A Catechism for the Instruction of Communicants

By Andrew Thomson, D.D.

(See the May issue for a biographical footnote about Andrew Thomson).

Questions Nos. 49 to 71 (some of which have been edited)

1. Q. In what respect do Baptism and the Lord’s Supper differ?

A. Baptism is to be administered but once; the Lord’s Supper frequently. The former is a sign of our regeneration and “putting on Christ”; the latter is a sign of the spiritual nourishment that we derive from Him. The former may be administered to infants; the latter to such only as are able to “examine themselves”. By the former we are admitted, or initiated, into the visible Church of Christ; by the latter we profess our willing continuance in the Church, and our adherence to its doctrines and laws.

1. Q. In what respect do these two ordinances agree?

A. They are both of divine appointment: they both represent Christ and the benefits of His redemption; they are both seals of the same covenant; they both lay us under peculiar obligations to holiness in heart and life; and they are both to be continued in the Church till Christ’s second coming.

1. Q. What is your next reason for partaking of the Lord’s Supper?

A. It is an open testimony of our communion and fellowship with Christ; as we learn from the words of the Apostle Paul, when he is dissuading the Corinthians from idolatry, of, “having fellowship with devils,” on the ground that they were already “partakers of the Lord’s Table;” and in this way had declared their fellowship with Christ. (1 Corinthians 10: 20, 21).

1. Q. Have you any other reason beside those you have already mentioned?

A. There is one more, and it is this: the Lord’s Supper is an opportunity of holding communion with one another, as believers in Christ; since by eating and drinking the memorials of His death at the same table, we declare our willing participation in all the blessings which His death has secured for us, and our Christian union and friendship, as members of His body, which is the Church.

1. Q. From what passage of Scripture does this appear?

A. From the following: “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? For we being many, are one bread and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10: 16, 17).

1. Q. Since there are so many strong reasons for partaking of the Lord’s Supper, are not those culpable who wilfully neglect this ordinance?

A. Yes: because the ordinance is so positively enjoined by Christ; is such a becoming expression of our attachment to Him; and is so well fitted to promote our spiritual improvement.

1. Q. Are all persons, whatever be their principles and character, entitled to partake of this ordinance?

A. No: it is necessary for us to possess certain qualifications, in order to partake of it with propriety and advantage.

1. Q. What are the duties of those who are conscious that they do not possess these qualifications?

A. It is their duty to endeavour immediately and earnestly to acquire the requisite qualifications, and then to take the first opportunity of communicating that occurs.

1. Q. What is the unworthy communicating of which the Apostle Paul speaks in the eleventh chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians?

A. It is partaking of the Lord’s Supper as if it were a common meal, and eating and drinking at it even to excess.

1. Q. What was the consequence of the Corinthians acting in this manner?

A. We are told that visible judgments were inflicted on them: “for this cause,” said Paul, “many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” that is, are dead.

1. Q. Are we liable to the same crime for which the Corinthians were so remarkably punished?

A. No: the manner in which the ordinance is conducted among us prevents eating and drinking unworthily, in the same sense in which they are said to have done so.

1. Q. When may we be said to “eat and drink unworthily,” and to be “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?”

A. When we go to the Lord’s Table with improper motives; when we do not possess the necessary qualifications; when we attend without suitable preparation; when we engage in the ordinance with an undevout spirit, and in a careless or irreverent manner, or when we do not study or apply it to the purposes for which it is designed.

1. Q. Is not eating and drinking unworthily both wicked and prejudicial?

A. Yes: it is wicked, because it is a profanation of that which the Saviour has made sacred, and, therefore, an offence to Him whom it is our first duty to please; and it is prejudicial, because it prevents that spiritual improvement which the ordinance is intended to promote, and which is necessary for our present and our future welfare.

1. Q. What is the first step to be taken by those who propose to partake of the Lord’s Supper?

A. A serious and impartial self-examination, in order to know whether they are sufficiently qualified, or in what particular graces they are deficient. “Let a man examine himself,” says Paul (1 Corinthians 11: 28.) “and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

1. Q. What are the qualifications which they ought to possess?

A. They are such as are prescribed in Scripture, or suggested by the nature and ends of the ordinance; and may be reduced under these five heads: Knowledge, Faith, Repentance, Love, and New Obedience.

1. Q. What is the knowledge that is required?

A. Knowledge to “discern the Lord’s body.”

1. Q. What does the Apostle strictly mean by “discerning the Lord’s body.”

A. He means, distinguishing between the sacrament of the Supper and an ordinary feast, which two things the Corinthians had been guilty of confounding.

1. Q. May not “discerning the Lord’s body” be justly taken in a larger sense?

A. Yes: it may signify being acquainted with the peculiar nature and various uses of the institution; knowing, for instance, that the bread and wine represent Christ as our sacrifice, and that our eating and drinking represent our cordial reception of Christ in that capacity; that this ordinance is a mean appointed by the Saviour, for carrying on the work of sanctification in our souls, and so on.

1. Q. Is it sufficient to have a knowledge, however great, of this ordinance merely?

A. No: our knowledge must be much more extensive; it must embrace the various doctrines which we are to believe, and the various duties we have to perform, in order to our attainment of eternal life.

1. Q. From where is this knowledge to be derived?

A. From the Bible, which should be frequently and carefully read; from the preaching of the word, and other stated means of instruction; from godly conversation; and from those religious books which may help us to understand the Bible.

1. Q. Should you not always study to have your knowledge accompanied with understanding?

A. Yes: although I knew all the facts, and all the doctrines, and all the precepts that are contained in the Bible, yet these are useful to me only in so far as I understand their meaning and application. And, therefore, Paul and Timothy prayed that the Colossians, “might be filled with the knowledge of Christ’s will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” (Colossians 1: 9).

1. Is knowledge sufficient, then, if it be accompanied with understanding?

A. No: it is not even then sufficient, unless it is also reduced to practice in our daily life and conversation; for to the passage just now quoted from the Epistle to the Colossians, it is added, as the great use and purpose of knowledge, “that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.” In another place (1 Corinthians 13: 2) Paul says, “though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have not charity,” [that charity which is the fulfilling of the law] I am nothing.” And the Saviour has said (John 13: 17), “If he know these things, happy are ye if ye do them:” thus making our happiness depend, not so much on our knowledge, as our practice.

1. Q. Why is knowledge necessary as a qualification for communicating?

A. Because, if I have remained ignorant with the revelation of God in my hands, I have committed a great sin against Him, in thus, “loving darkness rather than light,” (John 3: 19), and if I have been unable to procure sufficient knowledge, still it would be absurd and dangerous to engage in a religious solemnity without proper motives, which my ignorance of the Gospel would prevent me from having.

To be continued