Witnesses to Truth

by Edward Hoare

But what is more wonderful still, the divergences in the faith have not destroyed them. There are different Churches most earnestly opposed to each other, as the Church of England to that of Rome, and the Church of Rome to that of Constantinople; but all have the two Sacraments. So at home there are various denominations, sadly disunited, and in some cases, I fear I must say, opposed; but yet amidst them all there remains this remarkable fact, that, with one or two perfectly insignificant exceptions, they all observe these same two Sacraments. And what makes this more remarkable still is the fact that throughout Christendom there are immense diversities of opinion on the particular subject of these Sacraments; and there is scarcely any subject around which controversy has raged more fiercely. Both Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have been the subject of sharp contention; and they have both been misinterpreted, misrepresented, and misused. Desperate heresies have been attached to them both, and they have become the battle-field for most determined theological conflict; but, notwithstanding all this confusion of tongues, the great fact still remains, that after eighteen centuries of conflict, here they are still. Controversy has not destroyed them; perversion has not put an end to them; separation has not divided them; but in the midst of all disturbing forces they remain. Wherever you find Christianity, there you find them. In all parts of the world, and in all Churches on the face of the earth, they are inseparably connected with the confession of Christ; and, as a matter of fact, there is not a Church in Christendom which in some mode or other does not observe them both.

Now in the study of this fact we must remember, as I said at the outset, that they are not like solid marbles set up by some great men, and so remaining as national monuments; but they consist in very insignificant actions, and their existence depends on their being observed by millions of insignificant individuals. They are preserved, not by state authority or church councils, but by the loving hearts of millions of scattered individuals, who, though it may be in much confusion, desire to act on the bidding of their Lord. Thus they become exceedingly like the rainbow spanning the heaven. That beautiful bow, the token of the covenant, is formed by the reflection of the sun from unnumbered millions of minute drops of falling rain. Each drop is in itself a mere speck, a nothing, falling rapidly, but shining as it falls; and all these millions of falling drops combine to form the one beautiful arch, which remains perfectly still, and bridges the interval between earth and heaven. So these two Sacraments are maintained throughout the world by the faith and piety of millions of insignificant and short-lived individuals, each one undesignedly fulfilling his own little part; while the grand combination of all these millions of little individualities maintains in all places and in all ages the twofold token of the everlasting covenant of God.

(II.) Thus far I have spoken simply of facts, of facts open to the observation of all men, and, as far as I know, denied by none. I cannot imagine that even an infidel would deny any of them. I may proceed then to my next question: When and how did these two Sacraments acquire this position? As a matter of fact they are observed throughout Christendom; when then were they introduced, and how did this observance begin? To this question our answer is simple; for we believe that they were ordained by Christ Himself, the one as His last act before His crucifixion, and the other before His ascension. To us therefore who receive the Scriptures the whole thing is perfectly clear, and the fact is explained by the principle that all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ must receive, in obedience to His will, the two Sacraments which He Himself ordained.

But suppose there were any one who did not receive the Scripture account, it would be extremely interesting if such an one would endeavour to explain the introduction of either Sacrament, and would tell us who introduced it, and when, and how. If any person were now to endeavour to invent a third Sacrament he would find it very difficult to obtain for it a general acceptance through the world. The Church of Rome endeavoured to establish a new dogma respecting the Pope’s infallibility, and what was the result? They split off a large body of their own people, and they totally failed to introduce their dogma amongst any of the other churches of Christendom. In this respect the divisions of Christendom tend greatly to confirm the evidence of the Sacraments; for they show the complete impossibility of the introduction of these Sacraments at a later date than that claimed for them in the Scriptures. If Protestants had invented them, Roman Catholics would never have received them; or, to go back to a later date, if they had been invented by Rome they would never have been received at Constantinople. The Church of God is like a multitude of channels, all radiating from one centre. If you pour water into one channel you produce no effect on all the others, for the water will not pass across from channel to channel; but if there be a spring in the centre itself, then they are all filled together, for they all draw from one fountain-head. Just so it is with the Sacraments. If they had sprung up in any one branch of the scattered Church, they might have remained there; but there is no power on earth that could have carried them across into the other branches. So that now, as they are found in every branch, and in every part of every branch, the only possible explanation is that they have come direct from the fountain-head; that therefore the Scriptural narrative is perfectly true; and that they were founded, as there recorded, by our Lord Himself, and none other. As they came from Christ, the original centre, they spread through Christendom; as they were founded by the Author of Christianity, they are observed wherever Christianity exists. If any one doubt this conclusion, let him tell us where, when, and by whom they were first invented, and how after that they were spread through the world.

