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I. The establishment of the breaking of bread:
А. The One establishing.
B. The time of establishing.
C. The purpose for establishing.
II. The symbols in the breaking of bread:
А. The bread.
B. The cup.
III. The center of the bread-breaking meeting:
А. Remembering the Lord.
B. Enjoying the Lord.
IV. The declaration of the breaking of bread.
V. The expectation of the breaking of bread.
VI. The two aspects of the breaking of bread:
А. The remembrance of the Lord’s supper.
B. The fellowship of the table.
VII. The fellowship of the breaking of bread:
А. Fellowship with the Lord.
B. Fellowship with all the saints.
VIII. The testimony of the breaking of bread:
А. The testimony that we are joined to the Lord.
B. The testimony of the oneness of the church.
IX. The discernment of the breaking of bread.
X. The discipline of the breaking of bread.
XI. The ones breaking bread.
XII. The time of the breaking of bread.
XIII. The place of the breaking of bread.
XIV. After breaking the bread.
To break bread is to eat the Lord’s supper. Since this is a great matter in the New Testament, which expresses our relationship with the Lord Jesus and our relationship with the saints, we cannot neglect it.
1. “The Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 11:23, see also vv. 24-25; Luke 22:19-20; Matt. 26:26-29).
The breaking of bread was established by the Lord Jesus; it was not ordained by the apostles. What the Lord established was passed on to us by the apostles. Thus, our breaking of bread is not merely a matter of keeping the teachings of the apostles; it is our receiving of what was ordained and established by the Lord.
1. “In the night in which He was betrayed” (1 Cor. 11:23).
The Lord Jesus established the table in the night in which He was betrayed, that is, after He ate the Passover feast together with His disciples for the last time, which was also His last supper on earth. It was on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar (Exo. 12:2-11). The establishing of the breaking of bread at this time is very meaningful.
1. To replace the Old Testament Feast of the Passover (Luke 22:14-20; 1 Cor. 5:7).
In the Old Testament the Israelites kept the Feast of the Passover to remember how God saved them in Egypt through the passover lamb. The lamb typified the Lord Jesus, and its death typified the death of the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover for the last time, He was about to be put to death to shed His blood to accomplish the new covenant. Consequently, at this time He established the breaking of bread as a remembrance for those in the New Testament age in order to replace the Old Testament Passover. Since He fulfilled the type of the Passover and His death fulfilled the type of the death of the passover lamb, He abolished the Passover and established the breaking of bread as its replacement. Just as He and His death fulfilled the type of the Passover, His breaking of bread replaced the remembrance of the Passover.
1. “Jesus took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body”; “Which is given for you” (Matt. 26:26; 1 Cor. 11:24).
When the Lord established the breaking of bread, He first broke the bread and gave it to His disciples, telling them to take and eat. He said that it was His body, which was given for them. Therefore, each time we break bread, there is a loaf of bread on the table for everyone to break and eat. According to the Lord’s word, the bread is a symbol of His body. His body was given up for us on the cross. Through His death on the cross, He broke His body and distributed it for us to enjoy. Every time we break the bread and eat the broken pieces, we demonstrate and announce that the Lord’s body was broken for us and that through His death on the cross, He has become our portion.
Bread in the Bible refers to life. The Lord said that He is the bread of life and the One who gives life to the world (John 6:33-35). Thus, when we speak of bread, we should think of life. The Lord broke His body for us and distributed it to us like bread; this means that He gave up His body so that we could receive His life. Our receiving of His broken body is our partaking of His life. His life was dispensed to us through the breaking of His body. Thus, He distributes His broken body to us as the bread of life as our portion in life for our enjoyment. This is what is signified by the broken bread.
