喺依個黑暗空氣，邊個可以分別黃昏或拂曉？柳暗花明，講依句畀柳暗內人係最狠心嘅。但係柳暗內者只有依句可以互相安慰。希望我哋可以笑住傾談，我希望妙手想醫病。到其時我仲喺依度靜止，食飯無意義，唱歌撈月。

係依個感情令我鍾意一首歌，自己首歌嘅人性一樣，好似知憂鬱嘅知音，唔話要等忍耐神力，亦都唔畀神聖喜悦嘅要求，淨係想佢朋友食好飯，某日同佢又笑翻。

《隧道》金世正：

漫漫長路，睇唔到盡頭，當你喺呢條路上面行嘅時候，我會喺你身邊，喺緊湊嘅一日結束時等待住你，配合住你嘅步伐，某一日，穿過陡峭嘅山坡時，一定會有芬芳嘅風吹嚟，雖然有時候痛苦會似一個大話，但係我亦都絕對唔會放開你嘅手，特別凍嘅冬天，只要捱過咗之後，就必定會盛開美麗嘅花，回望嗰個渾濁嘅傷口，希望可以笑住傾談，喺隧道嘅盡頭。

我擔心嗰啲生疏嘅慰問，會唔會為你帶嚟負擔，如果可以嘅話，我想分享我嘅力量，就算係奇怪而且繁忙嘅一日，都唔好唔記食飯，要食最好食嘅嘢食。唔好病，休息一陣係無傷大雅嘅，係因為煩惱而瞓唔到嗎，唔好擔心。即使湊黑嘅黑暗蔓延，我會成為你嘅小小燈光，特別凍嘅冬天，只要捱過咗之後，就必定會盛開美麗嘅花，回望嗰個渾濁嘅傷口，希望可以笑住傾談。。。

嗰個温暖嘅月光，喺夜晚嘅時候會更加月亮，黎明過嘅之後，會迎接住明亮嘅朝早，無論咩時候，我都會擁抱住你，直到行到去隧道嘅盡頭。

What happens when a paralytic comes to the end of hope? Passing his days unable to feed himself with his friends desperately searching for reprieve, he can only live as if he is dead. One day they hear of a great healer who can work miracles; lowering their friend through a hole in the roof, they seek healing for him in the midst of a crowd. Some in the crowd say the healer only heals those who have enough belief in the healer, others still say the paralytic deserves his affliction. They jeer at the inability of the paralytic to stand or even speak words of belief, providing empty encouragement to bear the trial for a future reward. We have found the house of the healer, and yet the healer is nowhere to be seen. Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

In this dim air, who can say whether it is dawn or dusk? Look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel; one can never know how cruel an encouragement it is to those inside. Yet to those who have seen the darkness, it is the only thing we can say to each other. I hope we can talk with smiles again; I hope the healer sees it fit to heal. Until then, I lay here motionless, eating meals without purpose, yet singing a song of forlorn hope.

It is this feeling that has made me resonate with a song sung with the same humanity, of a friend who knows what it is like; that hopes not for a spirit of miraculous endurance, or the expectations of holy hedonism, but for their friend to eat a good meal and smile again someday.

Kim Sejeong’s Tunnel:

寫給朋友的一封書信體書信，內容是關於我新出版的中國原創詩書畫集【情暈鏡】的第一首詩。

A letter in the Chinese epistolary style written to a friend about the first poem in Mirror Heart, my newly published collection of original Chinese poetry and calligraphy.

한국어

原文

吉札

旭答臨安府之無人士君收入

羊城之文軒弟保付

慶進２０華２２３癸卯夏丁巳月丙子

新就

拜啟故人、祗請尊安。

夢所階陽臺、是扶胥浴日。對月臨風中、翹首芝宇。即皇天思華年、尚寸心千古。侯洗去征塵、乃視高耀如光澤。造訪愛我者、深感失悔、久違所致。雖距仁兄千里如此、卻感骨肉關情彌殷。梅月署時、與桂枝上蟭蟟以香棲、兼斜西向芳鄰。對夏令之蒼昊、臨安青愈瞭愈美也。即在嶺南、尚我每立夏中、並匸舍間之婆娑瓊枝也。留都之桑如此、祈把背入林爲禱。現今、等候來翰、俾承示兮。

伏惟仁兄萬福。燕居必滿足、申申如也。世稱神相、起居無恙。雖書不盡言、卻因不審紅豆何如、爰抱慚敢敬候起居。懷舊、在明府念舊情、所見略同。此處、無涯銘勒、而且茲年托庇平安。

久而彌摯、而我愁雲所如。看山河之、愈傷懷愈幽夐。昨季余三寸之管、如暮氣沉沉頓悟。以斯玄青之墨、書寫俾攄已不可言喻。仍然百函並發、一還翰如獲瞻霽月。倘有同感喟、乃敢乞相唱酬。尺素燕石如此、卻微才呈政拙詩：

一首【沖蘭】

速係風塵力望山、

葱蘢切旭想香蘭、

沖沖頂上離離浪、

亮一觀華對曼檀。

浮生無常、競爭如風塵。天道爲觀華、冒亮爲長蔭、林木爲森浪、蘭檀皆飄散。云可惜替此、比永遠之躺屍、速沖之香郁瑤華也。一息之浮雲、何亶娥媓、何不可留哉。請教削余俚句、翹企示覆。

九秋未見、淚下沾襟、芒種征往南頭、路漫漫焉、無宋弘兮。素心人、因我每莫覽勝臨安、爰屋梁落月加余苦衷。雖則如此、侯吟祉康惒。臨池數行俾交神、仁兄棄海涵。

不一、文軒弟。

白話文

致我的老朋友，願您平安。

在我的夢裡，我爬上了陽光普照的平台，那升起的太陽在扶胥的浴日亭之上。 望著月亮在不眠的夜裡想著您，渴望著你的容顏。 縱使蒼穹照逝去的青春，我對您的情誼永存。 願您洗去遠行的塵埃，好把尊嚴看得如鏡花水月。 我非常遺憾不能去拜訪您，我親愛的朋友。 縱然相隔一千里，您仍視我如親骨肉，我感激不盡。 在這梅月的酷暑裡，蟬因香氣撲鼻而棲息在桂花的枝葉上，斜斜的午後陽光也指向您的芳鄰。 在夏日湛藍的天空襯托下，臨安的白桑樹越發艷麗。 雖我在嶺南，我們都在立夏，陋室邊有木棉。 樹木如故都的桑葚，我懇切祈願護送您去。 目前，我正在等待來信，以聽到您的喜訊。

