Five Days With Spurgeon: Baptism and the Lord’s SupperSample

Fellowship Through the Lord’s Supper

Most fundamentally, church membership at the Tabernacle was made up of those who were baptized and were regularly allowed to take the Lord’s Supper. Baptism was the initiatory ordinance by which a Christian publicly professed faith in Christ and was joined to the church. Because of the connection between baptism and membership, Spurgeon would not allow an unbaptized believer to join the church, including those who claimed to have been baptized as infants. Even though he valued his paedobaptist brothers and sisters, their differing views on baptism meant they could not join the church. Similarly, everyone baptized at the Tabernacle was brought into the church membership.

The Lord’s Supper, then, was the ongoing ordinance of the church, which gave visible expression to their fellowship with one another. This was evident in the language of the Tabernacle minute books. When someone joined the church, they were brought “into full communion” with the church. An individual could not become a member until they participated in the Lord’s Supper with the congregation. There was no such thing as a non-communing member. If a member was removed for non-attendance, the books recorded that he “neglected to fill up his place at the Lord’s Table.” If a person was removed from membership as an act of church discipline, they were no longer permitted to the Table. As the church carefully guarded the ordinances of the church, this also promoted a right understanding of church membership.

On one occasion, William Elvin was converted under the preaching of the gospel. As he met with the church elders, he gave solid evidence of his conversion, went through the membership process, and was eventually voted into membership and baptized. There was just one problem. He served with the Coldstream Guards and would soon be deployed to Ireland before he had the chance to take the Lord’s Supper with the church. Would Spurgeon send Elvin off without bringing him into membership? Or would he bring Elvin in without having him partake of the Table? No. The minute books record, “after the public service, the pastor, elders, and deacons, brake bread with him & three godly men of the regiment in token of the fellowship of the whole church with our Brother and in the hope that in that regiment the Lord Jesus may lift up a standard.”

That occasion was a tangible reminder to this new Christian that he belonged to the body of Christ.

Thank you for joining us on this reading plan!

This reading plan was based on Spurgeon the Pastor by Geoff Chang. To learn more about the book and order your copy, visit spurgeonthepastor.com.