A PORTION FOR ALL

Beloved Congregation:

VIERY gladly do I comply with the kind request I received to write something in my weekly letters regarding the sacrament of Holy Communion. I feel the more impelled to do so because a part of the members of the congregation cannot follow the sermons in the Holland language. Most gladly would I reach all of you, but that is not possible for the present.

At the last two Consistory meetings we discussed the possibility and desirability of having meetings for confessing members of the congregation, at which a portion of Scripture or of the Confession of Faith would be taken up. The entire Consistory is convinced that this is most necessary and desirable; however, the decision was reached to defer this step for this winter. There were various reasons which led to this decision. The principle purpose in mind was to reach the young people (although one is never too old to learn); but seeing I have not yet sufficient command of the English language the Consistory considered this to be a serious difficulty. Moreover, the Consistory deemed it desirable that I first visit the members of the congregation, as there still are families which I have not met personally.

Three of my evenings are taken up practically every week with Consistory meetings, Catechism classes and sermons; in fact this will soon be four when the Confession class commences. Besides this, the ministerial work for the entire Classis East rests upon me as long as these congregations are without a minister. The study of the English language also demands much of my time, so that everyone can readily see that I do not have very many leisure hours at my disposal, in view of the fact that a certain amount of time is also required for the preparation of the sermons.

Although the Lord has mercifully restored my health in a measure, I can nevertheless feel that I have not regained my strength completely. I would have those in particular of the members who have learned to pray remember me continually at the throne of God’s grace, mindful of my impotence and my comprehensive and burdensome labors. May it please the Lord to uphold me in all my needs, as He has promised, with the right hand of His righteousness. May the Lord bless the simple efforts made to reach the members and baptized members by means of the weekly letters. How inexpressibly great it would be if the Lord would bedew these endeavors with his Spirit and employ them as a means leading to true repentance, but also for instruction and establishment in the Truth which is according to godliness, and as a means to bind us closer together!

But let us come to our subject. It is evident that the doctrine of the Sacraments is of great significance, indeed, of much importance, from the fact that Heidelberg divines in their preparation of the Catechism devoted six Lord’s Days to the subject. Moreover, our fathers wrote very extensively about the Sacraments in the writings which they left us.

The Sacraments are instituted by God, and as such we are to consider and accept them. The Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church in part has placed too great a value upon the Sacraments. On the other hand Zwingli, as well as the Remonstrants, has undervalued them. Rome asserts that the Sacraments confer grace upon those who receive them. Luther has gone too far in this direction, too, but not as far as Rome. Zwingli considered baptism to be a sign to distinguish us from the heathen, and the Lord’s Supper as nothing more than a sacred banquet in remembrance of Christ. The one as well as the other, however, obscures the true doctrine of the Sacraments. We must always consider that the Sacraments can confer nothing.

We must not needlessly defer the baptism of our children. Calvin as well as all our fathers judged that baptism should be administered to our children “as soon as they can bear it,” that is, as soon as the opportunity presents itself. We condemn the practice of having the father come alone with the child the first Sunday after its birth, because the mother should be present as well. Both have the same responsibility and both are to take the oath in the presence of the Lord.

At a Communion service not every one who partakes of the Lord’s Supper necessarily possesses grace. Indeed not, many receive merely a bit of bread and a draught of wine . . . nothing more; and if they are without that true and real fellowship with Christ they will never partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb in Heaven.

We must also remember that the Lord’s Supper is much more than a celebration in remembrance of the death of Christ. Both sacraments are seals of the grace and salvation merited by Christ for all His chosen ones. The sacraments are signs and seals of the grace of God. Read it yourself in Romans 4:11. Circumcision did not justify Abraham or confer righteousness upon him, but served to confirm that faith by which he had received the righteousness of Christ. This is also true of the Lord’s Supper. O, the Lord stoops so low for His people in order to strengthen their faith and to revive their hope, but also to enliven their affections! 0, that we would indeed learn to know the true value of the Sacraments by the instruction of the Holy Spirit in our hearts!