恭祝您萬財如命。 我相信您對日常生活感到滿意，您對自己感到快樂和滿意。 老天保佑您，願您無災無難。 雖然文字不能完全表達我想說的話，但因為我沒有註意您的健康，所以我懷著羞愧的心情，敢恭敬地問候您的健康。 懷念從前在官邸懷念舊情，同心同德。 對於那個地方，我無限的感激永遠銘刻在記憶中，而且這一年我過得很好，多虧了您的幫助。

多年來，您的深情愈發深沉，而我卻在陰鬱的雲中徘徊。觀賞山川，愈感愁腸百轉，愈顯深遠。上個季節，我的書寫筆宛如從死寂中突然甦醒。用它深黑的墨水書寫如此，表達那無法言語的情感。如同以往一樣，您非常忙碌，因此即使得到一封回信，就像在雨停之後瞥見月亮。如果您有相同的情懷，我敢求請您一同交流詩歌。素文虛如假玉，小才敢獻拙詩供君鑑：

一首【快速蘭花】

迎着被風吹起的灰塵，強烈地看著山，

綠意盎然切割初陽，芬芳的蘭花在尋找，

破碎的波濤變得遙遠而密密麻麻，

照耀着一片風景的光榮，向着長長的影子檀木。

浮生不長，奮鬥如風吹塵。 自然法則成為遠景的光輝，晨曦成為長影，高木成為濃波，蘭花和檀香都飄散了。 與其說是多麼可憐，不如說是比起一具永遠躺著的屍體，那急速湧上來的香氣，卻是潔白如玉。 一息浮雲，何其可愛，何其燦爛，何其短暫的！ 請批判地審視我的粗俗用語，我熱切地等待你給我一個回應。

九秋未見，淚落衣裳，芒種來時去南頭； 無忠人的路漫漫其修遠兮。 我的好朋友，因為我不能和您一起欣賞臨安的風景，我們之間的距離增加了我的痛苦。 儘管如此，我還是祝愿你在詩歌中快樂，身體健康。 寫下這幾句是為了讓我們的精神友誼相連，請原諒我的錯誤。

不一，文軒哥。

Auspicious Letter

A sunrise reply to Mr. No-one of Lin’an

from Brother Wenxuan of Ram City

20th year of Kangjin Era, 223rd year of Hua, the summer of Guimao, month of Dingsi, day of Bingzi

Recently arrived letter

To my old friend, may peace be upon you.

In my dream I climbed the sunlit terrace, that rising sun above Yuri pavilion. While facing the moon in the sleepless nights thinking of you, I longed eagerly for your countenance. Even if the august heavens bear thoughts of vanished youth, my feelings of amity for you are eternal. I bid you wash off the dust from your long journey, so you may look upon your dignity as a mirror’s lustre. I bitterly regret not being able to visit you, my loving friend. Despite being as a thousand li away from you, I am grateful for you treating me as your own flesh and blood. In this plum month’s summer-heat, because of the sweet smell, the cicadas perch on sprays of osmanthus blossoms, and the slanting afternoon sun points to your fragrant neighbourhood as well. Against the summer air’s clear blue sky, the white mulberry trees of Lin’an are more beautiful when they are more bright. Even if I am in Lingnan, still we both are in the beginning of summer, during which the red flowering cotton trees are beside my humble abode. The trees being like the mulberries of the former capital, it is my earnest prayer to escort you thither. At present, I await for the coming letter, in order to hear your glad tidings.

I humbly wish you ten thousand fortunes. I trust you are content with daily life, and you are happy and pleased with yourself. God’s blessings upon you, may you live without disaster. Though writing cannot fully express what I wish to say, nevertheless because I have failed to pay attention to your health, embracing shame I dare to respectfully inquire after your well-being. I am nostalgic for the past times at your official residence remembering old feelings of friendship, together sharing the same views. For that place, my boundless gratitude is engraved forever in memory, moreover this year I am very well thanks to your help.

Your warm feelings have deepened over the years, whereas I wandered among gloomy clouds. In viewing the mountains and rivers, the more aggrieved, the more profound one becomes. Last season my writing brush was as one suddenly awakened out of lifelessness. Writing by its deep black ink in order to express that which I could not put into words. As before, you are very busy, so even one letter of response is like obtaining a glimpse of the moon when the rain ceases. If you have the same sighs of emotion, I dare beg that we exchange poems together. My plain letter is as substanceless as the false jade of Yan, yet I of little talent dare present my clumsy poetry for you to inspect:

Poem 1: Rushing Orchids

Swiftly seize the sky-born sand—employ strength to survey the precarious peaks

Verdant and virescent cutting the early sun—fragrant orchids seeking

Surging swiftly upward above the summit, distant and dense breaking waves

Casting light on vista’s glory, facing a stretched out sandalwood sea

This floating life will not last, striving is like the dust blown by the wind. Natural law becomes the vista’s glory, the brightness of morning becomes long shadows, tall trees become dense waves, orchids and sandalwoods all float away. Instead of saying how pitiable it is, compared to an eternity lying down as a corpse, the fragrance which hurriedly rushes up is as white and beautiful as jade. The fleeting clouds of a single breath, how truly lovely and radiant, how impossible it is for it to linger! Please critically review my vulgar phrases, I await eagerly that you would grant me a response.

For nine autumns I haven’t seen you, tears falling on my robe, when the grain is in ear I will travel to Nantou; long and boundless is the road, without a man who is faithful through good and bad times. My good and honest friend, because I am unable to enjoy the scenery of Lin’an with you, the distance between us increases my painful state. Nevertheless I wish you happiness in poetry and good health. I wrote these few lines to connect our spirits in friendship, please bear with my mistakes.

Not one, Brother Wenxuan.

日本語

壬寅年八月十七之日記 9-12-2022

今日我想寫低李知恩嘅一首好歌，因為佢係我最終以嘅歌手。佢嘅歌詞有啲人情味，即係話動心嘅話我算係好嘢。爾個歌叫係《長夜（夜信）》，畀香港嘅填詞人陳詠謙譯成咗。

長夜 一扇窗 帶愛的信 藏心裡

像 歡笑聲 仍然清脆 hmm...

螢火的光芒飛 遠去

默 不作聲 再吻你千遍 遐想裡

乘著 這晚風 魂遊太虛 hmm...

