LS-01-Divine Ordinances

Divine Ordinances 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

One can hardly but be impressed with the fact that our Lord Jesus, accustomed as He was to all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish faith, gave little attention to rites Himself. In the Christian institution, established by our Lord, there are but two-baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The first is a rite of initiation. It is performed by each of us but once, as we come into His fellowship of service. "By one Spirit were ye all baptised into one body." It is a commemorative act, for we are baptised into His death. It is also the symbol of a rich and full spiritual experience, for the old nature dies, that the body of sin may be done away, and we are united with Him in the likeness of His death and in the likeness of His resurrection, as we are buried with Him in baptism and rise to walk in newness of life. The second rite--the Lord’s Supper--is one of continuous observance. We often attend to it. This also is commemorative. "As oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come." It points us back to the foundation facts of our Christian life, declaring that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose from the dead the third day. But it, too, is the occasion of an ever-enriching spiritual experience. It is a communion. "The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?" It is sustenance. Here the Master breaks for us the bread of life. Here we partake of the living bread which came down out of heaven, the which if a man eat, he shall live forever. Is anything more required? Are other rites necessary? No, these proclaim the whole message of salvation through Christ, and they cover the whole range of Christian experience. "There is no room for other rites, because these two, the rite of Initiation, which is baptism, and the rite of commemoration, which is the Lord’s Supper, say everything about Christianity as a revelation, and about Christianity as a living experience" (Maclaren).