BAPTISM AND THE HOLY SUPPER

At the time of their emancipation from Egyptian bondage the Children of Israel knew very little about religion. Gradually, though in a very external manner, they learned to worship Jehovah. But that worship, to make any impression on their minds, had to be spectacular and ritualistic. To satisfy themselves that they were a special and peculiar people, they adopted the rite of circumcision.

In course of time, under the Mosaic and Levitical laws, they evolved a complete system of rites and ceremonies. These rites and ceremonies were of a twofold character. First came lustrations: washings and purifications. By using water, they sought to remove all physical impurity. And there was undoubtedly some perception in their minds that' these external purifications were symbolic of the purification of the heart. This system of lustration became complex and burdensome, but it was faithfully followed during many generations.

Equally complex and extensive became the system of sacrifices. The altar reeked with the blood of oxen, sheep, and doves. There were thank offerings, peace offerings, and many others. Here, again, there must have been some perception in their minds that the animals sacrificed on the altar were symbolic of the consecration of human affections to the Lord. Swedenborg teaches us that the Lord had no desire for these lustrations and sacrifices. They were divinely permitted because only by their use could the Israelites be taught the principles of religion, and only by their use could the people be preserved from the idolatrous practices of their pagan neighbors.

It took a long time for them to learn that “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” When the Lord Jesus founded the Christian religion, he dispensed with all the elaborate ceremonial of sacrificial religion. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that he expressed the whole of the Jewish ceremonial in two great sacraments—Baptism and the Holy Supper. In some Christian communities other sacraments have been instituted.

The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments, but nearly all Protestant communions observe only the two that were given to his followers by the Savior. Baptism is symbolic of purification from evils. Water represents the cleansing power of truth. When a human being is baptized, there is no magical change of character as a result. The baptism Is a symbol that by obedience to divine truth the heart will be cleansed of evil and become acceptable in the sight of the Lord.

Swedenborg tells us, however, that baptism is a sign which is perceived in heaven that the person baptized is to be regenerated, though this regeneration can only be achieved by resistance to evil and victory over temptation. The first use of baptism is introduction into the Christian church and at the same time insertion among Christians in the spiritual world. We quote-here from Swedenborg, “Not only are infants baptized but all who are converted to the Christian religion, both young and old. This takes place before they have been instructed, solely because they confess a wish to embrace Christianity.

This was how it was done by the Apostles, in accordance with the Lord's command that they should make disciples of all nations, and baptize them” That this sacrament was divinely ordained admits of no doubt. The Lord himself was baptized by John, and when the latter professed his unworthiness to baptize the Savior, the divine command was, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.”

If we needed further proof that baptism was divinely instituted we find it in the fact that the Lord commanded his disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This command was literally carried out, except that the Apostles, realizing the full divinity of the Savior, “in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” baptized all converts into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. From that time baptism became the divinely appointed sacrament of introduction into the Christian Church.

The Holy Supper, says Swedenborg, is representative of the uniting of God with man, and man with God. Its elements are symbolic. To understand the true nature of the elements of the Holy Supper, it is necessary for us to know; something of the nature of spiritual correspondences. Correspondence is the relationship between spiritual cause and natural effect. Take an illustration. The flower we call a rose exists first as a thought in the divine mind.

That creative thought, descending to the angelic plane, produces a rose in the realms of paradise. Coming down still further to the earthly plane, it produces a rose in an earthly garden. All created objects are subjected to this law. The Apostle Paul spoke truly when he said, “The invisible things of Him from the creation are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” All natural objects are symbols of spiritual principles. The Word of God is written according to this symbolism. All the sacrifices of the Israelitish Church conformed to the same law.

And the Holy Supper itself, with its elements of bread and wine, is symbolic. The bread pictures the Lord's flesh, not the physical thing we know as the clothing of the Iranian body, but the divine good. The God we worship is a Being of pure love. From his proceed two great elements which human life and human salvation are built. “O, taste and see, the Lord is good.” This good of the Lord is not only a quality of the Divine; it is part of the Divine Substance and Being. Divine good is the Lord's flesh. Its earthly counterpart, or correspondential form, is the bread that sustains our physical body.

What natural bread is to the body, Divine good is to the soul. It is the bread of life. Our Lord said,'' I am the bread of life: he that cometh unto me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” A similar significance holds true for the Lord's blood. “It represents and symbolizes the Divine Truth.” All truth originates in the Divine Mind. It flows down through the spiritual realm into the human mind. It ultimates itself in natural truth and scientific knowledge. All true knowledge is in its origin divine.

But there is one aspect of truth that has special reference and application to human well-being and salvation. It is the divine law which seeks to draw every man into communion with the Lord, and ultimately into happiness in heaven. That form of truth is the blood of God. It is the truth with which the thirsty soul alone is satisfied. It is the never-failing fountain of life. A knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Divine Word enables us to know that the flesh and blood of the Lord are his Divine Good and his Divine Truth.

And when in reverence we bow before his altar and partake of the bread and wine, we do so in the knowledge that he feeds and sustains us by the food that flows from him, and that he gives us to drink of his Divine Truth. This is not merely an exercise in symbolism. As we obey his command and take the holy elements in remembrance of him, the interiors of our mind are opened, and we are actually fed by those divine things which the elements represent.

We receive into ourselves good and truth from him. There is an actual building up and purifying of the spiritual organism within us. Our soul is form and substance; that its nourishment is an essential nay more essential, than the nourishment of our body; that, as the Lord inwardly feeds us, so our inner self grows in quality and beauty.

I am quite convinced that to reverently attend the table of the Holy Supper does not merely induce a state of mind receptive to the Lord, but that it is accompanied by an actual nourishment of the spiritual part of our nature, an actual change of quality in our spiritual body. The Holy Supper, worthily approached, reverently taken, opens mind and heart. It conjoins us with the Lord. But it does more than this. If the Lord feeds us, there must be some organic change in our spiritual body, some enrichment in quality.

This presentation of the Holy Supper helps teach us to realize that this sacrament is not only the most holy act of worship, but is also the most imperative, the neglect of which must mean the forfeiture of the most important channel of grace.

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