尋找多溫柔的 愛侶

海 翻了浪淹沒誰 像那寫於沙灘所有默許

仍然很想你 徘徊夜空穿過雨水

我 為你寫 為你追

情人為何像流水 搜索幸福 可不可以躺下來寄居

螢火飛不回的 過去

怎相遇 怎相隨

多想念 和你一起安睡

在那些天 美好的花蕾

難敵世界 雨打風吹

海 翻了浪淹沒誰 像那寫於沙灘所有默許

仍然很想你 如何道出一句千句

我為你寫 我為你追

情人為何像流水 搜索幸福 可不可以躺下來寄居

明知不可能的...

長夜 一扇窗 帶愛的信 回憶裡

夢 的美好 仍然心醉 hmm...

螢火的光芒飛 遠去

Today I wanted to write down a song from IU, because she is my favourite singer. Her song lyrics have a certain humanity to them, that is to say words that move the heart are good things. This song is called Through the Night, and it was translated by Hong Kong lyricist Chan Wing Him.

A long night... ...a window... ...and a love-filled heart.

It's like a laugh. It's still crisp..

The glow of the firefly flew away.

I kiss you a thousand times in my reverie.

Ride this night in the wind too empty hmm...

Looking for a sweetheart.

Like the one written on the beach.acquiescence

Still missing you, wandering through the rain.

I write for you, chase for you.

Why do lovers search for happiness like water? To lie down and sojourn.

The firefly can't fly back to the past.

How do we meet? How do we follow each other?

I miss sleeping with you.

In those days, beautiful buds.

It's hard to beat the world. It's raining and blowing in the wind

Like the one written on the beach.acquiescence

I still miss how you say a thousand words.

I write for you. I chase for you.

Why do lovers search for happiness like water?To lie down and sojourn.

Knowing it's impossible...

A long night, a window, a letter of love, a memory.

The beauty of the dream is still intoxicating..

The glow of the firefly flew away.

日本語

壬寅年八月十三之日記 9-8-2022

今日我喺新聞睇到英女王嘅過身報道，雖然我唔係英國人民，但係我感覺一啲眷眷之心，好似香港嘅舊陣時過咗晒㗎，以前同而家今非昔比噉樣諗。起小我畀大英帝國嘅遺產影響咗好多，因為我父母同埋我嫲嫲都活過喺爾個時代。最近幾年真係歲月崢嶸呀。有鄉愁我就話天佑吾王。

Today I watched the news of the Queen’s passing on the news, even though I am not a British subject, I still felt some nostalgia, it was like the last of the old days of Hong Kong passing away, the past and the present are very different, these are the thoughts I was thinking. Since I was young I was affected by the legacy of the British Empire a good amount, because my parents and my grandmother lived through this era. The recent years are really momentous times. Having home-sickness I say God save the Queen.

壬寅年八月十六之日記 9-11-2022

今個禮拜係中秋節，但係月亮唔見得喎。一杯桂花酒當係月球就好，同親人一齊食飯比月亮良辰美景啦。我同父母寫定一好句對我家人有意思，但係送君千里，終須一別。我唔可以想得開爾個世界嘅痛苦，點都唔可以紓解嘅。哎呀，世事萬變，不勝唏噓。我淨係可以祈禱同埋忍苦咯。

This weekend was Mid-Autumn Festival, but there was no moonlight to be seen. One cup of cassia wine is good to serve as the moon round, with family eating a meal together is better beautiful scenery than the moonlight. My parents and I wrote down a good saying with meaning towards my family, but although you may escort a guest a thousand miles, the parting must come eventually. I cannot accept the world’s suffering, and I cannot change a single thing about it. Alas, the affairs of the world change time and again, and people can’t help but sighing. I can only pray and endure the bitterness.

日本語

書藝式映畵評論《玆山魚譜》

流放

最近我睇咗一片電影叫《玆山魚譜》，餘味無窮啊。雖然係個黑白片，但係有現今嘅感情同埋影藝認真高章。特別動心係文士丁若銓嘅流放經驗。我自己嘅莫名惆悵好似離開自身嘅流放，似喺遠地望住我嘅感情。黑山島係丁若銓終於從頭開始嘅新屋企，但係唔返到佢舊家。好似佢我祖宗嘅文化畀太平洋分開咗。怕我亦都唔可以返嚟，又怕黑山島照舊黑色嘅。後生仔昌大揾到佢自身喺布衣蔬食嘅生活，希望我會揾到我迷途嘅自身。嗰兩首漢詩畀丁若銓同佢細佬讀表達流放嘅感情好好，希望我可以表達依詩嘅感覺喺我嘅書藝。或者喺呢度黑山島變玆山島。

Exile

I watched the movie book of fish recently, and the impression it leaves is strong. Although it is a black and white movie, the feeling of the movie is quite modern and the cinematography is masterful. I was especially moved by the experience of exile portrayed by the scholar Jeong Yakjeon (丁若銓). My own feelings of depression are akin to being exiled from my own self, and looking at my old feelings and aspirations as if from a great distance. The Black Mountain Island was Jeong Yakjeon's new home, and he started a new life there, however he could not return to his former home. I too am separated from the culture of my ancestors by the great Pacific ocean. I fear that I too will never return, and that Black Mountain will remain black. The young man Changdae found himself in the simple life, and I hope that I will find my own lost self. The Chinese poetry recited by Jeong Yakjeon and his younger brother captured the feelings of exile well, and I hope to capture the feelings of the poetry in my calligraphy. Perhaps in calligraphy The Black Mountain Island will become This Mountain Island.

北風驅我來

行行遇海止

我兄風力猛

乃入滄溟裏

留妻作寡婦

別兒為孤子

方其入海時

曠然若自喜

The north wind carried me

Until I met the sea

A stronger wind took my brother

Into the deep dark ocean

The wife I left behind became a widow

The child I parted with became an orphan

Palpable was his joy

As he set sail into the unknown

茅店曉燈靑欲滅

起視明星慘將別

脈脈嘿嘿兩無言

強欲轉喉成鳴咽

黑山超超海連空

君胡為乎入此中

The country tavern lamplight, its last gleam smothers blue

Against the rosy fingers of dawn, as I wake to the moment of adieu

Only our eyes remain alert, but our mouths have lost their purpose

We clear our throats with effort, but all they offer is the silence of sorrow.

Black Mountain Island, with nothing but endless sky and sea

O Brother, how will you survive, at the end of the world?

Cyrus, a lost sheep that was found; to Brother Ionathas my fellow athlete of the vigilant brethren, sanctified in Christ and called of His holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Holy Syrian poet Ephrem writes, “God does not give a great gift without a great trial.” As my unworthy words on Holy Baptism have already reached you and Brother Oliverius, I will not go on explaining in the beginning about the functions of Law and Gospel, or the testimony of the Apostles and Fathers, but instead will employ them in giving words to the unspoken groanings of my heart on the sacrament of Holy Communion, which I hold very dear.

