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CHAPTER 5The mode of administering the sacramental wine is set forth. [Between A.D. 400 and 421] |
The mode of administration of the sacramental 'drink' is set forth. [Between A.D. 400 and 421] | |
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1 THE amanner of administering the
winea—Behold, they took
the cup, and said:
2 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in bremembrance of the cblood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his dSpirit to be with them. Amen.
The prophet Nephi and the Apotles Paul, both very righteous and covenant keeping men, did recognize their position before the Lord when they declared, 'O wretched man that I am.' You see, God's ways as God are not men's ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways, the ways of being a God of perfection, higher than man's ways, who is a mortal man subject to the corruption of this temporal habbitation we are in. We don't even know all of God's ways. We must learn them line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. This is the central theme of the second sacramental prayer. Our aim and goal is to eventually become AS GOD IS. None of us are come to that degree, nor can we in this mortality alone. So the second sacramental prayer has two facets. First it personifies and puts into personal practice the concept and principle of revelation contained in the 9th article of faith which states: 'We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.' You see the first sacramental pray deals with past commandments, covenants, laws and ordinances we have entered into. That is the part which we believe 'and follow' all that God has revealed. But just like the many who believe their Bible and that that is all that there is and there is no living prophets and new revelation, to be concerned and occupied solely with 'past' commandments and laws and covenants is to be 'damned'. That is stopped in our eternal progression. Those who so believe and live have stopped and 'damned' themselves to being only that which has been revealed in the past. And that is to be 'dead' and 'damned' in terms of both the here and now and also the vast horizons of the future. If we are ever to become like God is, we must continue to ask, knock and seek after him, ever receiving and finding out more about him, his ways, what he is, that we may become like him. Without such living revelation, the commandment which the Savior gave which states, 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as I and our Father in Heaven is perfect', has no possible fulfillment. We must continue to progress. We must continue to seek after him, learn of him and become like he is. And this process, at whatever state we are at, entails recognizing our position before God in meekness, submitting to his will and command, and humbly seeking continual repentance as new principles, laws and commandments are revealed unto us. This is the purpose of the second sacramental prayer and blessing. It takes us from were we are at and improves upon us as we reveive more understanding from God line upon line. And as we receive that, we must be willing to further repent and so conform our lives to be what he has revealed unto us that they need to be, so that we might eternally progress and become even AS HE IS. The second sacramental prayer places us under covenant to continue upon that path towards God, to move forward, progressing and becoming like unto Him. And it also implies that eventual future step of the grace of God. Cerainly the help of the Spirit is necessary to aid us in our daily progress towards God, but there is and will be a great final step for us all. And that is in that day when we put off this mortality and put on immortality. It is that day when we finally and totally put off this natural corruption and put on ourselves eternal incorruption. It is the great and final process of sanctification by the grace and power of God, that final step of stepping back into the presence of God and when we may in every wit become perfected and even as He is and as Jesus Christ His Son now also stands. This is the ends and intent of the second sacramental prayer. It is not less of a covenant prayer. It is the now and future of the covenant unto Exaltation and Eternal Life. That is the end and intent of that covenant prayer. And when thus understood, he becomes even more of a covenant blessing and prayer than the first, though it is based upon the first in that we have and do keep the past commandments that we may then move forward by receiving furth light and knowledge and advance even further upon that strait and narrow path that one day will bring us full square to God. |
1a wine Wine was the common drink of the day. One might as well as said given me to drink and what would be offered would be wine. Modern revelation sets forth that it does not matter what we eat and drink relative to the sacrament (See D&C :). Other churches today use a 'waffer' substitute for bread. And though it is made from a bread product, it is not the same as the bread the Savior used. Bread is the most common and readily available food to be used as was also wine. Wine is primarily H2O or water. Its use was because it was the common beverage of its day. Neither the bread or the wine showed forth any pretence about them. They were the common foods of the day. And 'new' wine which had not fermented was prefered over old wine which had. Today with the purer qualities of our drinking water, water is the more common and preferred drink as set out by the Lord. And our bread is the most common and every day bread. We are not to think upon the matter of the drink or 'bread', it mattereth not. What matters is the symbolized remembrance of the body and blood of Christ which they represent. They represent his sacrifice made for man. His death which brought about the resurrection to life and his blood which offers the forgiveness for sin which is requist to continual and eternal progress which eventually comes to its end in God. |
1a
3 Ne. 18:11 (8-11);
D&C 20:78 2a TG Sacrament b Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25 c D&C 27:2-4 d TG Spirituality
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