e days of the apostles first believed in Christ and next
were baptized upon a profession of faith. In other words, the New
Testament seems to lay down these steps--first faith in Christ, next
baptism and then the partaking of the communion and the other duties of
the Christian life."

"We invite to our table all who love the Lord," said Mr. Garland. "We
care not what church a person belongs to if only he is a consistent
church member."

"Would you invite me to your table in your church, Mr. Walton?" asked
Sterling.

"You speak of my inviting you to my table as if it were a table in my
dining room. But remember, it is not my table at all. It is the Lord's
Supper spread in my church. The members of my church anxious to carry
out the command of Christ that we observe this supper in memory of him
come together at regular intervals for that purpose. I have never felt
called upon to look out over the entire community to decide whom I
would invite to this table."

"But is it not your duty as a Christian minister to invite the people to
come?"

"It is my duty to explain the nature of the supper and also to state the
qualifications that ought to be possessed by those who come to the
table. I am always willing to try to make it plain who I think are
entitled to come to the table, but I hardly think I am commanded to pick
out a list of people to be invited to the table. I state the conditions
and each one must decide whether he ought to come."

"Well," said Mr. Sterling, "I will put my question in another form. Do
you think I am entitled to come to the Lord's table in your church and
commune?"

"In reply I would say that, while I have respect for your Christian
profession, yet I think you are not entitled to come to the communion
because I do not think you have been baptized."

"Yes, I know you think that, but why do you not leave the communion
matter to me? If it is the Lord's table, and if I am satisfied with my
baptism and am baptized in the manner in which the Bible seems to me to
teach, why should I not commune?"

"That is for you to decide, Mr. Sterling, but I think you have left out
one of the steps that, according to the Bible, ought to precede the
supper, and that is baptism. I am bound to think you have left out that
step, and therefore I think the thing for you to be interested in is not
the taking of the communion, but the being properly baptized. For me to
invite you to the table would be wrong. If I felt