You know of the struggles in the faith I have had of late, where I was stripped bare of all methods to save myself and humbled in my helplessness before the Lord. My sorrow became great and thereafter my apathy, driving me to even curse the day I was born. Many times have I prayed for death and for God to leave me to perdition, for the unworthiness of my soul was made apparent to me in stark reality. You know of the sins which I practiced in hopelessness, the sins of which those who practice them will not inherit the kingdom of God, the sins of which the weight of their guilt outweighed any perception I had of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-25). My depression indeed drove me to further doubt, as my former church placed great emphasis on works in their weekly preaching and culture; I was unable to get up in the morning or even pray to God beyond asking Him for death, the signs of the works of a believer were not in me. The assurance of salvation left me, the old advice about the consideration of my salvation being itself an assurance of my salvation left me no comfort; thoughts of God cursing me with melancholy since birth abounded. No amount of the advice of godly men availed me of my deep despair, and the Holy Scriptures themselves became abhorrent to me as I saw condemnation even in the New Testament preached to me; the pride of understanding the Scriptures intellectually left me in my sorrow.

I have been driven to consider suicide twice in my life. In the first instance I believed that blind faith in God would heal me, and that through it I had conquered the meaninglessness of life. And why not, when I listened to the advice of my parents to not be so sad or emotional, as it was unbecoming of a man. In many things I learned to tough it out and not say anything about my own pains or cares, as who could understand? In the second and most recent instance, all prayer and devotion did nothing to comfort me about the inevitability of my depression and how God did not heal me. The thought of murder and sloth and all manner of sins being my only lot in life was continuously presented to me by the adversary, and many times I was reduced to tears praying to God for relief and receiving silence. My efforts to come close to God came to naught, and I could merely wait for God to visit me and pronounce forgiveness of sins as the paralytic did (Mark 2:1-12). I was expecting healing apart from means, of which I have demonstrated in my previous letter is not God’s ordinary mode of blessing.

In my sojourn before my second bout of depression, the words of Prophet David in Psalm 139:5 gave me comfort, “Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.” I could find comfort in my intellectual understanding of God’s faithfulness, as He surrounds me as a siege of love, and lays His hand on me even though my disgusting sins are blacker than black. Yet even all the promises in Scripture did not reach my heart in the throes of grief. I could not feel God’s hand of love, and rather felt the hand of condemnation for the apathy that comes from depression. I slept as a dead man, and walked the earth in confusion in my lack of faith in the Gospel.

Regarding my state of confusion, I find it useful that there is an outward example in the care of my parents and friends. Analogous to the effects of the Law, my friends’ and father’s reminder of my duties to them, the sin of suicide, and how my death would affect them negatively were of little consolation. A person driven to suicide is already painfully aware of these things; the pain, sorrow, and apathy are too much to bear for warnings of damnation and accusations of selfishness to be of any meaning to them. My parent’s advice to be happy in the Lord and to only go to the doctor as a last resort fell on the ears of one who was unable to be happy and one whose ability to endure on his own strength was already thoroughly exhausted. Despite these examples, I found more comfort in the willingness of my parents and friends to be with me without any expectations, allowing me to feel valued as they spent time with me in my interests. Although I did not know it, the presence of them in my life was a microcosm of the grace God was going to show me in my pit of depression. Praise be to God, “Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:” (Psalm 136:23).

Although the advice given to me was well intentioned in truth, I could not find comfort unless the presence of my parents and friends was real to me; so it is with the new covenant of God. The men on the road to Emmaus could not recognise the Lord even when the Lord Himself was explaining the Scriptures to them, only when “... he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”, for it is written, “And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.” (Luke 24:27-35). Of which breaking of bread was our Lord made known to them? It is written of using the same words in Acts 2:42, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” It is certainly in the sacrament of Holy Communion that the presence of the Lord is made known. Truly I testify to the experience of the Lord’s presence like a blessed rain after the drought when I partook of the real body and blood of the Lord at the altar of my new church, instilling in me hope beyond my understanding. Out of my apathy and sorrow the Lord met me there and raised me up. When I could not even open my mouth to praise Him, He made known to my heart, not just my intellect, that He was always close to me in my suffering and gives forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross.

How could this mystery strengthen the fruit of faith in me? In the words of our Lord, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide (Greek: menō) in me.” (John 15:4). In only one other place does our Lord use such wording: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth (Greek: menō) in me, and I in him.” (John 6:56). Contrary to those who say Jesus was speaking in metaphor, He took it upon Himself to confirm its literal meaning rather than explain it as another metaphor, as with no other parable did the crowds of disciples leave him: “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:57-60). In order to reinforce the reality of His words, our Lord continues, “When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:61-63). Where in the Scriptures is spirit and life used to predicate metaphor? Even many of his disciples who had followed Him and knew His ways of speaking did not understand Him as speaking figuratively for they left Him. I agree with Peter, to whom else can I go? Christ has the words of eternal life. Lord, teach us your statutes through your presence.

Let it not be said that the sacrament of Holy Communion is necessary for salvation, for though my faith was weak, it was not extinguished in my depression, and the desire of the thief on the cross also stands testimony. Again as with Holy Baptism, it is a measure of God’s abundance of grace to us in the new covenant. The reality of the forgiveness of sins bought by the cross is received and strengthened in us through the sacrament, through faith in the words of our Lord: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28). This remission of sins given through the new covenant is indeed the fulfilment of abundance compared to the old covenant in Exodus 24:8-11:

“And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.”

What greater privilege do we have than eating and drinking in the presence of God? The blood of the old covenant is inferior to the new, as it does not itself give remission of sins and the presence of God only being revealed to Moses and the elders. We have the abundance of Holy Communion, in which the perfect icon of God, Jesus Christ, the only way through which we can behold the Glory of the Father, provides His presence for us in the most intimate way of His own body and blood.

Cut off from my old church and communion in the pandemic, my faith in the forgiveness of sins grew weak. Though I had some conviction that there was a spiritual presence in the communion before the pandemic, I did not experience the full grace of the sacrament until I received it with faith in the true body and blood at my new church. For it is written in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29: 

“Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.”

