The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church Part 5

Thus the one great aim and object of the conscientious pastor, with each impenitent catechumen, is to awaken and bring about genuine, heartfelt penitence and a true, trusting, clinging faith. In one word, he must labor for that catechumen's conversion. Only those of whom there is evidence that they are in a converged state should be admitted to confirmation.

By this we do not mean, as some do, that each one must be able to tell when, and where, and how he was converted. We mean simply this: That each one must have in his heart true penitence, _i.e._, sorrow for and hatred of sin, and true faith, _i.e._, a confiding, trustful embracing of Christ as the only Saviour.

Whether these elements of the new life have been constantly and uninterruptedly developed from Baptism, or whether they have been awakened gradually by the Word, is not material. The only important question is: Are the elements of the new life now there--even though as yet feeble and very imperfect--or, is the person now turned away from sin to a Saviour? If so, we consider that person in a converted state.

And this much, we believe, should be demanded of each catechumen before he is admitted to the rite of confirmation. And it is largely because this has not been demanded as the only true and satisfactory result of catechisation, that this important branch of the Church's activity has so largely fallen into disrepute. It is doubtless because of carelessness on this point that so many fall back after confirmation to the world, the flesh and the devil. They did not hold fast to their crown because they had no crown.

Where the Catechism is properly learned, understood and applied, the intellect is used as the gateway to the heart. Where the result of an enlightened mind is a changed heart, there are intelligent believers. They know what it means to be a Christian. They have an earnest desire for closer fellowship with Him who has loved them and washed them from their sins in His own blood. There is good hope that such will be faithful unto death.

CHAPTER XII.

CONFIRMATION.

In our studies concerning the methods of Grace, or the application of the Salvation purchased by Christ, to the sinful race of Adam's children, we necessarily had to begin with the new-born child. We noted the first known operations of Grace at the baptismal font. We traced the infant through the holy influences received at a Christian mother's knee, and in the nurture of a Christian home. We followed up through the lessons and influences of the Church's nursery, the Sunday-school, and from thence into the pastor's catechetical cla.s.s. We have learned that these are the different successive steps in the Way of Salvation. This is G.o.d's way in the sanctuary. It begins at the baptismal font, where the child is received as a member of the Church of Christ; it leads through the Church in the house, and through it keeps up a living connection with the Church in the sanctuary. It is making disciples in accordance with Christ's plain directions, viz, "_baptizing_ them, and _teaching_ them."

We have also admitted all along that there may be some who will go through with this whole process and yet not be disciples of Christ at the end. They wilfully resist the operations of divine Grace, and cast away the pearl. This cla.s.s we leave, for the present. We will consider them further on.

We speak now of those who have been made disciples; who have not resisted the gracious influences of the Spirit of G.o.d, working through the sacramental and written Word. Their minds are enlightened; they know something of sin and Grace and the bestowal and reception of Grace; they have an intelligent understanding of the plan of salvation revealed in the Word of G.o.d. But this is not all.

Their hearts also have been drawn ever nearer and closer to their dear Saviour; they believe in and love the Lord Jesus Christ; they are _ready to give an answer to every man that asks of them a reason of the hope that is in them_. In the ardor and fervor of their young hearts' devotion they can repeat these beautiful words of their catechism and say: "I believe that Jesus Christ, true G.o.d, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is _my_ Lord; who has redeemed _me_, a lost and condemned creature, secured and delivered _me_ from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil ... in order that I might be His, live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness."

Further, they can joyfully say: "I believe that I cannot by my own reason and strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Ghost has called _me_ through the Gospel, enlightened _me_ by His gifts, sanctified and preserved _me_ in the true faith," etc.

But this happy faith of their hearts has never been publicly professed before men. And yet the word of G.o.d demands not only faith in the heart, but also confession by the lips. Rom. x. 9-10: "_If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that G.o.d hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation._" Jesus also says, Matt. x. 32: "_Whosoever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven._"

And should any one be ashamed of this public profession and refuse to make it, Jesus clearly tells such an one that of him He also will be ashamed in the judgment day. The Bible nowhere recognizes a secret discipleship. There are no promises to him who does not confess.

If our catechumens would therefore still follow G.o.d's Way of Salvation he must now also take this step, and publicly confess Jesus as his Lord and Redeemer and himself as His disciple. And for this there is no time so appropriate as when he desires to be numbered among the communicants of the congregation and partic.i.p.ate with them in the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

For this also our Church has made fitting arrangement. It is done at, or is rather a part of, the impressive ceremony of confirmation.

Who has not witnessed this beautiful and touching rite? And what could be more interesting or impressive than to see a company of young hearts encircling the altar of Christ, confessing their faith, and bowing the knee to their Saviour amid the prayers and benedictions of the Church? This is confirmation.

