# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1904_S16
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

16 Proceedings of the twentieth convention

LORD, a confession for the power of My death. — "Till He come." Does the proclamation of His death cease with the LORD's return? No, for in heaven the death of the LORD will still be proclaimed in all eternity, as praise, honor and adoration are sung to the Lamb that was slain. But the καταγγέλλειν [proclaiming against opposition] ceases. The sign of the cross will no longer be a sign that is spoken against; for when the LORD returns, every knee will bow before Him and confess that He is the LORD.

But until the LORD comes, His people are to καταγγέλλειν [proclaim] with their enjoyment of Communion, to bear witness against all false doctrine, and to confess the one true, saving doctrine of the apostles and prophets. Michael Wüling writes very rightly: "The holy sacraments are symbols, watchwords, standards of the Christian confession of the heavenly truth, of living faith and of true fellowship of the churches of Christ." He therefore adds with good reason: "Those, then, who assent to false, erroneous doctrine cannot use the holy sacraments without a bad conscience and name, indeed without offense to the weak in faith." (Dedekennus, "Thesaur.", vol. I, part 2, fol. 364.)

Only he who is completely at one with us in faith can partake with us at the table of the LORD. Whoever teaches and lives otherwise than the Word of God teaches is heartily welcome to us as a hearer in our service, but as a guest at the Sacrament we cannot welcome him. We should otherwise cease to καταγγέλλειν τὸν θάνατον τοῦ κυρίου [proclaim the Lord's death], as soon as we did the latter. It is not enough that someone who wishes to go to the Sacrament with us is one with us in the doctrine of Holy Communion, that we eat and drink Christ's true body and blood under the bread and wine, as he could think according to 1 Cor. 11:29, where the Apostle calls him unworthy who does not discern the Lord's body and makes him guilty of the body and blood of Christ, but because the death of the LORD is to be made known, he must be one with us in the whole doctrine of salvation of the Gospel from beginning to end; for we preach Christ crucified.

We close the passages that we here consider with 1 Cor. 10:16 ff. In verse 16 it says: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" The Apostle speaks of the bread and of the wine, says that Christ's body and blood are joined with them, and declares them to be the means of presenting to us the body and blood of Christ. — Verse 17: "For we, being many, are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread," that is: All who eat and drink together make a whole, namely the body, the spiritual body, the Church of our LORD JESUS Christ. By such eating and drinking they stand in close connection, in the closest fellowship with Christ and with one another.