The immediate context of this warning of the Holy Apostle is the drunkenness and feasting that the sacrament had become in the Corinthian church. The devil had tempted the Corinthians to add on to the sacrament in order to feed the hungry and drink of wine, as it is written in verse 22, “What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” What is eating and drinking unworthily, if not that of doing so without reverence and examining himself to be indeed unworthy before the presence of the Lord’s body and blood? By turning such a holy meal given to us into a drunken feast, they were certainly spurning the remission of sins, not discerning the Lord’s body and blood in the bread and wine.

The Lord established this sacrament with His Word, therefore all who partake receive the true body and blood of the Lord as it is His work not ours, but only those who have faith in its promise receive it to their blessing. It is said of those who partake unworthily, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). Given the immediate context of Apostle Paul admonishing against heresy and mentioning damnation, it can be said that those who partake unworthily became sick and weak in faith and some fell away to spiritual death, as even now those who do not discern the body are not struck down in physical illness and death. In the Apostle’s admonishment against idolatry this is clarified, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (Greek: koinōnia) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (Greek: koinōnia) of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). The Greek koinōnia is more than a watered down social fellowship when used by the Holy Apostles to describe union with God (see 1 John 1:3). There are some who would equate the communion of the Lord’s body with the church, but the Apostle Paul clearly mentions it in conjunction with the blood of the Lord, which is never used to represent the church in the Scriptures. Therefore, the one bread of the church is thus because they partake of one bread, the body of Christ in the sacrament. From this union with God, Apostle Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 10:18-21: 

“Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.”

The communion of the body and blood is compared with the communion with God in the sacrifices of Israel and the communion with devils in the sacrifices to idols. They are all united with their objects in the sacrifices just as the church is united together in Christ and one another through the sacrament providing the once and for all remission of sins bought by the sacrifice of the cross. More than just a remembrance, union with God is truly effected through the sacrament, as the Apostle Paul illustrates through his warning against communion with demons. In fact, even in the words of our Lord, “...this do in remembrance (Greek: anamnēsis; a rare word only found in passages about Holy Communion and the remembrance of sacrifices in Hebrews 10:3) of me.” (Luke 22:19) sacrificial language is used. The Lord foreshadowed the centrality of this sacrament to His Apostles through His miraculous feeding of the crowds through the breaking of bread.

This sacramental union of body and bread, blood and wine, can be described as Christ’s body and blood being in, with, and under the elements. The word in refers to that where the bread and wine is, there is the body and blood of Christ. The word with refers to that with the bread and wine we receive the body and blood of Christ. The word under refers to that the body and blood of Christ are hidden yet present under the bread and wine, because the elements continue to exist as bread and wine. For there are some who say the bread and wine to be only symbols or only spiritually taken, a view of which a contortion of the Scriptures and the Apostolic Fathers is required, and there are others who say the bread and wine are transformed in substance to body and blood to which philosophical speculation outside of Scripture is required to hold. For it is written that bread and wine are still existing in 1 Corinthians 11:26: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.” Indeed, by taking Jesus at His word, a great weight was lifted off my shoulders and I returned to a more childlike faith in His gifts.

The unity of the early church did not depend on the Scriptures which were not completed yet or the papacy but on the actual experience of the Living God. Why else would the Apostle Paul write in 1 Timothy 3:14-15, “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”? The church itself is the pillar and foundation of the truth, and through the sacrament of Holy Communion is united in one body as the Apostle Paul has explained. It is the custom of some who deny the real presence of Christ in the sacrament to continue to insist that their faith and practice existed in the time of the Apostles only for it to surface now after two thousand years of holy people had failed to keep the Apostolic teaching. I will not speak of the Reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther who both condemned the mere symbolic view of the sacrament, but I will speak of the second generation of Christians who surely would not have immediately fallen into error. Hieromartyr Ignatius, disciple of John the Apostle writes:

“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]). 

The communion of the church through the sacrament is clearly expressed in the Didache, the earliest document apart from the New Testament of early church practices (A.D. 50-150): 

“Concerning the Eucharist, celebrate the Eucharist in this way. First, concerning the cup, we thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of David your servant which you made known to us through Jesus your child. To you be the glory forever. Concerning the broken bread, pray like this: “We thank you, our Father, for life and knowledge that you have made known to us through Jesus your child. To you be glory forever. As the broken bread was scattered on the mountains and then gathered into one, thus let your church be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom because yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. Let no one eat or drink from your Eucharist except those who are baptized in the name of the Lord. For the Lord said about this, “Do not give holy drink to dogs.”” (Ch. 9)

I testify along with Saint Ignatius, that the church is “breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ." (Letter to the Ephesians 20:2 [A.D. 110]). The healing from the increasing faith in the Gospel of forgiveness of sins is indescribable, and it comes to me whether I am depressed and can’t get up, or happy and carefree; Jesus Christ took my suffering upon himself at the cross, and is there for me to receive His grace at the sacrament.

There are some who would limit the occurrence of the sacrament to guard the significance of its remembrance in fear of regularity dimming its power. On the contrary, just as the Holy Gospel is preached every Lord’s day because of its power, so one should also celebrate Holy Communion because of the effective Word of Christ. It was the regular practice of the New Testament church (see Acts 2:42, 20:7, and 1 Corinthians 11:20), and the historic church onwards.

Against the impious who would assert that Christians practice cannibalism or that Jesus would command that which is contrary to the Law in Leviticus 17:10-14 let the Scriptures explain:

“And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.” 

God has reserved the blood for the sacrifice of the atonement of sins commanding Israel to respect lifeblood as the atonement for all sins, for it is in the immediate context of this command that God sets apart one place for the sacrifice at the tabernacle. The early Christians were certainly accused of being cannibals by the pagans of Rome, but in their refutations never said that they merely believe in symbolism. The eating and drinking is not carnal like one would eat regular food by chewing and ripping the flesh, but a mysterious physical reception of the instrument of sacrifice that will bless the one eating it. One can see in all the sacrifices in the Old Testament, the priest, the elders, or God eats the sacrifice in order for the blessing to be applied. The Passover meal was eaten after the sacrifice of blood on the doorposts as a communion with the blessings of the sacrifice. The sacrifices of the Old Testament are but a shadow of Christ’s sacrifice, in which by eating and drinking we inwardly and physically receive the benefits of the body and blood of Jesus. For it is written, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10) and “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7).

