8 And it came to pass that when he said these words, he commanded his disciples that they should take of the wine of the cup and drink of it, and that they should also give unto the multitude that they might drink of it.
9 And it came to pass that they did so, and did drink of it and were filled; and they gave unto the multitude, and they did drink, and they were filled.
Being filled does not mean filled with bread and wine, but filled with the Holy Spirit. Then when filled, administer to others. So, how much it takes to be filled with the Holy Spirit is subjective, not to mention that the officiator must have true power in the priesthood to actually receive the full promise of the ordinance. Then, once filled, stop and administer to others.
This also introduces the concept that one must first gain the approval and authority from Heaven in order for the ordinance to have efficacy, so that those who partake can be cleansed and filled with the Holy Ghost.
Those who administer should partake first, be filled with the Holy Spirit first, then when they are pure, administer to others. They do not partake first for any status reason, for they are to be the servants of servants, but to be cleansed first before administering to others, that they may perform their duties in righteousness. If they partake first for any status reason, they are impure, they will not have the Holy Spirit, and cannot administer in righteousness. They are to "wash their hands first", not because they are special, but because they don't want to contaminate the bread and wine that they serve to their children, they don't want to contaminate the souls of those to whom they administer.
Turn to the Lord. Perform His ordinances the way He says, and that which He promises will be given immediately according to His word.
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First off, I realize the title has nothing to do with the content of this post, except it is often misinterpreted as such.
ReplyDeleteOn a slightly different subject, although still related, the entire chapter 18 is a very revealing chapter about the laws governing administration of the Sacrament.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post the chapter, but it is too long to leave in the comment section. And there is so much to talk about in that chapter, that it really deserves a post of it's own.