Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XII THE SACRAMENT OF THE RESURRECTION The use of the appointed means by the Church, the gift of the promised power by the Lord, are the forces, human and divine, by which the great commission is to be accomplished. The union of these two is symbolized and sealed in the sacrament of baptism, which our Lord instituted when He gave the commission. The sacraments of the New Covenant are baptism and the Lord's Supper. This is the order in which they are ordinarily put, and it is supposed to indicate their relative position-- baptism being considered the sacrament of initiation into the Church, and the Lord's Supper that of full membership. This is not, however, the true order. It is not true historically: the Lord's Supper was instituted first, baptism afterwards. Nor is it true sacramentally: the Lord's Supper was instituted by our Lord before His crucifixion to commemorate His passion; baptism was instituted after His resurrection to show forth His constant presence with His Church in the great work of discipling the nations. The Lord's Supper is the sacrament of the Church's redemp a8; tion; Baptism is the sacrament of the Church's service. It is in the strength of the baptismal covenant, not in the strength of the eucharistic covenant, that Christ's sacramental host goes forth to the conquest of all lands. And it is because the supreme service to which the Church is called is discipling the nations, winning souls from the world to faith in Christ, that baptism has come to be considered the initiatory sacrament of the Church. Each soul that comes under the teaching of the Church enters on Christian discipleship, and baptism is the token thereof. It is therefore for him the sacrament of initiation into the school of Christ. It is...