Now that I have demonstrated the purpose and necessity of the sacrament of Holy Communion through the scriptures and the testimony of the Apostolic Fathers, what more is to be said? God has taught me through the means of His body and blood given for me, the forgiveness of sins received through faith restored my joy in reading the Scriptures and I experienced again the transformative power of the Incarnate Word. God has shed His blood “for you” and me, a personal understanding of the reality of Christ in me and how He always loves us. I dare not abstain from this sustenance of faith, for I am always in need of it to strengthen the Gospel in my heart: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17). The abundance of grace in the Gospel promises through the sacraments has been a great comfort to me. Come to Christ the Great Physician and he will forgive your sins, for where the soul has recovered, the body is also relieved. My testimony of God’s grace in the sacrament has shown this, and I now trust in God to continue to heal through means, whether it be through therapy or others. Even if God never heals me from depression, I can now say with Job: 

“I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:2-6)

Though I cannot explain my suffering, I know that God is with me and is always with me until the end of the age. The physical suffering of Christ in the body and the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of sins is made real to me and I cannot go back to believing otherwise. Truly God’s grace is abundant; as Saint Isaac the Syrian writes, “as a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, so are the sins of all flesh as compared with the mind of God; just as a strongly flowing stream is not blocked up by a handful of earth, so the compassion of the Creator is not overcome by the wickedness of His creatures.” We are His creatures, constantly polishing the mirror of our faith to better reflect the light and love of the Creator, with not just mental recollection but true healing of the soul. We are moving slowly through the land of thorns and thirsting in the arid desert towards our final destination, and until we partake of the heavenly bread and wine our labour is in vain. Whoever is sustained by love is sustained by Christ, for God is love. Glory to God for His salvation and the forgiveness of sins, may you Brother Ionathas be blessed in soul and body by the love and blessing of Christ. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

The action of the Trinity is integral to salvation, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15). The Holy Spirit draws the whole church to God through the Gospel, wherefore we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord whose work of forgiveness of sins is thus, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5, see also Romans 6:23, John 3:16). Through the spirit of adoption which is the Holy Spirit, we have faith in the Holy Gospel, and are adopted as sons of the Father.

From the action of the Trinity it is seen that God moves in a relational manner, and works in defined ordinary ways to effect His adoption. It follows then that it is in the character of God to will the means by which faith in the Gospel (which is the forgiveness of sins) is given, as even though God is omnipotent and can work directly in humans, the grace of the Holy Spirit is effected ordinarily through the hearing of the Holy Scriptures. The two great doctrines by which the Holy Scriptures are to be understood consist of Law (Old Testament) and Gospel (New Testament), in which the Law testifies against our own sin and declares the wrath of God, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) and “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20), while the Gospel shows us the mercy and grace by which we are saved. The Law as well as the Gospel itself has the very power of God in its words, for it is written about the Gospel, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) and “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). Thereby one can see that the Holy Spirit acts through the preaching of the Law to produce contrition, and then effects through the words of the Gospel life and salvation, using specially the means of the Holy Scriptures instead of personal divine revelation or prophecies.

All Scripture points toward the incarnation of God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, and his atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world on the cross. Seeing that God Himself works in power through His Word made flesh, and does not spurn the condescension to His good creation, it is within God’s character to work through matter as part of His redemption of creation. Foreshadowed in the old covenant by God’s gracious provision of physical reminders of His covenant promises through the circumcision into God’s people (Genesis 17), the tassels of tekhelet to remember the Law (Numbers 15:38-40), and the blood of the covenant with the feast of the elders in God’s presence (Exodus 24:8-11), are the Holy Mysteries of the new covenant, called sacraments when translated into Latin, which originally comes from the Greek word mystery that in the Scriptures describe the saving truths of faith (see 1 Corinthians 4:1, Ephesians 5:32, 1 Timothy 4:16), but later in history describes divine rites instituted by the God-man Christ. A sacrament is a sacred act instituted by the command of Christ in which His Word’s promise is joined to a visible element by which He offers and bestows verily the forgiveness of sins obtained for us by His suffering, death, and resurrection. For there is indeed a forensic justification of sins fulfilled from the prophecy in Christ: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6), which God has decided to ordinarily make real in believers through the sacraments. Does this mean that one must partake of the sacrament to be saved? The thief on the cross (see Luke 23:39-42) was not baptised, but our Lord remembered him unto salvation, which shows the mercy of the Lord in extraordinary circumstances in what is called the baptism of desire; most other instances of salvation in the Scriptures are accompanied with baptism of water. The principle of abundance shown through the sacraments is such that God provides grace through Word and Sacrament as an overflow of his abundant love and not as another set of condemning laws; while the old covenant only circumcised male infants and male converts, the new covenant baptises all believers male and female, infants and adults, while the table of the Mosaic blood covenant was restricted to the elders of Israel, the table is now open to all, and while the forgiveness of sins was restricted to the sign of ritual sacrifice, it is now freely available once and for all who believe in the Gospel. Can the new covenant be less gracious than the old in removing those who were already accepted? Praise be to God who has given us every spiritual gift in the heavens in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)! 

Drawing from this abundance, while the old covenant signs were seals of God’s covenant and a shadow of the things to come, the new covenant sacraments, namely Holy Communion, Holy Baptism, and Holy Absolution, are specially attached with God’s promises of grace by the Living Word. The sacraments are the means by which the Office of the Keys given to the Church are to be administered, as they are attached to God’s will not simply being a memorial limited by human intellectual powers of remembrance, but God’s Word actually doing what it says and delivering what it promises. For the Lord says this about the church to the Holy Apostles, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19) and “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” (John 20:22-23). 

Pertaining to Holy Baptism, the remitting of sins is connected to the washing of water (Greek: loutron also found in Titus 3:5 referring to the washing of regeneration and in church writings referring to baptism) by the word as it is written of the church in, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,” (Ephesians 5:25-26) What is the cleansing by water and the word? Certainly if the metaphorical sense was preferred the qualifier “of water” would be unnecessary. After the crowds were driven to contrition by the Law preached in the sermon of the Apostle Peter, it is written, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for (Greek: eis; for the purpose of) the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:38-39). From this a plain reading of the word baptism (Greek: baptizō; washing, ceremonial ablution) indicates that the disciple and rock of the church, Peter, remits sins through the washing of water according to the promise. For the function of the word repent (to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider (morally, feel compunction)) is joined with baptism using the common conjunction not denoting a temporal order but an equivalence, remaining in the centre of Peter’s sermons of contrition: “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:40-41). Peter’s word was of condemnation unto contrition, and then the Gospel hope of forgiveness of sins attached to baptism.

Be warned not to fall into error, as the atonement for the forgiveness of sins happened once for all the world, as it is written that forgiveness of sins was a single event while you are yet in the flesh in Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” In the sacraments there is no repeat of sacrifice or continual atonement, but the application of the grace obtained through the one sacrifice for all time through faith (see Hebrews 10:12). “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:18). If anyone spurns the working of God through the ordinary element of water, may the Word of God correct them about His character, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 1:28 “And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:”, and foreshadowed in 2 Kings 5:1-14 where God heals Naaman not by instant miracle but through water, and the healing of the blind man by mud and washing by Jesus Christ in John 9:1-12. 