The Bible shows that God’s eternal purpose is to dispense the life in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into people. Therefore, through incarnation God’s life was embodied in the Lord Jesus, and He came to earth so that men could receive His life (1:4; 10:10). The Lord Jesus wanted people to receive the life of God within Him, so He needed to die in order to release the life of God from His broken body. Through the death of His physical body, He dispensed the divine life within Him to us. This is the main reason for His giving up His body through His death on the cross. This is the reason He first broke the bread and gave it to the disciples. When He established the breaking of bread, He signified that He was giving up His body for us so that the divine life within Him could become our portion. When we see the bread, when we receive the bread, and when we touch and break the bread, we should realize and, even more, manifest and declare by faith that the body of the Lord Jesus was broken for us, enabling us to partake of the divine life within Him. The breaking of the bread speaks of this, and we should manifest this to the entire universe each time we break bread.
1. “He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins”; “This cup is the new covenant established in My blood” (Matt. 26:27-28; 1 Cor. 11:25).
When the Lord established the breaking of bread, He not only broke bread, gave it to the disciples, and told them to take and eat, He also took a cup, gave it to them, and told them to take and drink. He said that the cup was the new covenant established in His blood, which was being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Whenever we break bread, there is not only a loaf on the table that is ready to be broken and eaten by all but also a cup ready to be taken and drunk by all. According to the Lord’s word, both the bread and the cup are symbols. The bread refers to His body broken for us, and the cup refers to His blood poured out for us. His body was given for us on the cross, and His blood was shed for us on the cross. On the cross He not only gave His body for us, but He also poured out His blood for us. His giving of His body was to impart life to us so that we could partake of Him; His shedding of His blood was for our redemption so that our sins could be forgiven.
Although the main goal of the Lord’s death on the cross was to release, to dispense, His divine life to us, He not only released His life, but He also redeemed us from all our sins. God’s eternal purpose is to dispense His life to us, but because of the fall we also are sinners before God. In order for the Lord to give us the divine life, He had to resolve the problem of our sin. Thus, on the one hand, the Lord gave up His body so that we could receive the divine life within Him, and on the other hand, He shed His blood so that our sins could be forgiven. Although the main emphasis of the breaking of bread is to symbolize the life dispensed to us through the giving of His body, the cup also symbolizes our redemption, which was accomplished through the shedding of His blood.
Cup in the Bible signifies a portion. David said, “Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup” (Psa. 16:5). Originally, we were evil sinners, and the portion we should have received from God was the cup of His wrath, that is, the suffering of eternal perdition in the lake of fire (Rev. 14:10; 21:8). When the Lord Jesus was crucified, He drank the cup of wrath on our behalf (John 18:11) and received God’s righteous judgment for us, tasting all the sufferings of perdition, shedding His blood, redeeming us from our sins, and establishing a new covenant for us in which we are given the cup of salvation as our cup of blessing (Psa. 116:13; 23:5). In this cup of salvation, God Himself and all that He is becomes our portion — our eternal blessing. Because the Lord Jesus accomplished redemption for us, all that God is and has have become the portion of our cup in God’s salvation.
Our sins constituted us as sin and sons of wrath before God and kept us far away from Him; we lost God and all that He is and has. The Lord Jesus bore our sins and God’s wrath for us. His shed blood redeemed us from our sins and averted God’s wrath; through His blood we have the forgiveness of offenses, and we have been bought by Him so that we can obtain God and all that He is and has. The Lord Jesus’ blood established a new covenant on our behalf before God. This new covenant is the portion that we receive from God through the blood of the Lord Jesus; hence, it is symbolized by a cup. The Lord Jesus obtained this cup, the portion of the new covenant, with His blood. Therefore, He said, “This cup is the new covenant established in My blood” (1 Cor. 11:25). This shows that His blood obtained more than just a cup of blessing or an ordinary blessing; rather, the cup is a new covenant, and this blessing, ordained by a new covenant, cannot be changed. The cup obtained for us by His blood is a new covenant established in His blood. In this new covenant, God must forgive our sins and dispense Himself and all that He is and has to us because of the blood of Jesus. Thus, the forgiveness of sins and all that God is and has are the portion that we obtain in the new covenant. This portion is the cup obtained for us by the Lord’s blood. His blood takes away sins and brings in God and all that He is and has. This is the cup that we drink when we break bread, and this is what is symbolized when we drink the cup.
