So many in past ages failed to realise that difference and in consequence became apparently self centred, bigoted, concerned only for their own eternal interests and caring little or nothing for those of humanity in general. They forgot that our Lord came "to seek and to save that which was lost". They did not heed, perhaps never really understood, the fact that God did not create man upon the earth in vain; that even although He foresaw the fall into sin He had made provision for the recovery of "whosoever will" from that sin, and the eventual restoration of the human race to the Divine likeness. Men became so pre-occupied with the theology of the Church's salvation and the golden prospect of the heavenly city that they overlooked the promise of another aspect of salvation and the creation of the green fields and sparkling streams of an earthly paradise. And so, whilst they still paid lip service to the hallowed words "Till He come" the thought that was really in their minds was "Till we go!"

Was this one reason why the Apostle Paul, writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, brought these words into such close association with the Memorial? "As oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup" he said "ye do shew forth the Lord's death till he come". The Memorial is a time when we come together to commemorate, not only our Lord's death for us, but also his death for the world; not only the privilege we have of association with him in present sacrifice and future service, but also his intention to give life and human perfection to all men at the right time; not only our fellowship together as one family, now, as fellow-heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant, but also our service together as able ministers of the New Covenant. And because these things require for their accomplishment the long awaited Second Advent of our Lord in glory and power, the predominant thought in our celebration together is always "Till He come!"

This prayer is not completely fulfilled when He comes for his saints. That is only one phase of his coming. After that, how long after we do not know, He comes again with his saints for the setting up his Kingdom and the blessing of all the world. It was for this, as much as for the other, that He died. It is this, as much as the other, that is shown forth year by year in the ceremony of bread and wine. It is not until this has taken place that it can be said He has "come" in the sense which Paul intended when he wrote the words. He has not yet "come" in the glory of the Kingdom to rule over the nations, and until that event has taken place and the world is no longer in ignorance it cannot be said that He has fully "come".

There is much that is disappointing and saddening and unsatisfactory in our daily lives and it is easy to let the mind dwell on the future glories that are promised to faithful ones, and hope fervently for their speedy coming. But the world also is groaning with pain like the pain of childbirth, waiting for God to reveal his sons, and their distress is far greater than ours, for they have not the hope that we have, no knowledge or expectation of future deliverance. Some may have nothing but a dull despair that sees no avenue of escape from the oppression of this world's evil. Where we can lift up our hearts to heaven and rejoice, knowing that deliverance draws near, they can only "look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness". So we ought to take thought for the world more even than for ourselves, and in the good that we are able to do our fellow men show them something of the hope that fills our hearts.

Another testimony to our hope is in the manner in which we keep the Memorial of our Lord's death together. It is the day by day conduct of our Christian communion together, which is symbolised for us in the Memorial service, that is the effective witness and of which men will take notice. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." No amount of preaching that "God is Love" will impress our hearers if we do not have love one toward another. It is of no use expounding John 3.16 if we ourselves are not also found to be "giving" of our best and dearest so that others may be saved, nor of talking about the One Who came to be a servant and serve mankind if we show no disposition to serve them too. Our lives must match our profession and our own fellowship become a miniature, within present limitations, of what the Divine Kingdom on earth will be in the future Age; and then we can reasonably expect men to listen. We can then say with confidence "See; this is what the Lord's death has done for us. It can do the same for you

It is in some such way, it may be, that we may show the meaning of "proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes". It is not the only meaning; undoubtedly the ceremony of bread and wine is in itself a testimony, a declaring between the participants, although privately, that they continue to share the same faith and hope in the fundamentals of the faith and the promise of the Kingdom. But none would want to restrict that declaring to one day in the year, and not many would want to confine it within the bounds of "the elect". We are all in some way ambassadors for our Lord Jesus in this world, and we want to show his Name and his message and his saving power in such a way that, if it be possible - as one day in the future Age it will be possible - "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God". And so we can take this into our daily lives and make the communion of our fellowship, the Christian brotherliness that should exist between all of us and knit us into one family "in Christ", the outward evidence to all the world that Christ's death has indeed borne fruit, giving assurance of greater fruits yet to come. We are a kind of first fruits of his creatures, the Apostle assures us. There are to be after fruits. In our daily lives we can demonstrate the nature of those after fruits which are to be the result of our Lord's death but cannot be seen in their fulness "until He comes".

So let us resolve, that, casting aside all that makes for disunity and unbrotherliness, and scrupulously respecting each other's convictions in those matters of our faith and practice which do not violate the fundamentals of the faith, and remembering that as servants we each stand or fall to our own Master, we may become a community united in our fellowship, persuaded of the truth of our message, possessed with a sense of the urgency of the times in which we live and the imminence of the Kingdom. Let us show the truth among ourselves of the famous saying attributed to Tertullian seventeen centuries ago, "Behold, how these Christians love one another!" With that resolve in our minds and hearts we can come together to eat of that bread and drink of that cup in full confidence that in this way we are proclaiming our Lord's death "until He comes".
BSM reprint, updated.