The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 26

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26 The Lutheran Pioneer.

except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
Rom. 10, 14. 15.

eS

Of the Lord’s Supper.

We have heard of thé earthly, visible elements
in the Holy Supper. Under these visible elements,
the bread-and wine, we receive, as our Catechism
tells us, “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Let us well understand: the real, natural
body and the real, natural blood of Christ are given
us in the Lord’s Supper. Now, this is indeed a
great mystery and beyond all human understanding.
But this gives us no reason to deny its possibility,
as so many people in Christendom do. These people,
namely, would have us believe that the bread and
wine are merely to signify Christ’s body and blood,
and that in the Lord’s Supper we Christians by
faith are to partake of Christ and His merits, while
the true natura] body of the Savior is in heaven.

But here, as in many other cases, the question
is: Shall we follow our human reason, or experience,
or the infallible teaching of Holy Scripture? Christ,
when He instituted the Holy Supper, said as plainly
as He possibly could: “This is my body; this is
my blood.” Yes, He even says: “This is my body
which is given for you; this is my blood which is
shed for you for the remission of sins.” ~The same
body that suffered and died for us on the cross, and

the very same blood that was shed for us in Christ’s .
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passion, we eat and drink in the Sacrament of the
Altar.

But if this is not sufficient for you, read what
Paul writes to the Corinthians: “The cup of bless-
ing which we bless, is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it
not the communton of the body of Christ?” 1 Cor.
10, 16. If these: words of the apostle mean any-
thing at all, it is this, that the body and blood of
Christ are really and truly present and united with
the bread and wine in the Holy Supper. 1 Cor.
11, 27 Paul writes: “Whosoever shall eat this bread
and drink this cup unworthily, shall be guilty of
the body and blood of the Lord.” What possible
meaning can these words have, if the body and blood
of the Savior are not really present in the Sacra-
ment? How could an unworthy partaker of the
Lord’s Supper be guilty of the body and blood of
_ the Lord, if the body and blood of Christ were not

united with the bread and wine?

* Supper!

Let us also remember that the words of institu-
tion are the words of a divine ordinance, where
figurative language would be out of the question,
and where the Lord, as a matter of necessity, would
make use of the simplest and plainest language, in
order that all misunderstanding might be pre-
vented. An honest master, in giving directions to
his servants, will always be careful to make him-
self plain, and do you think that Christ would be
less careful in expressing His will? This becomes
even more certain when we bear in mind that these
are the words of His last will and testament. How
sacred in the eyes of men is a human testament!
How much more sacred should be our Lord’s testa-
ment as expressed in the words instituting the Holy
Is it not a sacrilege, indeed, to alter it,
or tamper with it in any way?

On the other hand, let us not lose sight of the
fact that our Catechism says of the Lord’s Supper:
“It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ, under the bread and wine.” If you will
refer to 1 Cor. 10, 16, quoted above, you will see
that the apostle says that bread and wine are as
truly present in the Holy Supper as are the body
and blood.of Christ. The bread remains bread, and
the wine remains wine, and they are not changed
into Christ’s body and blood. ‘This is also ex-
pressly stated by the same apostle, 1. Cor, 11, 26. 28:
“As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup,
ye do show forth the Lord’s death till He come.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat
of that bread and drink of that cup.” It is certain,
then, that in the Lord’s Supper we eat and drink
the true body and blood of Christ under the bread
and wine. Ir. J. L.

—-—- eee

Follow Where God Leads.

The Christian is bound to -follow where God
leads. But if God leads, He makes a way; and
that way is not always pleasing to the flesh. The
Christian must then do as the Apostle Paul did.
He says: “I conferred not with flesh and blood,”
Gal. 1, 16.

———————»r > ______—_

Never Alone.

Supposed friends may leave us in our days of
need and sorrow, even as the swallows go away in
our wintry weather. Still God’s children are never
alone. Their heavenly Father is with them accord-
ing to His promise: “I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee.”