Compare the new promise of Holy Baptism with the old covenant promise of “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (Genesis 17:19). The foreshadowing of baptism is circumcision as it is written, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein (Greek: en; a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively)) also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation (Greek: energeia; ‘efficiency ("energy"):—operation, strong, (effectual) working.’) of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:11-12). While circumcision had no energeia associated with it, baptism is the effective sacrament of the abundant grace instituted by the Word in the new covenant as well as the mark of the family of God as foreshadowed in the old covenant. Baptism cannot be considered in this passage without the function of regeneration, for if it is a mere continuation of circumcision and mark of covenant membership or just a public profession of faith, how can it be the instrument of putting off the body of the sins of the flesh? Therefore, it follows that the faith of the operation of God refers to the faith through which the divinely promised benefit of the sacraments are received. As it is written, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5) and “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Thus both grace and faith are not human works, for saving faith itself is a work of God which is planted by drawing of the Gospel by grace; if this is not so why does our Lord say in Mark 16:16-17: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” It is important to note that our Lord does not place the qualifier of not being baptised upon the damned as it is not a requirement of salvation, but places it upon the saved as it is the ordinary means by which salvation is applied. Baptism is from God, as the Lord Jesus instituted baptism in his final command. Therefore let it not be said that the regeneration through Holy Baptism is the work of the pastor administering the sacrament or the work of the intellectual capability of the one baptised to profess their beliefs publically. Jesus foreshadowed this new covenant baptism in the Theophany at the Jordan using the baptism of Saint John the Forerunner (see Matthew 3:13-17), in which the action of the Trinity rightfully was revealed in glory for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the God-man Christ to empower Him, and that being no work of John but revealed through the words of God which sanctified the waters and fulfilled all righteousness. Let not the prototype be confused for the sacrament of God, as it is written, “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” (Mark 1:8). Given the continued existence of water baptism in the new covenant, the Forerunner is not saying that water baptism will cease, but baptism will become a means of grace by which the Holy Spirit works. In all aspects, the waters of baptism, the profession of the believer, and the words of promise uttered through the pastor give glory to God alone for His gifts. From the prototype and from the new covenant promise, the effectiveness of Holy Baptism rests in the Word of God attached to it: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19). It is not the water that saves but the Word of God through it, therefore immersion or sprinkling of water does not matter, as the Greek word baptizō does not mean full immersion but a rather ordinary washing with water as it is used in Mark 7:4, “And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.” Surely the Pharisees, legalistic as they were, would not fully immerse tables in a bath of water! That is not to say that full immersion is not a powerful image of the death of the old Adam, but with practical considerations in churches without the capacity for it the baptism by sprinkling is valid, as all baptism in the trinitarian formula fulfills the promise. Therefore there is “One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” (Ephesians 4:5), not contingent on one’s own imperfect sincerity in professing faith, but on the unfailing faithfulness of God’s promise. Listen not to strange doctrines of rebaptism based on feelings of unworthiness at the first baptism, or to those that say there are many works of grace unto salvation and thus rend the Holy Spirit from the baptism of water to make two baptisms, for the Word of God and the faith of the Apostolic Church testifies against them. 

The Apostle Peter writes clearly of baptism as the means of grace for salvation, for the washing of water only puts away the filth of the flesh, but the Spirit putting the old Adam to death and quickening us saves along with the water: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” (1 Peter 3:21)

The King James translation renders the Greek eperōtēma as answer, but other translations go with the other possible interpretation which is inquiry or appeal. It is indeed in harmony with the context with the latter interpretation, as a good conscience toward God can only come through regeneration. Noah’s ark prefigured the flooding wrath of the old Law, by which all were condemned, which is now redeemed into the flood of grace through Holy Baptism, which lifts us up to new life as Noah and his family were lifted up by the waters. For it is the Apostle Paul who writes, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4), and it is our Lord who says “…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5).

  Some will say that one can receive the Holy Spirit apart from baptism and cite such passages as Acts 8:12-17:  “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.”

The post-Pentecost faith of the people of Samaria, was effected by the Holy Spirit, for the regeneration spoken of in John 3:5 goes hand-in-hand with faith, as our Lord has said, “...Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) and the Holy Apostle: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5). Therefore, the believers in Samaria after having been saved by the Gospel through the Holy Spirit in baptism, were not receiving the Holy Spirit unto regeneration, but the gifts of authority by the laying on of hands of the Apostles, in order to work miracles for God’s kingdom as this passage focuses as a whole on miracles and not the mechanism of saving faith. This passage is an instance of the Apostles granting the special gift to work miracles by the Holy Spirit as there was no canon of New Testament Scriptures at the time; the authority of apostolic teaching had to be transferred through the early church rite of Chrismation which is the laying of hands of the apostles to anoint with the Holy Spirit the authority to preach the Gospel.

Another case pointed to is that of the Apostles themselves, who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is another case of the ordination of the authority of the Apostles, anointed to work miracles with authority. For the Apostles themselves were ordained by Christ himself before His ascension: “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” (John 20:21-22). Even though the Apostles believed in Jesus as Christ which indicates regeneration of the Holy Spirit, Jesus still told them to wait until Pentecost as the Holy Spirit would not come as the helper until He was glorified in heaven as it is written in Acts 1:4-5, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Let no one equate the water baptism of the Forerunner with the water baptism of the new covenant, for in Acts 19:2-6 it is written: 

“He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

The disciples themselves were assuredly baptised in water before Pentecost, assuming from our Lord’s command to them to do it to others and the lack of mention of their own baptism in Acts 2; the case of the Apostles is exceptional however, for the baptism of water and the Spirit could not truly be fulfilled until Jesus Christ ascended, therefore the power promised in baptism could only be truly fulfilled at Pentecost where the Holy Spirit begins the full ministry of the new covenant.

Some will say that salvation cannot be lost, therefore baptism does not save as many who are baptised fall away. The warnings of Holy Scripture are clear: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” (Hebrews 6:4-6), as well as the warning of our Lord: “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32). For although the Lord foreknows the elect in Him, the corrupt will of man has the choice to continually reject the Holy Spirit’s provision of drawing in repentance towards God and faith in the forgiveness of sins, instead rejecting salvation forever. To such ones the parable of Luke 8:13 applies: “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”. If however, one persists in the help of the Holy Spirit to keep faith in the forgiveness of sins and salvation through Jesus Christ, God is faithful to continue the work of repentance and sanctification in us to the end (see Philippians 1:6). Truly the sacraments give objective proof that Christ is for us, and our assurance of salvation need not be concerned with introspection for signs of a believer which will eventually result in despair of our lack of repentance, but with the assurance of the forgiveness of sins that is not our own work in the promises of God attached to the visible elements.

