This do in remembrance of me . . .” (1 Conrinthians 11:24). These are familiar and comforting words that bring peace to the heart. When the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is observed as God has directed, it will indeed become even more meaningful; there will be the unity and bonding among brethren that is the desire of all who “worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). But this unity is possible only by following God’s plan, avoiding with vigor the “way which seemeth right unto a man” (Proverbs 14:12).
The human tendency is to allow those who are in leadership positions to do all the thinking. They are considered theologically wise; therefore, if they say something is so, it must be so. Yet, this is the very reason why there are so many different doctrines and denominations in the world today—man’s ideas taking the place of the plain word of God. Where eternal life is at stake, one cannot allow the luxury of taking a back seat and letting another do the driving. One must study for himself to be sure of what he knows, and especially of what he doesn’t know. Remember that the Pharisees were considered theologically wise. And they will see Jesus, but at the expense of their salvation. They will come up in that special resurrection as those “which pierced him” (Revelation 1:7). For the way a man thinks is right often turns out to be “the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
The Communion is one of those doctrinal issues on which the churches disagree—should it be open to allow anyone to partake, or closed to allow only church members to partake? A history of the Communion service will clarify many questions that have arisen over the biblical way to conduct this most sacred of rites. It is the purpose of this article to:
a. Show the relationship between the Old Testament services and the New Testament ordinances.
b. Identify those who attended the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament record; after 1844 when the pillars of God’s church were first established through the Holy Spirit; and, who should attend today.
c. Delineate the preparation for the Communion service, i.e., the Foot Washing service.
d. Establish an understanding of two Spirit of Prophecy references that are incorrectly used with regard to open Communion.
According to the Bible, Christ is “our passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The only memorial of His death is the Communion service. He did not establish Lent, Good Friday, Easter, or any other of man’s traditions for such a purpose. Therefore it is no surprise to find that the Lord’s Supper was instituted as a “memorial of the same event of which the Passover had been a type,” 1 that same event being the crucifixion of Christ. When type meets antitype, what happens? There is no longer any need for the type. The Passover was replaced by Christ when He instituted the Lord’s Supper.2 The requirements which God set upon Israel to qualify for participation in the Passover were replaced, too.
There were specific instructions given in order for one to qualify to take part in the Passover: “No stranger” (Exodus 12:43–49) could take part unless circumcised; a “hired servant” (Exodus 12:43–49) could take part only if circumcised; “all Israel” (Genesis 17:10–14) must take part; all males must be circumcised first. Why did they have to be circumcised? It was a “token of God’s covenant” with Israel and if one was not circumcised, he was “cut off from Israel,” disfellowshipped, the privileges bestowed upon the chosen people of God canceled.
If it was necessary to be circumcised before receiving the Passover meal, what comparable ceremony, if any, is necessary before receiving the Lord’s Supper? Has circumcision met its antitype? Circumcision was a “sign that those who received it were devoted to the service of God— a pledge that they would remain separate from idolatry, and would obey the law of God.” 3 Baptism is a “vow . . . [made] . . . to be true to Him.” It is a pledge “to renounce the world and to observe the laws of the kingdom of God.” 4
Yes, there was a replacement for circumcision, according to these two references. “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. . . . Buried with him in baptism” (Colossians 2:11, 12).
When the question of circumcision for the Gentile converts arose in the New Testament church, a council was held and the decision made that it was no longer necessary. This decision and the circumstances leading to it can be found in Acts, chapter 15, the final answer being summed up in verse 29. Of a surety are these two facts: a) The Lord’s Passover was replaced by the Lord’s Supper; both are a memorial of the Crucifixion and a release from bondage (sin); and b) Circumcision was replaced by baptism; both were/are a sign of church membership.
Is being sure of the truth enough? Ancient Israel knew the truth, having spent a year at Sinai before traveling on to the Promised Land. Their refusal to act upon the instructions given them by God at the very border of their promised home caused a rift between them and God, and He “for the time rejected them . . . [and] they were not to receive the sign of the covenant, the rite of circumcision . . . [and] the Passover, instituted to commemorate the deliverance from bondage, was not to be observed.” 5 That generation died in the wilderness after wandering for forty years, not being His people any longer. After Moses’ death, only Joshua and Caleb remained faithful from among that great host, and they were admitted into the Promised Land with the new generation.