The catechumen has been examined by the pastor as to his fitness for this important step. The pastor has found that he possesses an intelligent understanding of the doctrines taught in the Catechism, and that the experience of his heart bears witness to their truth and power. On this account he is adjudged as fit and well prepared to be admitted to the holy communion. He now comes of his own accord--not because he is old enough, or knows enough, or because father, mother, or pastor wants him to--before the altar of Christ. There, in the presence of the a.s.sembled congregation and the all-seeing G.o.d, his lips confess the faith of his heart, the faith into which he was baptized as a child: He now voluntarily takes upon himself the vows and promises that parents or sponsors took for him at baptism. He receives an earnest admonition from his pastor to hold fast that which he has and be faithful unto death. The whole congregation, together with the pastor, lift their hearts in earnest intercessory prayer to G.o.d for His continuous blessing and protection on the young confessor; and, the catechumen kneeling at the altar, the pastor directs the intercessions of the Church to each kneeling one in turn, by laying his hands on him and offering up for him a fervent pet.i.tion in inspired words.

This is the simple and appropriate ceremony we call confirmation.

We claim for it no magical powers. It is not a sacrament. It adds nothing to the sacrament of baptism, for that is complete in itself.

There is no conferring of Grace by the pastor's hands, but simply a directing of the Church's prayers to the individual.

The confirming, strengthening and establishing of--the catechumen in Grace, is effected primarily alone through Christ's own means of Grace, viz.: the Word and the Sacraments. The Word has been applied to mind and heart all along from tenderest childhood. It is now brought home in the review and admonition of the pastor, amid specially solemn surroundings. The previous administering of baptism, and the perpetual efficacy of that sacrament, are now vividly recalled and impressed.

And this unusually impressive application of the power of Word and Sacrament confirms and strengthens the divine life in the catechumen.

Thus the means of Grace do the confirming, or rather the Holy Spirit through these means. Instrumentally also the pastor may be said to confirm, since he, as Christ's amba.s.sador or agent, applies His means of Grace.

In still another, though inferior sense, the catechumen confirms.

He receives the offered means of Grace, a.s.sents to their truth and efficacy, obtains divine virtue and strength through them, and with this imparted strength lays hold on Christ, draws nearer to Him, is united to Him as the branch to the vine, and thus confirms and establishes the covenant and bond that unites him to his Saviour.

We do not claim for the rite of confirmation a "_thus saith the Lord_." We do not claim that it possesses sacramental efficacy, or that it is absolutely essential to salvation. We do claim, however, that there is nothing unevangelical or anti-scriptural in this ceremony. On the contrary, we believe it is in perfect harmony with the whole tenor and spirit of the Gospel. If we cannot trace it to apostolic usage, we can find it in all its essential features in the pure age of the Church immediately succeeding the Apostles. In some form or other it has been practiced in the Church ever since.

True, it has often been and is still grossly abused. It has often been enc.u.mbered and entangled with error and superst.i.tion; and therefore there have not been wanting radical purists who have not only set it aside, but cried it down as Romish and heathenish. The more sober and conservative churches have been content to purge it of its error and superst.i.tion. In its purified form they prize it highly, cherish its use, practice it, and find it attended by G.o.d's richest blessing.

It is a significant fact also that some of those who were once its most bitter opponents are gradually returning to its practice. We find, for example, that certain Presbyterian churches confirm large cla.s.ses of catechumens every year.

Certain Methodist book concerns and publishing houses also-publish confirmation certificates, from which we infer that some of their churches also must practice this rite. Again, we find in certain "pastors' record books," gotten up to suit all denominations, columns for reporting the number of confirmations.

All churches must indeed have some kind of a ceremony for the admission of the young among the communicants of the church. And there certainly is no more befitting, beautiful and touching ceremony than confirmation, as described above and practiced in the Lutheran Church.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE LORD'S SUPPER--PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

Our catechumen has now been confirmed. The pastor has given him, in the name of the congregation, the right hand of fellowship, and also publicly authorized him to join with the congregation in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. For the first time, then, the young Christian is to partake of this holy sacrament, in order that thereby he may be still further strengthened and confirmed in the true faith.

This sacred inst.i.tution, also, is a part of G.o.d's Way of Salvation. It is one of the means of Grace appointed and ordained by Christ. It "hath been inst.i.tuted for the special comfort and strengthening of those who humbly confess their sins and who hunger and thirst after righteousness."

It is true that mult.i.tudes do not regard it as a means or channel of Grace. To them it is only an ancient rite or ceremony, having no special significance or blessing connected with it. It is at most a symbol, a sign, or representation of something, entirely absent and in no way connected with it. If there is any blessing at all attached to it, it consists in the pious thoughts, the holy emotions and sacred memories, which the communicant tries to bring to it and which are in some way deepened by it. At best, it is a memorial of an absent Saviour, and in some form a representation of His sufferings and death.