The wine in the cup symbolizes the Lord’s blood. Therefore, the cup not only symbolizes the new covenant established for us by the Lord’s blood but also the blood that He shed for us. The cup is the new covenant established by His blood, and it is also the blood He used to establish this covenant. His blood is for the establishment of the new covenant, and it established the new covenant. The cup of the new covenant was obtained by His blood. Consequently, when we drink the cup, we do not say that we are drinking His blood. Rather, we say that we are drinking the cup of the Lord because His blood established the new covenant for us and became a cup as our appointed portion (v. 25). This portion causes us to be forgiven of our sins and to obtain God and all that He is and has.
1. “The Lord Jesus...took bread...broke it and said...this do unto the remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:23-24).
When we come together to break bread, it is not for the purpose of praying to receive grace or to hear a message to be edified; rather, it is to remember the Lord. Thus, the nature of the bread-breaking meeting is different from any other meeting. Other meetings, which have prayer, messages, exhortation, and testimonies as their center, are for us to obtain something. In contrast, our remembrance of the Lord is the center of the bread-breaking meeting, and it is for the Lord to obtain something. Therefore, in the bread-breaking meeting all the hymns, the prayers of thanksgiving and praise, the reading of Scripture, or the spiritual speaking should center on the Lord and declare the Lord’s person, work, grace, virtues, life and suffering on earth, or honor and glory in the heavens in order that all would remember the Lord Himself. In the bread-breaking meeting our actions should bring the hearts and minds of everyone to the Lord, causing them to see Him and to offer thanksgiving, praise, worship, and love to Him. In this meeting we should not do anything that would disrupt our thoughts and hearts, causing us to be inwardly unable to turn to the Lord or to focus our thoughts and hearts on Him. In this meeting we should focus on the Lord and behold Him so that we are filled with spiritual feelings about Him, which we can outwardly express in hymns, prayers, Scripture readings, or prophesying, in order to keep the entire attention of the meeting on the Lord Himself and to enable everyone to sense the Lord or some aspect concerning Him in remembrance of Him.
In the bread-breaking meeting, when we see or receive the bread, we should consider how the Lord was incarnated for us, how He died for us in the flesh, and how His body was broken for us and dispensed to us, giving us His life. When we see the bread or receive the bread, we should consider how the bread is made from wheat, which passed through wind and sun, which was ground and baked to become a loaf that could be broken, and which was broken to become the portion that we enjoy. This speaks of the experiences that the Lord passed through for His life to become our enjoyment. Based on the meaning of these symbols, we should consider the sufferings that the Lord experienced on our behalf as our remembrance of the Lord Himself. Before the bread, we should think only of the Lord and all that His love has accomplished for us; we should not think of ourselves or anything concerning ourselves, because we are in a meeting to remember the Lord.
2. “Similarly also the cup...saying...this do, as often as you drink it, unto the remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:25).
In the bread-breaking meeting we should not only think of the Lord and all that He has done for us when we look at the bread and receive it, but we should also remember Him when we look at the cup and receive it. When we see the cup and receive it to drink, we should consider how the Lord partook of flesh and blood for us (Heb. 2:14), how He gave up His body for us to obtain His life, and how He shed His blood for us so that we could obtain the highest blessing of being freed from sin and gaining God and all that He is and has. As we drink the cup, we should consider how the grapes went through the process of being crushed in order for their juice to flow out. From the meaning of this symbol, we should consider how the Lord was pressed by God, how He bore our sins and became sin for us, how He was judged in our place, became a curse, and shed His blood to become our cup of blessing as our portion. We should consider how we have redemption, forgiveness of sins, sanctification, justification, reconciliation to God, and acceptance by God through the Lord’s blood. We should consider how the blood washes us of our sins, cleanses our conscience, and stops our conscience from condemning us, enabling us to boldly approach God without fear. We should consider how it argues before God on our behalf, speaks better words for us, defends us against the attack of evil spirits, and causes us to overcome our accuser Satan. We should think only of His love, His sufferings, and His accomplishments in the shedding of His blood for us. We should not think of our sins and offenses when we see the cup, which symbolizes the Lord’s blood. The cup that we drink should cause us to remember the Lord and to think of His accomplishments in the shedding of His blood for us; its purpose is not related to the remembrance of our sins, offenses, and trespasses.
