"I am happy the mass now is held among the Germans in German. But to make a necessity of this, as if it had to be so, is again too much. This spirit cannot do anything else than continually create laws, necessity, problems of conscience and sin. To be sure, I have read in 1 Cor. 14 [:27-28] that he who speaks with tongues is to be silent in the congregation when no one understands anything of what he says. One tends however to skip over the other words: 'Unless there is someone to interpret.' That is, St. Paul permits speaking with tongues, 'if at the same time it is interpreted,' so that one understands it. Therefore he also commands that they are not to prevent those who speak with tongues, etc. Now we administer the sacrament to no one unless he understands the words in the sacrament, as one well knows. So in this matter we do not act contrary to St. Paul, since we satisfy his intention. If we do not satisfy this spirit, who only looks at external works and has no regard for either conscience or intentions, it is of no importance. We attach no importance to his new articles of faith.
. . .
For whoever goes to the sacrament understanding those words in German or having them clearly in his heart: 'Take, eat; this is my body,' etc. [Matt. 26:26], which he has learned and borne in mind from a foregoing sermon, and thereupon and therewith receives the sacrament, he receives it rightly and does not merely hear speaking with tongues, but something which has real meaning. On the other hand he who does not comprehend or understand these words in his heart, nor thereupon receives the sacrament, such a one would not be helped if a thousand preachers stood around his ears and shouted themselves into a frenzy with such words. However for the mad spirit everything depends on external works and appearance, which out of his own head he would continually set up as necessary and as an article of faith, without God's commandment." -Martin Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets, Pg. 219-220
Now Gordon Clark also says something similar when his writings. In What is the Christian Life? He says,
"It is therefore requisite to make a few more remarks on the efficacy of sacraments. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ceremonies commanded by Christ. Therefore the church must administer them until Christ returns. They are signs: Baptism signifies purification, and the Supper pictures Christ's death. The sacraments are also seals which confirm our faith, and as such are means of grace. A seal, in earlier legal practice, showed that a document was genuine. If seals are no longer so widely used, at least they were familiar necessities in Biblical times (compare 1 Kings 21:8, Nehemiah 9:38, Isaiah 8:16, Jeremiah 32:10, Daniel 12:4). In the case of Abraham and his descendants, circumcision was the seal God placed on his promises. One might argue that God and God's promises do not need seals: nevertheless God used seals to strengthen our assurance.
However, if God has made no promises, if the document is blank, if there is nothing to seal, the seal obviously is useless. Hence with the seal there must also be the Scripture whose truth is thereby authenticated. Sacraments are not to be celebrated apart from the Word.
A magical formula operates of itself; it needs nothing further. Hence Romish worship most frequently has its sacraments without the Word, whereas Calvinism always stresses the sermon - the preaching of the Word. Without the Word the sacrament seals nothing. For a sacrament to be effective, it must be understood; and the more extensive the understanding the greater the effect. Suppose Nebuchadnezzar had sent a sealed document to the Chinese. Unless the Chinese had a translator, the document would mean nothing to them. This is why the Protestants from the first insisted on translating the Bible into the common languages, while the Roman church, until only a few years ago, opposed translations for the people. Incidentally, this is also why Paul insists that the miraculous gift of speaking in foreign languages, during the apostolic age, should not be used in public unless translation were given. Thus 'There is never any sacrament,' says Calvin, 'without an antecedent promise of God, to which it is subjoined as an appendix. . . . A sacrament consists of the Word and the outward sign. For we ought to understand the word, not of a murmur uttered without any meaning or faith, a mere whisper like a magical incantation . . . but of the gospel preached. . .'" (Institutes IV xiv 3, 4). - Gordon H. Clark, What is the Christian Life?, Pg. 76
"As we have said above, the preaching of the Word is useless if it is not preached in an intelligible manner, and, likewise, if also what is expounded and declared to us, i.e. Jesus Christ with all His benefits, is not received by faith in the hearts of those who hear it. It must be understood that it is the same with Sacraments. For, if in receiving the Sacraments we do not bring faith, the sole means of receiving what is preached to us and represented by them, they are far from serving to our salvation. On the contrary, in the measure in which we misapprehend them or, rather, misapprehend Christ in them, they seal our damnation (1 Cor 10:5; 11:27-29; 1 Pet 3:21; Acts 15:8,9). However, in the same way as the Gospel does not cease to be, in its nature, the word of life and salvation, although unbelievers turn it into an odour of death and damnation, thus the Sacraments do not cease to be true Sacraments although they may be administered or received by unworthy persons, even reprobates. For the malice of men cannot change the nature of the ordinance of God." -Theodore Beza, The Christian Faith, pg. 48
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