Now if this were all that we could see in the Lord's Supper, we would not regard it as a part of G.o.d's Way of Salvation. But our Church sees much more in it. With her it is indeed an essential and integral part of that Way. And since this is another of the few points on which the Lutheran Church differs materially from many others, it will be well for us to devote some s.p.a.ce and time to its study.

Much has been written on this important subject. We may not have anything new to add, but it is well often to recall and re-study the old truths, so easily forgotten. Before we consider the nature of this sacrament, we will make a few preliminary observations that will help us to guard against false views, and to arrive at correct conclusions.

We observe first, the importance of bearing in mind the _source_ from which this inst.i.tution has come. Who is its author? What is the nature or character of its origin? Our views of any inst.i.tution are generally more or less influenced by thus considering its origin.

Whence then did the Church get this ordinance which she has ever so conscientiously kept and devoutly celebrated? Did it emanate from the wisdom of man? Did some zealous mystic or hermit invent it, because forsooth he supposed it would be pleasant and profitable to have such an ordinance in the Church? Or did some early Church Council inst.i.tute it, because those earnest fathers in their wisdom deemed it necessary that the Church should have such a service? Can it, in short, be traced to any _human_ origin? If so, then we can deal with it as with any other human inst.i.tution. We are then at liberty to reason and speculate about it. We can apply to it the rules of human science and learning. We can test it, measure it, sound it by philosophy, logic, and the laws of the mind. Each one then has a right to his own opinion about it. Each one can apply to it the favorite test of common sense, and draw his own conclusions.

But now, we know that this is not a human inst.i.tution. The Church has received it from the hands of the Son of G.o.d. It was ordained by Him who could say, "_All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth_," and, "_In whom dwelt all the fullness of the G.o.dhead bodily_;" who even before his birth in human form was called "_the Mighty G.o.d, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace_." When we come to deal with an inst.i.tution of His, we dare never expect to fathom or test it by our poor, short-sighted and sin-blinded reason, philosophy, science, or common sense. "_For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts._" Whenever, therefore, we come to deal with anything that comes from His hands, it is no longer of the earth, earthy, and is not subject to earthly laws and human rules. His acts, His deeds, His words, belong to the realm of faith, and not of reason. Reason must ever be taken captive and made to bow before the heavenly things connected, with Him. Or shall we try to reason out His human birth, His growth, His nature, His deeds? Shall we reason out the feeding of the mult.i.tudes with those few barley loaves and fishes? No; they came through His hands, and the power of those hands we cannot comprehend. We cannot comprehend how that afflicted woman could receive virtue, health and life, by touching the hem of His garment--a mere fabric of cloth--or how the clay and spittle from His hands could open the eyes of one born blind.

Whenever, therefore, we come to study this ordinance, let us ever bear in mind its divine origin. It is _the Lord's_ Supper. This precaution will be a safeguard against error, and a help to the truth.

We notice secondly the _time_ of inst.i.tution. It was "_in the night in which He was betrayed_." That awful night, when the clouds of divine wrath were gathered over Him, and were ready to burst upon Him; when the acc.u.mulated guilt of a sinful race was all to be laid on Him, borne by Him as though it were His own, and its punishment endured as though He had committed every sin. Then, when the strokes of justice were about to fall, our blessed Saviour, "_having loved His own, He loved them to the end_." He gathered His little band of chosen ones about Him for the last time before His crucifixion. He spoke to them His farewell words, uttered His high-priestly prayer, inst.i.tuted and administered to them this holy sacrament. All the surroundings conspired to throw round it a halo of heavenly mystery. Everything was calculated to impress that little band that what He now ordained and made binding on the Church, till He would come again, was something more than an empty sign or ceremony.

Thus the time, the circ.u.mstances, and all the surroundings of the inst.i.tution of this holy sacrament, prepare us in advance to believe that there must be in it or connected with it some heavenly gift of Grace that can be obtained nowhere else.

We notice thirdly the significant _term_ by which Jesus designates this inst.i.tution. When he administered the cup He said: "This cup is the _New Testament_ in my blood." He calls it a testament. A testament is a last _will_.

Jesus was about to go forth to die. Before he departed, He made His will. He bequeathes to the Church an inheritance. The legacy that He leaves is this sacrament. Before we undertake to study the words of the inst.i.tution, we wish to impress this thought. A will is the last place where one would use ambiguous or figurative language. Every maker or writer of a will strives to use the clearest and plainest words possible. Every precaution is taken that there may be no doubtful or difficult expression employed. The aim of the maker is to make it so plain that only one meaning can be taken from it.

Neither is any one permitted to read into it any sense different from the clear, plain, literal meaning of the words. Fanciful, metaphorical, or far-fetched interpretations are never applied to the words of a will. Much less is any one permitted to _change_ the words by inserting or subst.i.tuting other words than those used by the maker. Christ's words of inst.i.tution are the words of His last Will and Testament.

We will consider the _nature_ of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the next chapter.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE LORD'S SUPPER--CONTINUED.