This history verifies that there are privileges which are endowed by God only upon church members. If a person is disfellowshipped, he cannot partake of the Lord’s Supper. He must be baptized again after repentance, confession and forsaking of his sin.
Why should this be? Because the Bible says that he who “eat(s) this bread, and drink(s) this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). The fruit of one’s worthiness or unworthiness is revealed by comparing his life to that great standard of all righteousness, the Ten Commandments. Only after repenting, confessing and forsaking sin—“the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4)—can a person be baptized. Only after this public vow to follow God, can one receive the rites of His church.
“Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom.” 6 The rites of the church were refused to Israel when they proved unfaithful. The same thing could happen today, both to individuals and to a church. One must become a member of the body of Christ. There is only one. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Cortinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit does not teach conflicting doctrines, and the pillars of the church do not change. “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are two monumental pillars, one without and one within the church.” 7 If baptism is the “sign of entrance” then the Communion service must be the pillar within the church.
But some have wanted to change many of the foundational pillars. Ellen White expressed her disdain at this: “What influence is it that would lead men . . . to work in an underhand, powerful way to tear down the foundation of our faith. . . . Do you wonder that when I see the beginning of a work that would remove some of the pillars of our faith, I have something to say?” 8 Church members today must also have something to say. One must stand firm against changes in the solid doctrines of the faith, lest he be classified along with the rest of the unfaithful stewards of this world. To change the Communion of Christ’s body to the communion of the world waters down its significance and is totally unacceptable. Read 1 Corinthians 10:15–17. Baptized members are the body of Christ, and in the New Testament church and the original teachings of God’s church, only members took part in the Communion service. If the foundations of God’s church do not change—and they do not, even if men attempt to change them—the instructions still apply to church members today. By inviting a non-member to join in the Communion service, one invites him to sin, as he “eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body” (1 Corinthians 11:29), which is God’s church. To emphasize this point, only those circumcised into one body could partake of the Lord’s Passover; only those baptized can partake of the Lord’s Supper.
Christ has left an example to be followed regarding His Communion service. For He “took His disciples away alone into an upper room. . . . All should move understandingly, and follow the example of Jesus . . . and when attending to these ordinances, should be as separate from unbelievers as possible.” 9
An unbeliever is one who “has not accepted the truth for this time.” 10 The Egyptians who took refuge in the homes of the Hebrews to escape the plague of death of the first-born were not unbelievers. They had been “led to acknowledge the God of the Hebrews as the only true God.” 11 Even so, they were not circumcised and could not eat of the Passover. They had not been prepared for it.
Daily preparation is needed to maintain the heart in a condition to receive the ordinances. Yet, there is a special service in which participation is required before taking part in the Lord’s Supper. It is the Foot Washing service. This ordinance is “Christ’s appointed preparation for the sacramental service.” 12 We have “no part” (John 13:8) with Christ unless we participate in the Foot Washing service before taking part in the Communion service, for it is a “type of a higher cleansing.” 13 He required the disciples to wash each other’s feet, and said He had given them an example (John 13:12–17). That example is for all who have taken the vow of church membership.
Having become a church member, one should make it his aim to understand controverted points. It is too easy to skim the surface when reading and to come up with a meaning different from what the author intended. This has been the case in The Desire of Ages, p. 656, which has, unfortunately, been quoted to prove the case for open Communion. On the contrary, it actually verifies that the Communion service should be closed to all but members of God’s church. On this same page is found the principle that open sin excludes a person. Since no one can distinguish between tares and wheat, tares are not excluded. Judas was even ordained to the ministry, for Christ was the only One who knew his heart. He was a church member in good standing and thus had all the privileges of that membership until he himself exposed his inner character to all through the betrayal of Jesus. He was a tare; all that time he had looked just like the wheat. That is the trouble with tares—one cannot tell who is one and who isn’t. Tares and wheat are members of the same church. Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 70, 71, explains this.
