Till He Come

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 1 CORINTHIANS 11:26

Some of Spurgeon’s warmest words were not spoken to the thousands who filled the Tabernacle on Sunday mornings but to small groups of believers gathered round the Lord’s Table — at the Tabernacle, and in the last winters of his life in his sitting-room at Menton, among Christians of several denominations and nationalities. A selection of these communion addresses was published after his death under the title Till He Come. It is the tenderest of his books, and it shows the centre of his devotional life.

Every Lord’s Day

The editors of Till He Come record that it was Spurgeon’s constant custom, at home or abroad, to break bread every Sunday unless illness prevented, and that he believed this to be the practice of the apostles. They add that his repeated testimony was that the more often he obeyed the command, This do in remembrance of Me, the more precious his Saviour became.

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. LUKE 22:19

Many Christians today take communion rarely, and some almost as an afterthought at the end of a long service. Spurgeon regarded the Supper as one of the chief means by which Christ keeps His people near Him. He did not think it worked by magic. He thought it worked by setting Christ crucified before the eyes of faith, week by week, in bread and wine, until the heart was warmed.

A fellowship, not a spectacle

Spurgeon’s view of the Supper was simple, and he defended its simplicity with some heat. In an address at Menton on 1 Corinthians 10:16–17, Communion with Christ and His People, he laments that so plain an ordinance has been overgrown with ceremony, and that some speak of it as if the eating and drinking had a physical or almost magical power in themselves. “Superstition has produced a sacrament where Jesus intended a fellowship.”

What, then, does the Supper mean? It means communion — with Christ, and with one another. And communion, he says, rests on union. We cannot share life with Christ until we are joined to Him. “Union lies at the basis of communion.”

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 1 CORINTHIANS 10:16

Readers from traditions with a higher view of the sacrament will find him polemical here, and at times unfair; he could lump together very different Christian understandings under the heading of superstition. Readers of every tradition, however, can share his main concern: that the Supper should lead us to Christ Himself, not stop at the rite.

Many ways of communion

The same address has a passage that deserves to be better known. Spurgeon says that believers have many ways of communion with Christ besides the Table. They speak with Him in prayer, and He speaks with them through His Word. They share His thoughts, delighting in the Father as He does. They share His feelings, grieving over sin and weeping over sinners as He wept over Jerusalem. They share His work, whenever they teach the ignorant or seek the wandering sheep.

He then adds a personal confession. Sometimes in prayer, he says, when he feels unable to say anything, he likes simply to sit still and look up, and faith sees the Well-beloved and hears His voice in the silence. He insists that this is not a dream or a rare rapture. The devout soul, he says, “can converse with the Lord Jesus all the day.”

Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 JOHN 1:3

That is the heart of Till He Come. Spurgeon was a man of immense activity — college, orphanage, magazine, correspondence, sermons weekly in print. Beneath it all was a private life of quiet, affectionate communion with Christ. The Table was the place where that life was renewed.

Christ known should be Christ used

Several of the addresses take their texts from the Song of Solomon, which Spurgeon read, with a long line of Puritans before him, as a picture of the love between Christ and His people. In Under the Apple Tree, on the words I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste, he opens with a sentence that could summarise his whole devotional teaching: “Christ known should be Christ used.”

I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. SONG OF SOLOMON 2:3

It is a pity, he goes on, that we know so much about Christ and enjoy Him so little. The bride in the Song does not merely know that her Beloved gives shade; she sits in it. She does not merely believe He bears fruit; she tastes it. The best evidence of Christ’s power, Spurgeon says, is to trust Him and be saved oneself.

Not every reader will follow his interpretation of the Song, and it is fair to say that he sometimes pressed its details further than the text will bear. But the application does not depend on the method. The rebuke stands: many Christians are well informed about Christ and scarcely acquainted with Him.

Looking forward

The title of the book comes from Paul: ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. The Supper looks backward to the cross and forward to the return of Christ. It is a meal for travellers, eaten between two comings. Spurgeon loved that double horizon. The same table that reminds us of the Sin-Bearer promises the marriage supper of the Lamb.

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. MATTHEW 26:29

Many of the Menton addresses were given by a man in failing health, far from his own congregation. They have the quiet glow of someone already looking across the river.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Before you next take communion, spend time the evening before reading one of the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper.

2. At the Table, deliberately look past the bread and cup to Christ Himself. Speak to Him, silently, as to a friend present.

3. Try Spurgeon’s practice this week: in prayer, when words run out, sit still and look up.

4. Ask where you know Christ without using Him. Choose one truth about Him and act on it today.

5. Remember at the Table that it points forward. Thank God that the One who died is coming again.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, You said, This do in remembrance of Me, and I have too often done it without remembering You.

Meet me at Your Table. Let the bread and the cup lead me past themselves to You, crucified for me and risen.

I know so much about You and enjoy You so little. Let me sit under Your shadow with great delight, and taste that Your fruit is sweet.

Keep me in communion with You all the day, and keep me looking for the day when I shall drink it new with You in Your Father’s kingdom. Amen.