Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-10-25
@eadiug fur the Sabbath.
........ CONDUCTED By
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
fOrlglnal.1
THE LORDS SUPPER.

two-Baptlsm and the Lords supper. Both
were given to the Church by Christ himself.
In point of time, the Lords Supper is the
older, being instituted before Christ's cruci6x.
ion; whilst baptism was not Instituted until
after the crucifxion and shortly before his
ascension. This being the case, it is scarcely
correct, as is sometimes done, to call baptism
ian initiatory ordinance" 1t is customary,
in most Christian denominations, to admins.
ter the Lords Supper to those only who have
been baptized. Under ordinary circumstances
this practice is wise and prudent; but on no
other grounds can it be defended.
The sacrament of the Lords Supper is
correctly called commemorative ordinance.
This, in substance, is what our Lord Jesus
Christ calls it. This may be fairly inferred
from his own language "Do this" he says,
Gin remembrance of me-" Luke xii: 19.
In the Scriptures, direct mention is made
of the Lords Supper in only four places.
These are Matthew XVI 26-29; Mark xiv:
22-25; Luke xxi: 10, 20, and 1st Corinthi.
ans i:23-27 1t has been supposed by
few commentators, that reference is had to
the Lords Supper in Acts ii AZ, and in He
brews xiii 10; but it seems forced to make
either of these two passages refer, even remote
ly, to the Lords Supper.
The simple fact that so little, comparative
ly, is said either by Christ himself or by his
disciples, respecting the Lords Supper. affords
US reasonable ground to call in question
much that is said respecting the comparative
Importance of the Lords Supper. tits often
said that the Lords Supper is the "mount of
ordinances" We are sometimes told that st
the Lords table, we make the nearest possible
approach that mortals, in this world, can
make to God 1t seems that were it true that
the Lords Supper is the mount of ordinances,
we would have more said about it in the
Scriptures.
There is something strange that Paul could
have regarded the sacrament of the Lords
Supper as the mount Of ordinances, and yet
never mention the subject but once in his
fourteen epistles. On examination, it will be
found, we think, that Paul treated subjects
briefly or at length, in accordance with their
Importance.
That the believer approaches nearer his
Saviour whilst celebrating the Lords Supper
than at any other time, can be settled only
by an appeal to the consciousness of believers
themselves. So far as we remember, there is
nothing said in the Scriptures on the subject.
Whenever an appeal has to be made to mems
consciousness, there is very great uncertainty
about the answer which will be received.
We do not design even to intimate, that
the sacrament of the Lords Supper is not an
important ordinance, and that the believer
does not make near approach to his Saviour
whilst partaking Of the emblems of his bro
ken body and shed blood. 1t is an important
ordinance, and, beyond all doubt, the believer
does make near approach to his Saviour
when celebrating the Lords Supper; but to
say that the sacrament of the Lords Supper
is the "mount of ordinances and that the
believer, through it. makes the nearest posi-.
BILE approach to his Saviour, is not warranted
by the teachings of the Scriptures.
That the Lords Supper may be properly
and pro6tably celebrated, there is required, on
the part of the communicate, an actual eat
inc and an actual drinking How much. of
the elements, bread and wine, must be used,
no one dare say, farther than itmust amount
to eating and drinking in distinction from
mere tasting. Again, all must eat and drink
the private members of the church as we'll
as the officers of the church.
The primary requisite in the communicate,
in order to the proper and profitable celebra.
ton of this ordinance, is faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Faith unites the soul to Jesus.
Whosoever believeth shall be saved. Faith,
in lively exercise, entities US to all the benefits
of the covenant of grace.
The more simple our views Of the Lords
Supper, the more likely they are to be Scrip
tural. Much is often said about this ordi-
nance of the New Testament, which, to say
the least of it, is bombastic, far.fetched and
strained. The Lords Supper is, in no sense
of the word, a sacrifice. On the day that
Jesus died, the period of sacri6cial services
came to an end. - 49,.
Believers should not, for trivial reasons,
neglect to observe the Lords Supper. Their
knowledge may be very limited and their
faith very weak, but such was the case with
those to whom the Saviour first administered
the emblems of his broken body and shed
blood. ..... ,....
Three things seem to be embraced in the
observance of the Lords Supper: 1st. A
public acknowledgment of the fact that we
are sinners, lost and ruined. 2. That renis-
sion of sin is through the blood of Jesus
Christ, and through bis blood only and alone.
g. That we believe in Christ for salvation.
In the celebration of the Lords Supper,
We are left to exercise our own judgment with
respect to the frequency with which we oh.
serve it, the position of our bodies while OBJ
serving it, and what shall be said by the min
lister when giving the emblems to communi-
cants. On these points we have no command
from the Master. On these points we should
observe that mode or method which is best
adapted to ediacation. Communicants may
kueel or they may stand upright or they
may reclne on couches, as did those to whom
our Saviour administered the ordinance first;
or they may seat themselves at table, as We
now do when about to partake Of an ordinary
meal. With respect to the position we must
take when celebrating the Lords Supper, we
have no instructions in the Scriptures. The