Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

away"reprobate"obedience."cup."righteousness."On Close Communion'The Reformed Presbyterian standard of admission to the sacraments is that comCommunion.' "monly referred to as "CloseSCRIPTURE REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTAKINGOF THE LORD'S SUPPER (Continued)The last article set forth the first three requirements. We proceed to the fourth.4"But let a man examine himself" (1 Cor. 11:26).In what does this self-examination consist? TheGreek word means to test, prove, scrutinize whethergenuine or counterfeit. "Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Orknow ye not as to your own selves that Jesus Christis in you ? unless indeed ye be(2 Cor. 13 :5). As set forth in the Shorter Catechism they are"to examine themselves of their knowledge to discernthe Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, oftheir repentance, love, and newCan the Church do less than require an acknowledgement that self examination is necessary for onewho would worthily partake of the symbols of thebody, and blood of our Lord ? "And so let him eat ofthe bread and drink of the5 "Heaven and earth shall pass away but my wordsshall not pass (Matt. 24:35). One more requirement seems to be necessary. Did the Lord JesusChrist actually give these instructions for observingthe Memorial Supper? Or, were they added by overzealous disciples who sought to magnify the importance of Jesus of Nazareth? Are these authentic andtrustworthy records, or are they the product of imaginative writers a century or more later ? The answerof course is found in the doctrine of the inspirationof the Scriptures. The denial of the inspiration of theScriptures is the root cause for the denial of the Virgin Birth, the physical resurrection, and the deity ofour Lord. It is the root cause for the denial of thesubstitutionary atonement and of the Second Comingof Christ. This is the reason why "Modernists" canrecite the creeds of the Church while giving thewords a meaning quite different from that commonlyunderstood. So to them the Lord's supper meanssomething quite different from what it means tobelievers that the inspired Scriptures are the word ofGod. Can the Church do less than to require anacknowledgement that the Scriptures of the Old andNew Testaments are the Word of God, and the soleguide for the believer in matters of faith and conduct?These five requirements are bound up in the instructions our Lord Jesus Christ gave in institutingthe Memorial Supper. The Church cannot do less thanto set these requirements plainly and solemnly beforeintending communicants. On the other hand theChurch has no right to add to these requirements.The Church has no right to limit those who acceptthem to one denomination. These are universal termsfor all, of whatever denomination, who accept themin sincerity. It is the duty of the Church to warn intending communicants as does the apostle in 1 Cor.11:27, 'Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread ordrink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy mannerLord."shall be guilty of the body and blood of theDecember 14, 1955The Church has no right to go beyond that in keepingintending communicants from the Table of the Lord.This is Scriptural Close Communion.The observance of the Memorial Supper is not a"privilege"that any body of men, however solemnlyordained, has the right to withhold, when the termsas our Lord gave them are clearlystated. Thoughthere may be some present of whom the officiatingminister may have some doubts, yet he has no rightto go further than the apostle did in uttering thesolemn warning that those who do not discern theLord's body will eat and drink judgment unto themselves.Did our Lord intend that the Memorial Suppershould be the high water of mark of separation fromour brethren? Did He mean that we may have fellowship with brethren, not of our denomination, inprayer, in the reading and preaching of the Word,but the one place at which we cannot have fellowshipwith them is at the Lord's Table? We believe thatthe opposite of that was intended, that the Lord'sSupper is the one place where members of the bodyof Christ, no matter in what compartment they travel, who accept the requirements contained in Christ'sinstruction, can have fellowship in loving remembrance of our Saviour in His person, His atoningdeath and resurrection, and in the blessed hope ofHis coming again.But there is a sad perversity in human nature,though redeemed and regenerated, that seems tomake it impossible for members of the body ofChrist, not in the same denomination, to have fellowin the deepest things of our salvation. Thisshipought not so to be. Wherever the Scriptural requirements for the observance of the Lord's Supper areclearly stated then all fellow members of the Lord'sbody should receive a warm welcome at His Table.When we adopt the Scriptural Close Communioncontained in our Lord's instructions, in institutingthe Memorial Supper, we will have taken a practicalstep in implementing section 4 of the Covenant of1871. This section states in unmistakable terms ourduty to cultivate Christian fellowship with membersof other denominations. This has been a sadly neglected duty. We have declared it to be "a principalduty of our profession .... to maintain Christianfriendship with pious men of every name, and to feeland act as one with all in every land who pursue thisgrand end. And ....by cultivating and exercisingChristian charity, labor to remove stumbling-blocks,and to gather into one the scattered and dividedfriends of truth andIf we now proceed to disseminate and apply this principle of truth(Scriptural Close Communion) we will have shownthat section 4 of our Covenant of 1871 is not a mereempty profession.We have yet to evaluate "A Scriptural Argument for Close Communion" as found in the 1953Minutes of Synod but not in our Standards, and,"teaching them to observe all things whatsoever Iyou."command389