1. “Jesus took bread...and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat”; “This is My body which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me”; “And He took a cup...and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood”; “Which is being poured out for you”; “This do, as often as you drink it, unto the remembrance of Me” (Matt. 26:26; Luke 22:19; Matt. 26:27-28; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25).
Although the center of the bread-breaking meeting is our remembrance of the Lord, our remembrance is not merely to think about the Lord and all that He accomplished for us but also to enjoy the Lord and all that He accomplished for us. The Lord said that eating the bread and drinking the cup are a remembrance of Him. The bread and the cup symbolize His body and His blood. Thus, eating the bread and drinking the cup symbolize our eating of His body and our drinking of His blood. His body and blood, which were given for us, are the means by which He accomplished everything for us. However, eating and drinking involve more than just receiving; there is also enjoyment. When we eat the Lord’s body and drink the Lord’s blood, we are not only receiving but also enjoying Him and all that He accomplished by giving His body and shedding His blood for us. This is our remembrance of Him. Our remembrance of Him through the breaking of bread is not only objective; it is not a remembrance of someone who is outside of us and far away from us but a subjective remembrance of the Lord whom we have received into us as our enjoyment.
When people in the world remember someone, they can only think about a person, including his kindness, good deeds, and notable achievements. But when we remember the Lord, we do not merely think about the Lord’s grace, love, virtues, honor, glory, and marvelous works; we actually receive and enjoy Him and all that He is and has. People in the world can only remember those who are far away; they cannot receive the ones whom they remember into themselves as their enjoyment. But we can do more than simply remember a person who is no longer with us; we can receive the Lord into us as our life supply and as the enjoyment of our heart.
Whenever we break bread to remember the Lord, we should not just quietly think about the Lord’s person and work; we should offer up praises and thanksgiving, opening our spirits to receive the Lord and all that He is and has as our inward enjoyment. The more we enjoy the Lord, the more we remember Him. The true meaning of remembering the Lord is enjoyment. When we break bread, we inwardly receive the Lord and all that He is and has as our enjoyment. This is our true remembrance of Him.
1. “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26).
The word declare means “display” in the original Greek. The apostle says that every time we eat the bread and drink the cup, we display the Lord’s death. This means that we display His death for all to see. The bread symbolizes His body, and the cup symbolizes His blood. The cup placed beside the bread indicates that the Lord’s blood is outside of His body because it flowed out of His body and has been separated from His body. A person dies when his blood is separated from his body. Therefore, when we break bread and place the cup beside the bread, it displays the Lord’s death by spreading out His death before the universe for God, the angels, Satan, the demons, and all creation, including us, to see. (This is the reason that the bread and cup should not be covered by a cloth.) Every time we see the bread and cup, we see a display of the Lord’s death. Although we break the bread in remembrance of the Lord, we also display His death. During the bread-breaking meeting our hearts remember the Lord, our spirits enjoy the Lord, and our eyes should look upon His death.
The Lord’s death is the center of His work of redemption. The Lord’s redemptive work was accomplished through and is based upon His death. His death solves the problem of sin, satisfies the requirements of the law, and quells God’s righteous wrath, causing us to be reconciled and acceptable to God. The Lord’s death resolves the problems of the old man, the flesh, and the old creation, delivering us from sin, the law, and all the bondage and slavery of the old creation. His death also solves the problem of the devil, Satan, and the world, causing us to boast in triumph over them. The Lord’s death is all-inclusive. Everything that is opposed to God, incompatible with God, apart from God, or not of God, including sin, the flesh, Satan, the world, and the old creation, was terminated in this death. When we break bread by placing the bread and cup separately on the table, we display to the universe the all-inclusive death of the Lord, which solved all the problems between us and God. As we display the Lord’s death, we also display everything that the Lord accomplished through His death to God, to the created things in the universe, and to ourselves.
1. “Until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26).