This whole page in The Desire of Ages speaks of “believers, disciples, His people, divine privilege.” It was quoted previously that the Communion service is to be held “as separate from unbelievers as possible.” 9 Following this admonition would be virtually impossible in an open Communion, where unbelievers are encouraged not only to attend, but are invited to participate. What those who are opposed to closed Communion object to most is that—as stated on this same page—those participating in the Communion service should not be exclusive. A quote from another article in the Review and Herald can serve to clarify this. “This ordinance is not to be exclusive, as many would make it. Each must participate in it publicly, and thus say: ‘I accept Christ as my personal Saviour.’ ”14 One must participate in the ordinances publicly, openly, in front of the other church members, declaring his stand for Christ. One cannot exclude either himself from it, or those whom he imagine should perhaps be excluded. Personal suspicions cannot be relied upon. In the history of the church, the ordinances were held routinely. Once each quarter there was a business meeting. The roll of membership was called and each one responded, at the same time declaring his relationship to Christ and the church. Not until this was done could the sacramental services take place. But the best way to arrive at the correct teachings contained in this page is to read the rest of the chapter. Then it becomes very plain that the point being made was that one cannot and should not try to exclude tares.
The other reference often misunderstood in the Spirit of Prophecy is from Evangelism pp. 276, 277. It is an excerpt from a letter which makes no comment on the correctness of what took place, but merely states facts. It tells of a man who was asked by the brethren to participate in the ordinances. He refused but asked if foot washing was necessary before partaking of the Lord’s Supper and was told by the brethren that it was not. He met with Sister White later, accepted some of her books, and was baptized before leaving for home.
1. The brethren, not Sister White, invited him to partake of the emblems.
2. The brethren told him that the foot washing was not obligatory. Yet, as stated in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, it is imperative to follow Christ’s example by taking part in this form of “higher cleansing.”
3. It is known that this was a newly organized church, evidently still in need of instruction. 15
In any case, one must go by the weight of evidence, and not by an isolated incident. Just as the Bible does not contradict itself, neither does the Spirit of Prophecy, for they both have the same Author. The same Spirit that said one should be as separate from unbelievers as possible during these special services and that one is to follow the example of Jesus who took His disciples away alone, also said that one must participate in them publicly and not exclude himself or his brethren in the church. If all would only look at things through the Holy Spirit’s eyes, all would see clearly. The counsel in The Desire of Ages does not conflict with other counsel; the incident in Evangelism gives no counsel one way or the other.
Let us now recap the information presented.
a. The Old Testament service of the Passover is no longer of any significance, as it pointed forward to the Crucifixion and was a reminder of His death to come. Christ replaced it with the Lord’s Supper, which commands His people to often remember Him and what He has done for them. He has fulfilled the first phase of the plan of redemption by His crucifixion. Spiritual Israel is released from the bondage of sin by His sacrifice, a parallel to ancient Israel being released from the bondage of slavery. The Old Testament service of circumcision is no longer of any significance, as it was the sign of the old covenant between God and Israel. It was replaced by baptism, and the new covenant is written on the heart (mind) and not in the flesh. Submitting to circumcision meant that one accepted the obligations and responsibilities of church membership in the camp of Israel. Baptism means the same thing in the camp of spiritual Israel— His one body, the church.
b. Christ took His disciples away to celebrate the ordinances. His church is to follow His example. This has been done, as the written history of His ordained church reveals.
c. Foot Washing is the preparatory service for the Lord’s Supper and is not to be neglected.
d. The Spirit of Prophecy references used to refute closed Communion actually confirm it. It is an uninspired understanding that confuses these issues.
Each person must study for himself and not trust in the arm of flesh. One’s eternal life, and the eternal life of those whom he influences, hangs upon his spiritual understanding. It is not safe to let another human being be our guide. Our omniscient Teacher is most willing to be our Guide and to do this work in each individual. When one allows Him to have His way in him, he can claim the promise in Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” The ordinances of the preparatory Foot Washing and the Lord’s Supper will result in that unity by which the world will know that the church has been with Jesus, for how can one be in disharmony when all differences have been settled? This is mandatory before partaking of Communion or one becomes guilty of eating unworthily. How can one be “out of sync” if all are of one mind? May Christ’s energy, the power of love, fuel the motives of the brethren. Please, don’t miss even one of these experiences, for it is here that He gives the dynamics to accomplish His work. Be jealous to obtain this power, be zealous in sharing it. And remember that although Christ loves everyone, He has a particular care for His people who have committed themselves to His service by joining His church through baptism. It is His desire to solidify the bond between Himself and His people on these special occasions. Just as there are times when a family needs to be alone together, the members of Christ’s family, His one body, need time to be alone with Him. The Lord’s Supper, the Foot Washing declare one’s belief. But His people are not exclusive in any sense. Christ is not exclusive in any sense. All are invited. All who accept the invitation will have followed Him, step by step, into the family. And the Spirit and the Bride are calling you. Will you come?