The Lords Supper is not designed for the

The Lord’s Supper is not designed for the satisfaction of physical hunger and thirst, or for the nourishment of the physical body. It is designed to meet spiritual, rather than physical needs. As a spiritual meal, it has many aspects, or facets. 1

The Lord's Supper It Is A Memorial Meal 2

The Lord's Supper It Is A Proclamation Meal 3

The Lord's Supper It Is A Covenant Meal 4

The Lord's Supper It Is A Fellowship Meal 5

The Lord's Supper It Is Also A Unity Meal 6

Acts 20: 6 -7 But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 7

1 Corinthians 11: 17 -21 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. . Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 8

J. W. Mc. Garvey "This verse is an indictment with three counts. There could be no communion supper when: 1. The parties did not eat at the same time, but some before and some after; 2. when each ate his own meal, instead of sharing in 'the one bread' (ch. 10: 17); 3. when some ate to the full and others ate nothing at all, because there was nothing left. " 9

1 Corinthians 10: 16 -17 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, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. 10

A Unity Meal When Christians, those who compose “the one bread and one body, ” worthily partake of the one bread in the Lord’s Supper, they are reminded that the one Lord and Christ established but one body, the church, of which He is the head. Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16: 18). Paul declared, “There is one body” (Eph. 4: 4) and “He is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1: 18). 11

A Unity Meal The death of Christ, symbolized in the Lord’s Supper, had as its sublime purpose the uniting of Jews and Gentiles into one body, the church. 12

Ephesians 2: 14 -17 “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ” 13

A Unity Meal Can any person, who is in favor of human names, creeds, disciplines, and doctrines that separate men into different religious organizations, possibly appreciate the meaning of the body of Christ given on Calvary to make men "one" in Him? Can they possibly appreciate the meaning of the bread which symbolizes that body? How can anyone, who is not in favor of the unity, which that death was intended to make possible, acceptably proclaim the death of Christ in partaking of the proper elements? Denominationalism is antithetical to unity! 14

A Unity Meal Also, those who worthily partake of the Lord’s Supper, recognizing that they compose the “one bread and one body, ” are incited to strive to fulfill Jesus’ prayer for the unity of His disciples: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17: 20 -21). 15

A Unity Meal They are also incited to strive to obey the following injunctions: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1: 10). 16

A Unity Meal They are also incited to strive to obey the following injunctions: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1: 27). 17

A Unity Meal The unity meal, the Lord’s Supper, is without a doubt meaningful to the Christian who has the sincere desire to be united with his brethren in Christ and who works to that end, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4: 3). And we should never so exalt ourselves as to measure others by the extent to which we have grown, and deny them the privilege of sitting at the Lord’s Table and partaking of His Supper. It is the Lord's Supper not ours. 18

A Unity Meal Since He said, through the apostle, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor. 11: 28), you are to examine no one but yourself. For none of us is fully what he ought to be: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. . If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1: 8, 10). 19

A Unity Meal If the apostle Paul could say, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 12 -14), who are we to think that we have apprehended? 20

A Unity Meal Indeed, when we meaningfully partake of the one bread, seeing in this symbol the one body of Christ that was given on the cross to make possible the one body, the church, we are declaring the primary, vital essence of the unity that is to be kept in the bond of peace; namely, love. 21

A Unity Meal The unity of the body, the church, of which we are reminded when we as “one bread and one body” partake of the one bread, the symbol of the physical body of Christ, at the Lord’s Table, cannot be limited to certain externals of worship and practice that the brethren agree upon. Unless we see in this reminder of unity the vital essence of love, and so truly love one another, any agreement we have with our brethren is a hollow mockery, a mere sham. 22

A Unity Meal For example, is a married couple truly united just because the husband wife are lawfully joined together in matrimony, eating at the same table, sleeping in the same bed, etc. , even though they almost constantly quarrel and bicker, with intense hatred and bitterness in their hearts for each other? 23

A Unity Meal What about brethren, supposedly in Christ, who meet together around the Lord’s Table the first day of every week, yet who “bite and devour one another” (Gal. 5: 15), who hate rather than love one another, who have no association with one another outside the church building? Are they truly striving for the unity set forth in God’s word? How can they possibly understand appreciate the unity that is portrayed in the Lord’s Supper? 24

A Unity Meal Thus the unity for which they labor and of which they are reminded in the unity meal, the Lord’s Supper, is much more than mutual acceptance of certain religious doctrines and forms of worship. It is a unity that binds them together in loving, patient, compassionate, understanding, merciful fellowship. It is a unity that shows no distinction because of differences in race, nationality, education, gender, etc. , but recognizes that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3: 28). 25