I must break off at this point. However, I hope to continue, the Lord willing, in a following letter.

Hearty greetings to all,

from your minister,

—Rev. W. C. Lamain

Beloved Congregation:

This time, with the invocation of the Lord’s help, I wish to continue the discussion of two weeks ago. May the Lord bless and sanctify it to the instruction of many.

I intend to write a few things about the sacrament of Holy Communion.

It is first of all called holy because the Holy God Himself has devoted these signs to a holy purpose. The Lord’s Supper may only be administered in the midst of the assembled congregation and with reverence and deep veneration. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has instituted the Lord’s Supper and has transmitted it to his church in order that it may be administered in a solemn and proper manner and as it was ordained by Him.

It is already becoming apparent in these sad and declining times that the Lord’s Supper is no longer observed as Christ once celebrated it. In some churches they who receive Holy Communion are not seated at a communion table, but the bread and wine are distributed from pew to pew, and almost every one partakes of them. In this way the sanctity of the Lord’s Supper is completely lost to view.

Holy Communion was instituted by the Lord Jesus to seal certain signified holy things, to the advancement of the sanctification of His people. Hence, only they may approach to the Supper of the Lord in whom the work of sanctification in the blood and by the Spirit of Christ has been begun. Consequently this sacrament is not for all people, nor is it for all who profess the truth.

At some places fewer people attend the services at communion time than at ordinary preaching services. There are some people who reason that communion is only for God’s people anyway, hence it does not mean anything to them. Such reasoning must emphatically be condemned. But now another matter.

There are also people who partake of communion but do not have the slightest knowledge of spiritual life; they say, “It might serve to my conversion.” We must also reject such a view. Concerning the former—we may never neglect to attend the ministration of the Word; this is also true of times of communion services. In the proper ministration of the Word, Christ is preached as the only name given under Heaven unto salvation. But this also holds true for the Sacraments. Both Baptism and Holy Communion direct us to Christ as the only ground and foundation of salvation.

Divine ordinances are the means through which the Spirit of God works. God can use the one as well as the other for our souls’ welfare. Let me give you but one example: When the sacrament of Holy Communion is administered in the proper manner, God’s people (insofar as they receive the liberty to do so) come forward to the Table of the Covenant. It is true, there will always be some people who come forward for whom there is no regrad or respect. This will always be so while the church is in this dispensation. However, not to mention these, here and there in the church one of God’s people rises to take his place at this table. This depicts before our eyes the separation which shall one day take place when Christ shall come to separate the sheep from the goats in the day of judgment.

O, the short sermon that is preached before communion can make such deep and indelible impressions upon our hearts! God can use one word from the prayer of the minister or from a psalm which is sung. We need to have but one arrow from God’s quiver to strike and wound our hearts, causing us as guilty and miserable ones to fall at the feet of God. And if communion would serve to make us acquainted with our state of separation from God and His people it could be a means to our conversion. Ruth also was privileged to see the blessedness of God’s people while she was still in Moab and the Spirit of God wrought in her heart “a godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of.” O, when Naomi in due time returns to Bethlehem she goes along with her, and when Orpah, at the boundary, decides to return to her country and her idols the young widow becomes established in her choice notwithstanding all that she lacked.

Children, boys and girls, O, do learn to appreciate the means of grace. When you take your seat in the House of God, pray a short prayer. Ask the Lord if He will convert you and bless His word and sacraments to your hearts. Don’t be ashamed to do it. The Lord has said in His Word—”I will yet be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” It will not be for the merit of our prayers. Indeed not. In the first place we must be mindful that the Lord Himself must teach us to pray by His Spirit, but also in the second place that God performs great wonders, when His people cry to Him in distress. Peter even counseled wicked Simon the sorcerer to pray, Acts 8:22 “and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.”

Men and women, may it be that the weight of eternity be impressed upon your hearts, and the necessity of the renewing of them by the Spirit of God. May God yet bless the ministration of His Word to your hearts, conducive to your genuine and eternal happiness. My page is again filled up. I hope to write again next week. Your well-wishing minister,

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