When we break bread, we not only remember and declare but also expect. Our remembrance is to remember the Lord Himself, to enjoy Him; our declaration is to declare the Lord’s death, to display His death; and our expectation is to expect the Lord’s return, to wait for His return. When we break bread, on the one hand, we should remember the Lord Himself and contact Him, and on the other hand, we should contemplate the Lord’s death and await the Lord’s coming. We remember Him because He left and went into the heavens. But He promised that He would come from the heavens to receive us, so we also wait for Him. With respect to our remembrance, He is not visibly with us; with respect to our expectation, He will visibly come again to be with us. Even though He is the Spirit who is invisible but inwardly with us, we must wait for His second coming in order to have His visible, outward presence. When we break bread, we can touch His inward, invisible presence, but we hope even more for His outward, visible presence. His invisible presence causes us to thirst for His visible presence. Thus, when we break bread, we enjoy His invisible presence, and we look forward to His visible presence. We contact Him while waiting for Him to come again.
1. “Eat the Lord’s supper”; “This do...unto the remembrance of Me” (1 Cor. 11:20, 25).
Breaking bread has two significant aspects. The first aspect of eating the Lord’s supper is our remembrance of Him. In this aspect we remember the Lord by eating the bread and drinking the cup, we display His death, and we await His coming. This speaks of our relationship with the Lord. This aspect of bread breaking is emphasized in 1 Corinthians 11.
1. “Partake of the Lord’s table”; “The fellowship of the blood of Christ...the fellowship of the body of Christ” (16, 1 Cor. 10:21).
The second aspect of bread breaking is to partake of the Lord’s table and to have fellowship with all the saints. When we partake of the Lord’s table together with all the saints, we receive the Lord’s body and blood, and through them we have fellowship. In this aspect the Lord’s body and blood become our enjoyment with all the saints, and they are our fellowship with all the saints. This speaks of our relationship with all the saints. This aspect of bread breaking is emphasized in 1 Corinthians 10.
When we break bread, we eat the Lord’s supper on the one hand, and we partake of the Lord’s table on the other hand. The Lord’s supper is our remembrance of the Lord; it is a matter between the Lord and us, and it speaks of the love between the Lord and us. The Lord’s table is our fellowship with all the saints; it is a matter between all the saints, and it speaks of our fellowship with all the saints. We will speak in more detail concerning this fellowship in the following points.
1. “Jesus took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat”; “This is My body which is being given for you”; “And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood”; “Which is being poured out for you” (Matt. 26:26; Luke 22:19; Matt. 26:27-28; Luke 22:20).
When we break bread, the Lord gives us the bread and the cup; as we receive the bread and the cup from Him, we have fellowship with Him, and He has fellowship with us. He gives the bread and the cup to us; that is, He gives us His body and His blood, which means He gives Himself to us in fellowship. We receive the bread and the cup from Him; that is, we receive His body and His blood, which means we receive Him personally and thus have fellowship with Him. He gives His body and His blood to us in fellowship, and through His body given for us and His blood poured out for us, He gives Himself to us in fellowship for our enjoyment. We receive His body and His blood through His body given for us and His blood poured out for us, and we enjoy Him and have fellowship with Him.
Fellowship is communion, even an intimate communication, between two parties; therefore, in order for two parties to have fellowship with one another, they must have the same life and nature. The Lord Jesus was incarnated to put on our nature and to become the same as we; He gave up His body for us so that we could have His life and become the same as He is. His incarnation and His giving up of His body caused Him and us, us and Him, to have the same life and nature. Even though He is God, He has the human life and nature; even though we are men, we have God’s divine life and nature. Thus, He and we, we and He, have the same life and nature. In this same life and nature, we and He, He and we, can have fellowship and intimate communication with each other. Despite the fact that we were originally full of sin and could not contact Him as the sinless One, He shed His blood and fully redeemed us from our sins, causing us to become as sinless as He is; thus, we can contact Him and have fellowship with Him.
