity comes. (3) The Reward of Duty.—The religious life is not merely a matter of inclination; it must be diligently fostered. Such attention to duty, however, will never be merely drudgery. It may begin with drudgery, and it may become drudgery again at times, but if persisted in, it will be an ever-widening avenue of joy and power. <h4>2. THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE</h4> The reading of the Bible is such a simple thing, and so obviously necessary to the Christian life, that it requires comparatively little discussion. Despite its indispensableness, however, it is being sadly neglected to-day. Our fathers learned the Bible with a thoroughness which to-day is almost unknown. The change is full of danger. A Bible-reading Church is possessed of power; without the Bible the Church loses its identity altogether and sinks back into the life of the world. The process, unfortunately, has gone to considerable lengths. How may it now be checked? (1) The Study Should Be Made Interesting.—Something, no doubt, may be done by making the study of the Bible more interesting. Certainly the Bible does not yield in interest to any other branch of knowledge. The Bible does not merely present spiritual truth; it presents it in a wonderfully rich and varied way. If the study of the Bible is stupid, the fault lies not in the subject matter, but in the student or in the teacher. (2) The Motive of Duty.—Nevertheless, a mere appeal to the interest of the students is entirely insufficient. After all, there is no royal road to learning—not to Biblical learning any more than to the learning of the world. Solid education can never be attained without hard work; education that is easy is pretty sure to be worthless. Especially at the beginning the chief appeal in education[233] must be to a sense of duty. So it is in the case of the Bible. The Bible is the word of God; obviously it may not be neglected. Let us study it, then, primarily because the study of it is an obvious duty. As a matter of fact the duty will soon become a pleasure, but let not that be the motive. Let us read the Bible regularly and persistently, in entire independence of changing impulse. That is the kind of study that is blessed of God. Superficial study, determined by mere inclination, may at first sight seem just as good. But when adversity or temptation comes, then the difference appears. It is the difference between a house built upon the sand and a house built upon the rock. The two houses look alike, but when the rains descend and the floods come, one falls and the other stands. The Christian whose knowledge of the Bible is obtained by old-fashioned, patient study, never interrupted by changing inclination, has dug deep and founded his house upon the rock. (3) The Example of the Apostolic Church.—The example of the apostolic Church in the matter of the means of grace is especially significant. In the apostolic age, it might have seemed as though these simple exercises might be dispensed with. What need of regularly appointed forms when the Holy Spirit was so immediately manifested? Yet as a matter of fact all of the essential forms of Christian custom were present from the beginning. Regularity and diligence were cherished even in the first exuberance of the Jerusalem church. Enthusiasm of spiritual life did not lead to the despising of ordinary helps; the early disciples "continued stedfastly," "day by day," "with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart." Acts 2:46. The use which the apostolic Church made of the Bible might seem to some modern men particularly surprising. A book religion, men say, is a stagnant religion; living faith is independent of dead documents; it is only when the early enthusiasm is lost that belief becomes crystallized in submission to venerable authority. This sort of religious philosophy shatters on the plain facts of the apostolic age. Admittedly that was an age of freshness and independence. There never has been such an outburst of religious enthusiasm as that which planted the faith in Jerusalem and carried it like wildfire throughout the civilized world. Yet another fact is equally plain—this wonderful enthusiasm was coupled with the utmost reverence for a book. Nothing could exceed the unquestioning submission which the early Christians paid to the Old Testament[234] Scriptures. The exuberance of apostolic Christianity was intertwined with a book religion! The explanation, of course, is simple. Submission to a human book means stagnation; but genuine submission to the Word of God means always what it meant in the apostolic age—heroism and victory and life. <h4>3. BAPTISM</h4> (1) Baptism and Circumcision.—The sacrament of baptism had its truest predecessor in circumcision, the Old Testament sign of union with the covenant people. Baptism as well as circumcision is a sign of the covenant, though the varied symbolism marks the advance of the new covenant over the old. (2) Christian Baptism and the Baptism of John.—In form, moreover, and to a considerable extent also in meaning, Christian baptism in the early Church was prepared for by the baptism of John the Baptist, which had even been continued by the disciples of Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry. John 4:1,2. Both the baptism of John and Christian baptism symbolized cleansing from sin. Compare Acts 2:38 with Matt. 3:6,11. Christian baptism, however, differed from every rite that had preceded it by its definite reference to Christ, and by its definite connection with a new manifestation of the Holy Spirit. (3) Baptism "Into Christ."—In the apostolic writings, baptism is sometimes spoken of as a baptism "into Christ." Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3. The meaning of this phrase has often been obscured both in translation and in interpretation. The phrase "into Christ" in this connection means something more than "with reference to Christ"; it means rather "into a position within Christ." The Christian, according to a common Pauline expression, is "in Christ"; he is in such close union with Christ that the life of Christ might almost be described as the atmosphere which he breathes. To be baptized "into Christ" means to come by baptism into this state of blessed union with the Saviour. (4) Baptism and Faith.