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T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
February 1929
disciple of Christ is, thereupon, to be bap tized “into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” This is the divine name which represents the rev elation of God in this dispensation of grace. There is abroad today in orthodox circles, a teaching that water baptism has nothing to do with the church, but was a Jewish rite only. This is indeed inex plicable when we are faced with the words: “even unto the end of the age.” Our Lord said (Mk. 16:15-16): “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not [He does not add the words, “and is not baptized,” implying that water baptism is not the in strument of salvation, but its outward seal] shall be condemned.” Baptizing and preaching the Gospel are, therefore, linked together in the divine commission. The answer to the question as to who is to be baptized, is found in our Lord’s words: “He that believeth.” The order of the great commission is first, make dis ciples; second, baptize; third, teach the Lord’s commandments. Men have no authority to change the order. The ministry of John the Baptist was to “prepare the way of the Lord” The way of the Lord was one of death, burial and resurrection for “thus” was the Son of God “to fulfil all righteousness” (Mt. 3 :15). There “went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mt. 3:5-6). Our Lord Himself went' all the way from Galilee to Jordan expressly to be baptized of John (Mt. 3:13). This He did, not that He hdd sins to confess, but to take a place among the transgressors. When John objected, Jesus showed him that baptism was identified with the work of God by which all righteousness is ful filled. "Jesus, when He was baptised, went up straightway out of the water . . . . the heavens were opened unto Him and He saw the Spirit of God de scending like a dove and lighting upon Him.” The practice of the disciples after the resurrection conformed to the command of the Lord. The very day the Spirit de scended, they proceeded to baptize all who believed (Acts 2:37-41). Shortly afterward Philip went to Samaria, and when they believed . . . . they were baptised, both men and women” (Acts 8:5, 12). In the same chapter Philip en joins the Ethiopian to believe and the Ethiopian asked to be baptized. “ They went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptised him” (Acts 8:38). In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus, having been converted, “arose and was baptised.” In Acts 10, we have the first formal procla mation of the Gosnel to a company of Gentiles. Peter said: “Can any man for bid water that these should not be baptised which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” In Acts 16:14 we read of Lydia’s conversion and the baptism of those of her household. Of the Philippian jailer we have the same thing; having heard the Word, he “was baptised, he and all his straightway.” Again, in Acts 18:8 we read of the result of Paul’s preaching in Corinth, “many of the Corinthians hear ing, believed and were baptised." Thus in every case, believing was followed im mediately by.-water baptism. Paul’s words in Rom. 6:3-4 seem to teach that Christian baotism testifies of the believer’s death to sin through Jesus
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE
"Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5 :8). Let us search and examine ourselves “and so let us eat of that bread and drink of that cup” (1 Cor. 11:28). As we discern Christ in this holy feast, our souls will be strengthened and refreshed. “My God, and is Thy table spread, And doth Thy cup with love o’erflow? Thither be all Thy children led, And let them all Thy sweetness know.” It is called a sacrament Because it is a sign and oath—an out ward, visible sign of an inward and spir itual grace; an oath by which we bind our souls unto the Lord. It is called the Lord’s Supper Because it was first instituted in the evening and at the close of the Passover supper. Also because we therein feed upon Christ, the true Bread. It is called the communion Because herein we commune with Christ and with His people. It is called the eucharist Because it is a thanksgiving, for in the institution of it, our Lord gave thanks and in the participation of it, we should give thanks. It is called a feast In allusion to the custom of the Jews in feasting upon their sacrifices (1 Cor. 10: 18). However, the Lord’s Supper is not itself a sacrifice, but the remembrance of a sacrifice made once for all. — o — S uggestive Q uestions 1. Who are fit subjects for water bap tism? (Acts 2:41.) 2. What are the two conditions neces sary for baptism? (Acts 20:21.) 3. Did Jesus Himself baptize anyone? (Jn. 4:1-2.) 4. How does the New Testament desig nate the communion? (1 Cor. 11:20.) 5. What is the difference between a sacrifice and a sacrament? (1 Cor. 5:7-8; cf. 1 Cor. 11:25.) 6. For whom only is the Lord’s table intended? (1 Cor. 10:21.) 7. How long is the church commanded to keep up the service of the Lord’s Sup per? N ames of T he L ord ’ s S upper G olden T ext I llustration This do in remembrance of me (1 Cor. 11:24). A father once kept a canceled bond for his family to look upon and recall how he had paid a heavy debt, through much self- sacrifice, to make them happy. Christ can celed the claims of justice against us, “nailing it to His cross.” When we come to the Lord’s table, his family calls to mind the canceled bond and praises Him for the great atoning sacrifice He made at Calvary’s cross. — o —
PORSAKING piN TOLLOWING \ aviour 1 Cor. 11:24. * ULLY S urrendered Mark 16 :15. “Where he leads me 1 will follow.” Christ, and his resurrection to newness of life in Him. By resurrection God received His Soil back again frbm the place, of death and by spiritual resurrection He re ceives every one of His true sons (cf. Col. 2:12). In Eph. 4:4-5 baptism is named as one of the seven great things that constitute “the unity of the Spirit." The other ordinance commanded by our Lord is that of the holy communion. The same night in which He was betrayed, He met with His disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem to eat with them the Passover Supper (Lk. 22:15). At the close of the supper, “Jesus took bread and blessed and brake it” (Mt. 26:26). As He gave them the bread, He said: “Take, eat, this is my body” (Mt. 26:26), “which is broken for you” (1 Cor. 11:24). As He gave the cup, He said: “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Lk. 22:20). “This do,” He commanded, “as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:25). These words speak not of ordinary death but of sacrificial death. As the Passover Supper was connected with the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, so the Lord’s Supper is connected with that of Jesus Christ, once for all upon the cross (1 Cor. 5:7-8) The sacrifice of Christ cannot be repeated; “He died unto sin once" (Rom. 6:10). “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9: 26). “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28). “Christ hath once suffered for sins” (1 Pet. 3:18). “The offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). It is very clear that there can be no fur ther sacrifice for sins, for “this He did once when he offered up Himself” (Heb. 7:27). “There remaineth no more sac rifice for sins" (Heb. 10:26). The Lord’s Supper is, therefore, not a sacrifice but the remembrance of one all-sufficient sac rifice. He used the words: “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” after the same manner that He said: “I am the true vine,” and “I am the door.” When, after feeding the five thousand, He said to the Jews: “My flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed” (Jn. 6:55), He immediately showed that to come to Him is to feed on Him, and to believe on Him is to drink of Him (Jn. 6:35). What meat and drink is to the body, Christ’s sacrifice is to the soul. The bread and the wine are sacred symbols, the out ward and visible signs ordained by the Lord Himself. Thus the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, not a sacrifice. Faith looks beyond the symbols to the work of Cal vary’s cross, and there is real communion with God and new discernment of Christ. Because of this we speak of “holy com munion.” Acts 2:38.
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