How then is faith to be understood? The Reformers considered two facets that can be applied to the word: fides directa (real faith in Christ; gift of God: grace, faith etc. whole package drawing of the father in John 6:44) versus fides reflecta (intellectual faith). How wretched would we be if our fallible human intellect was the measure of faith? Would the lack of ability to perfectly articulate the faith or an arbitrary age of accountability prevent someone from being baptised? Is it found in the Holy Scriptures that the regeneration of Holy Baptism requires first the work of a satisfactory profession of faith? As a testimony against this, the preponderance of infant faith in the Scriptures outnumbers the exceptional case of the thief on the cross, for in Psalm 22:9-10 it is written, “But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.” The Psalms were sung as the liturgy of the whole nation of Israel, so it is no special case of the author that in infancy faith in God is sung of. The final verdict is Christ, who said “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matthew 18:10-11) and in the parallel: “And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.” (Luke 18:15-17). If one should say that it is unnatural that infants can believe, I say that faith which is the gift of God is supernatural. Who would deny the working of the Holy Spirit in Saint John the Forerunner, for it is written of him, “And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.” (Luke 1:14-15) and “And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:” (Luke 1:39-41). The Holy Spirit has all power to regenerate anyone unto faith in God. Why would God make the Forerunner an exception when he is but a shadow of the abundance of the new covenant. How much more will God open the gifts of the Holy Spirit to all believers who are greater than John because of the full revelation of God? Therefore the sacrament of Holy Baptism can be administered effectually to those unable to articulate their faith such as infants and the mentally ill of Christian parents to whom the promise is given. Even if the fides reflecta of such individuals is not manifest, the fides directa even if the size of a mustard seed is surely counted for them. For our Lord along with David in the Psalms did not find it incredible that infants and toddlers could praise Him: “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children (Greek pais; children, same word used in Herod’s slaying of the children two and under in Matthew 2:16) crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”(Matthew 21:15-16)

What else is known of faith, than that the Word is effective for faith through the Holy Spirit illuminating Law and Gospel. And of the effect of knowing that Word it is written regarding the Hieromartyr Timothy, “And that from a child (Greek brephos; an infant (properly, unborn) literally or figuratively:—babe, (young) child, infant.) thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15). Wherever the Word is present in the household, it creates and sustains faith, therefore the households are baptised because the Word will continually create faith among all those living there, for it is written, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.” (1 Corinthians 7:14). From this we can understand the account of the baptisms of the households of Cornelius (Acts 10), Lydia (Acts 16), The Philippian Jailor (Acts 16), Crispus (Acts 18) and Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1)​. Even infants in the womb can hear and perceive language according to modern linguistic and medical science, so it stands to reason that the Word of God has the power to effect belief in the godly household who prays and worships around the infant. Therefore the baptism of the entire household is a practical acknowledgement of the power of God’s Word as well as the headship of the parents in the household. For God does not spurn baptism of conversion: “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 18:15-17), but also rests His favour through His promises unto the household of the believer. Let us trust in the Word which adopts us without discrimination into Christ through baptism: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-28). 

Now that I have written at length about the Scriptural basis for the sacrament of Holy Baptism, I wish to demonstrate that the promise of our Lord is true in Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” For it is the practice of some to disavow the entire history of the Apostolic Church and interpret the Scriptures according to their own passions, peddling such incredulous stories which consist of in essence the notion that the gates of hell prevailed against the Church for two thousand years until their interpretation of Scriptures (devoid of the tradition handed down from the Apostolic Fathers who passed down the whole Gospel with the authority of miracles until led by the Holy Spirit to enumerate the canon of the New Testament) surfaced from the small unbroken lineage of true believers from the time of the Holy Apostles. To demonstrate that the sacramental Holy Baptism for all was practiced since the early church, it is useful to entreat the wisdom of the disciples of the Holy Apostles, who are much wiser than I. Saint Irenaeus who was ordained by Polycarp, the disciple of John the Apostle writes: "He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age" (Against Heresies 2:22:4 [A.D. 189]). Hieromartyr Hippolytus writes: "Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them" (The Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215]). The controversial Origen testifies to the practice of the church: "Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin. . . . In the Church, baptism is given for the remission of sins, and, according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given even to infants. If there were nothing in infants which required the remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent to forgiveness, the grace of baptism would seem superfluous" (Homilies on Leviticus 8:3 [A.D. 248]). Origen also confesses: "The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit" (Commentaries on Romans 5:9 [A.D. 248]). The canon of the New Testament was defined by the ecumenical council of bishops, and from these ecumenical councils also came the doctrine of the Trinity and the definition of the Nicene Creed which faithfully confesses the truths of Scripture: “In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.” Aside from the Apostolic Age, let it not be said that the Reformers denied the efficacy of the sacraments, for both Martin Luther and John Calvin agreed on the sacramental nature of grace given through baptism and communion. Look no further than the Book of Concord and the Westminster Catechism for the sacramental beliefs of the churches started by these two giants in the faith.

Lastly, the consideration of infants who perish too soon is addressed by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. For if one holds that baptism is merely a sign of the grace of election as the Calvinists do, how can their practice of infant baptism provide any comfort if the infant cannot exhibit the fruits of the Spirit that is the proof of salvation in their tradition? Or if one does not believe in any sacraments, how can one know that their infant is part of the elect? By the grace of Holy Baptism infants are regenerated unto faith, and that provides a great comfort to their Christian parents. That is not to say that unbaptised infants are damned, because God is a merciful God we trust in His goodness by faith, though the Scriptures are silent. It is written in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The old Adam of our fallen nature is drowned in the waters of Baptism, which instills new desire towards God by the Spirit, however the old Adam will only be finally drowned upon our death, so we are to struggle against every old impulse of the flesh (see Galatians 5:17) until the final victory on the Last Day. God has graciously provided the sacraments for assurance outside of ourselves, let us run the race and be proven worthy of the crown of glory by Christ Jesus. May the Father of all mercies comfort you Brother Oliverius. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Post Scriptum

The prophecy of Ezekiel 36:22-38 below, thus fulfilled in Baptism:

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

33 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.

37 Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.