—At this point, however, a serious question arises. How can baptism be described as the means by which the Christian comes into union with Christ, when at other times salvation is declared to be by faith? One solution of the difficulty would be simply to say that baptism and faith are both necessary—a man must believe if he is to be saved, but he must also be baptized. Clearly, however, this view does not represent the meaning of the New Testament. The passages where faith alone[235] is represented as the condition of salvation are too strong; especially the vigorous contrast which Paul sets up between faith and works prevents any inclusion of such a work as baptism along with faith as an additional condition of acceptance with God. The true solution is that baptism is related to faith, or rather to the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, as the sign is related to the thing signified. Baptism represents the work of the Spirit; it is a means which the Spirit uses. If it stood alone, it would be a meaningless form, but when it is representative of spiritual facts it becomes a channel of divine grace. <h4>4. THE LORD'S SUPPER</h4> The celebration of the Lord's Supper in the Jerusalem church was probably connected in some way with "the breaking of bread," which is mentioned in Acts 2:42. Every common meal was an expression of Christian communion, but the solemn words of Christ at the Last Supper could not have been forgotten. Here, as so often, the book of The Acts affords little information about the internal affairs of the Church. Fortunately, Paul, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, is far more explicit, and inferences can be drawn from him with regard even to Jerusalem. Paul represents the Lord's Supper, not as an innovation, but as something that had been given to the Corinthians as a matter of course, at the very beginning of their Christian lives; evidently the sacrament was celebrated universally in the churches; Paul had "received" the account of the institution of the Supper from the Lord through the first Christians. In Corinth, as was also probably the case in the early days in Jerusalem, the Supper was celebrated in connection with the common meals of the Christian community. Certain abuses had arisen; the rich brought food and drink with them and feasted luxuriously in the presence of their poorer brethren; the spiritual significance of the Supper was profaned. Against such abuses Paul enunciates the great principle that the Supper does not work a magical benefit; if partaken of irreverently it brings condemnation rather than blessing. In I Cor. 10:14-22, the Lord's Supper appears as a warning against participation in heathen feasts. The pagan fellow citizens of the Corinthian Christians, by their religious feasts, held communion with idols; the Christians cannot remain with them and at the same time commune with Christ. A man must take his choice—either[236] Christ or idols; he must choose either the Lord's Supper or heathen feasts. Here the Lord's Supper appears especially as a sign of communion with Christ, as in ch. 11:26 it appears especially as a commemoration of his death. These two aspects of the Supper, and their intimate connection with each other, should now be explained a little more in detail. (1) A Representation of the Death of Christ.—The Lord's Supper, as is observed in the Student's Text Book, is representative of the death of Christ on our behalf. In many passages of the New Testament, the significance of that death is explained in words; in the Lord's Supper it is represented in visible form. The Lord's Supper is related to the story of the gospel, as the picture or the acted representation is related to ordinary discourse. In the broken bread and poured-out wine we not only apprehend with the mind, but actually see the broken body and shed blood of the Lord. Of course that does not mean, as the Roman Catholic Church teaches, that the bread and wine are actually by a miracle, at every celebration of the Supper, changed into the body and blood of Christ, but only that they represent them. The very simplicity of the sacrament should have guarded against misinterpretation. An actual image of the dying Saviour might lead to idolatry, or to an overemphasis upon the details of the scene on Calvary; the simple representation that Christ ordained is enough to be vivid, without being enough to become misleading. (2) A Representation of Our Union with Christ.—The Supper represents the death of Christ not as a mere drama, remote from us, but as a death on our behalf. In the Supper we do not merely witness the breaking of the bread and the pouring out of the wine; we partake of the bread and wine ourselves. Plainly the symbolism means that we who are disciples of Christ do not merely admire the holy self-sacrifice of Christ, but rather receive the benefits of it. We feed upon the body and blood of Christ in the high spiritual sense that by faith we obtain from Christ's death pardon for our sins and a fresh start in the full favor of God. These benefits we obtain not by our own efforts, but by a free gift. It was Christ himself who broke the bread and poured out the wine on the last evening before the crucifixion; it is also Christ who, through his minister, at every celebration of the sacrament, is represented as offering to us his body and blood. The Lord's Supper, therefore, is not merely a commemoration of an event in the past; it is also the symbol of a present fact. It[237] symbolizes the blessed communion of believers with one another and with Christ. <h4>5. THE SACRAMENTS MORE THAN A PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL</h4> So far we have considered the sacraments merely as one means of proclaiming the gospel. The Bible proclaims the gospel in words; the sacraments proclaim it in pictures. Even if that were all, the sacraments would be of great value. By these symbolic actions the gospel message attains a new vividness and definiteness. As a matter of fact, however, baptism and the Lord's Supper are more than peculiar ways of making a vivid presentation of the gospel. They were instituted especially by Christ, and the Holy Spirit has connected with them a special blessing. The Spirit can use what means he will, and he has chosen to use these. In the Lord's Supper, for example, the Lord is really present in the midst of his people. He is not present, indeed, in "a corporal and carnal manner"; but his spiritual presence is a blessed fact. The sacraments, therefore, should not be neglected. In themselves, when unaccompanied by faith, they are valueless; and they are not necessary for salvation. Ordinarily, however, they are a chosen means of blessing. When God wills, other means can take their place, but under all ordinary circumstances they are used. Certainly they should not be neglected without adequate cause. They have been provided by God, and God is wiser than men. The Lord's Supper should be received with solemnity; but sometimes young Christians have perhaps an exaggerated dread of it. The error of the Corinthian Christians should indeed be carefully avoided; wanton carelessness in the solemn act will of course bring the condemnation of God. But the Supper does not demand perfection, even in faith; on the contrary it is intended to help to remove imperfection. The Lord's Supper is not a dangerous bit of magic, where any little mistake might break the charm. Let us partake of it with a simple prayer, and leave the results to the goodness of God. <hr class="tb" /> In the Library.—Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": article on "Lord's Supper"; Purves, article on "Baptism." W. W. Moore, "The Indispensable Book." Candlish, "The Christian Sacraments" (In "Handbooks for Bible Classes," edited by Dods and Whyte). Lilley, "The Lord's Supper." <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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