Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3295
“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? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” 1 Corinthians 10:16,17.
[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon on verse 16 is #2572, Volume 44—FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST.]
I will read you the text as it is given in the Revised Version—“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?” That is to say, is it not one form of expressing the communion of the blood of Christ? “The bread,” or as it is in the margin, “the loaf which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ seeing that we, who are many, are one loaf, one body: for we all partake of the one loaf.” The word, “loaf,” helps to bring out more clearly the idea of unity intended to be set forth by the Apostle .
It is a lamentable fact that some have fancied that this simple ordinance of the Lord’s Supper has a certain magical, or at least physical power about it, so that by the mere act of eating and drinking this bread and wine, men can be made partakers of the body and blood of Christ! It is marvelous that so plain a symbol should have been so complicated by genuflection, adornments and technical phrases! Can anyone see the slightest resemblance between the Master’s sitting down with the 12 and the “mass” of the Roman community? The original rite is lost in the superimposed ritual! Superstition has produced a sacrament where Jesus intended a fellowship. Too many who would not go the length of Rome, yet speak of this simple feast as if it were a dark and obscure mystery. They employ all manner of hard words to turn the children’s bread into a stone! It is not the Lord’s Supper, but the “Eucharist.” We see before us no plate, but a “paten.” The cup is a “chalice,” and the table is an “altar.” These are incrustations of superstition, whereby the blessed ordinance of Christ is likely to be again overgrown and perverted!
What does this Supper mean? It means communion—communion with Christ, communion with one another!
What is communion? The word breaks up easily into union, and its prefix com, which means with, “union with.” We must, therefore, first enjoy union with Christ and with His Church or else we cannot enjoy communion. Union lies at the basis of communion. We must be one with Christ in heart, soul and life—baptized into His death, quickened by His life—and so brought to be members of His body, one with the whole Church of which He is the Head. We cannot have communion with Christ until we are in union with Hm. And we cannot have communion with the Church till we are in vital union with it.
I. The teaching of the Lord’s Supper is just this—that while we have many ways of COMMUNION WITH CHRIST, yet the receiving of Christ into our souls as our Savior is the best way of communion with Him.
I said, dear Friends, that we have many ways of communion with Christ. Let me show you that it is so.
Communion is ours by personal union with the Lord Jesus. We speak with Him in prayer, and He speaks with us through the Word. Some of us speak more often with Christ than we do with wife or child—and our communion with Jesus is deeper and more thorough than our fellowship with our nearest friend. In meditation and its attendant thanksgiving we speak with our risen Lord. And by His Holy Spirit He answers us by creating fresh thought and emotion in our minds. I like sometimes, in prayer, when I do not feel that I can say anything, just to sit still and look up—then faith spiritually catches sight of the Well-Beloved and hears His voice in the solemn silence of the mind. Thus we have
union with Jesus of a closer sort than any words could possibly express. Our soul melts beneath the warmth of Jesus’ love and darts upward her own love in return. Think not that I am dreaming, or am carried off by the memory of some unusual rhapsody—no, I assert that the devout soul can converse with the Lord Jesus all day and can have as true fellowship with Him as if He still dwelt bodily among men! This thing comes to me, not by the hearing of the ears, but by my own personal experience—I know of a surety that Jesus manifests Himself unto His people as He does not unto the world!
Ah, what sweet communion often exists between the saint and the Well-Beloved, when there is no bread and wine upon the table, for the Spirit Himself draws the heart of the renewed one and it runs after Jesus, while the Lord, Himself, appears unto the longing spirit! “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” Do you enjoy this charming union?
Next, we have communion with Christ in His thoughts, views and purposes, for His thoughts are our thoughts according to our capacity and sanctity. Believers take the same view of matters as Jesus does—that which pleases Him pleases them, and that which grieves Him grieves them, also. Consider, for instance, the greatest theme of our thought, and see whether our thoughts are not like those of Christ. He delights in the Father, He loves to glorify the Father—do not we? Is not the Father the center of our soul’s delight? Do we not rejoice at the very sound of His name? Does not our spirit cry, “Abba Father”? Thus it is clear that we feel as Jesus feels towards the Father and so we have the truest communion with Him. This is but one instance—your contemplations will bring before you a wide variety of topics wherein we think with Jesus. Now, identity ofjudgment, opinion and purpose forms the highway of communion—yes, it is communion.