But we have not done yet; for if we believe that the two Sacraments were founded by our Lord Himself at the time and in the manner recorded in the Scriptures, there are certain very important results which follow.

Let us confine our thoughts to the Lord’s Supper. It was clearly declared at the time of its institution to be a memorial of the death and passion of our blessed Lord and Saviour. It was founded, moreover, on the night before His suffering, and that amongst men who were eye-witnesses of all that passed. Such is the statement of the Scriptures, which we now follow up by the fact that, from that day to this, wherever the name of Christ is named, there has never been a break in the observance of that memorial. Now what is the plain, simple, and obvious conclusion from all this? Is it not surely this, that the facts actually took place? The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the crucifixion, and it was founded among persons who were eye-witnesses of the whole transaction. Now if these facts had never occurred, and if the Book recording them had not been a true Book, how could the memorial have ever got its hold on the Church? The truth of the Book is proved by the existence of the memorial. The Book and the memorial are bound the one to the other. They stand and fall together; they cannot be separated. But the memorial may be seen throughout Christendom as a visible fact. It is, and always has been, co-extensive with Christianity. It is at this present time open to the observation of any one; so, seeing the memorial, we believe the Book, and are fully, perfectly, and historically satisfied as to all the great facts of the crucifixion.

But we must not stop there; for the memorial is not merely a proof of the facts of the crucifixion, but is also a proof of the doctrine of the cross. We have found that the memorial could not possibly have been introduced at any subsequent date, but that its institution must be traced up to the fountain-head, even to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and those words of His, “Do this in remembrance of me.” But this is not the whole of the passage, and we must not forget those other words, “This is my body, which is given for you,” and, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” The memorial, therefore, is not merely a memorial of the death, but of the purpose of it, and of the great principle which underlies the whole. It is a monument of those two sentences, “given for you” and “shed for you.” If it were a granite column instead of a simple service, these would be the two sentences to be engraved upon it; or if men wished to make the inscription shorter still, they might be content with two words, and write “For you;” for these two words contain the pith and marrow of the whole matter. It is not, therefore, merely the fact that He died of which the Lord’s Supper is a divinely-appointed witness, but the fact that He died as a vicarious satisfaction for sin—“a propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” It is well for us, therefore, to look carefully at the certain and undeniable fact, that in this nineteenth century the Lord’s Supper is observed in some form or other wherever the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is known; to consider well the utter impossibility of its being introduced at any period subsequent to the foundation of the Gospel, or by any person except by Him who said, “This do in remembrance of me;” and so to accept the assurance of its testimony that the body there given was given for us, and the blood there shed was shed for us. Divine atonement then is the great truth visibly signed and sealed to us by God’s divine memorial; and when we kneel together before that table of His, we may accept for our own soul’s everlasting peace, not merely the fact that He died, but the truth that He died as a propitiation for our sins; that His body was given in our behalf, or for us, and His blood shed in our behalf, or for us; and that therefore, without any further propitiatory sacrifice, or any supplementary mode of reconciliation, believing in Him, we are perfectly, immediately, and eternally free.

LONDON:
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND BOOK SOCIETY,
11, ADAM STREET, STRAND.

WORKS BY THE REV. CANON HOARE, M.A.,

PUBLISHED BY
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND BOOK SOCIETY,
11, ADAM STREET, STRAND, LONDON.