Because the Lord gave up His body and poured out His blood to enable us to have fellowship with Him, His body and His blood have become the factors of our fellowship with Him. We fellowship with Him through His body and His blood, and in this fellowship with Him, we enjoy His body and blood. His body and blood enable us to have fellowship with Him; they are the fellowship between us and Him. In this fellowship we contact Him through His body and blood, and we receive everything that He accomplished through the giving up of His body and the pouring out of His blood as our enjoyment.
1. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16).
This verse speaks not only of our fellowship with the Lord through His blood and body but even more of our fellowship in the Lord’s blood and body with all the saints. We have fellowship with the Lord when we enjoy the Lord’s blood and body by drinking the cup and eating the bread. But we do not drink the cup and eat the bread individually, and we do not enjoy the Lord’s blood and body by ourselves. Rather, we eat, drink, and enjoy with all the saints. We drink the Lord’s cup as our corporate enjoyment of the Lord’s blood together with all the saints, and we eat the Lord’s bread as our corporate enjoyment of the Lord’s body together with all the saints. Thus, when we drink the cup and eat the bread, we have fellowship in the Lord’s blood and body with all the saints. The cup and bread enter into us, and they enter into every one of the saints. Every saint partakes of the cup and the bread, so we all partake of His blood and body; that is, we all receive the redemption accomplished by the pouring out of His blood and the life dispensed by the giving up of His body. The Lord’s blood and body are the common portion that we enjoy with all the saints, and this portion causes us to have fellowship with all the saints. In fact, it is the very fellowship that we have with all the saints. This is why the cup that we drink is the fellowship of the Lord’s blood, and the bread that we eat is the fellowship of the Lord’s body. Every time we drink the cup and eat the bread, all the saints have fellowship in the Lord’s blood and body. Therefore, our bread breaking is not merely a remembrance of the Lord, an enjoyment of the Lord, or a fellowship with the Lord but also a fellowship with all the saints. It is not merely a matter between us and the Lord; it is also a matter among all the saints. If our breaking of bread does not cause us to have fellowship with all the saints, if it does not speak forth our relationship with all the saints, it is improper and problematic.
1. “Jesus took bread and...gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took a cup...and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood” (Matt. 26:26-28).
When we break bread, the Lord gives us the bread and the cup and tells us to take and to eat and drink. He wants us to receive His body and blood as our enjoyment. This speaks of our being joined to the Lord, and it testifies that we are joined to the Lord. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we take them into us, signifying that, through the Lord’s giving up of His body and the pouring out of His blood, He came into us and joined Himself to us. When we receive the Lord’s body given for us and His blood poured out for us, we also testify that we have partaken of both Him and His accomplishments for us and thus are joined with Him. Every time we break bread, we testify that we and He, He and we, have been joined as one because of the redemption accomplished through the Lord’s giving up of His body and the shedding of His blood. We are now in Him, and He is now in us. The bread that we break testifies that His life was released to become our life. As we break the bread, we testify that we have obtained His life and are joined to Him in life because of what He accomplished by giving up His body and being broken for us. The cup that we drink testifies that we are worthy to be joined to Him because His blood was poured out to expunge our sins. As we drink the cup, we testify that we have obtained His life and are worthy to be joined to Him in life because of the redemption accomplished by the shedding of His blood.
1. “We who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).
When we break bread, not only do we testify that we are joined to the Lord, but we also testify that we are joined to all the saints and are in oneness with all the saints; that is, we are in the oneness of the church. This is testified by the breaking of bread as it relates to the Lord’s table. The breaking of bread as it relates to the Lord’s supper refers to the Lord’s own body (His body of flesh) and signifies that the Lord’s own body was broken for us; the breaking of bread as it relates to the Lord’s table refers to the Lord’s mystical Body (the church) and signifies that the Lord’s mystical Body is one. The Lord gave up His physical body to produce His mystical Body. He is the grain of wheat who produced many grains through death and resurrection to form the many grains into one loaf (John 12:24), which is the one Body. The many grains are those who have obtained His life in every time and every place. As the many grains, we are not scattered; rather, in the Holy Spirit we are one bread, one Body (1 Cor. 12:13). Although we are many grains with life, many people with life, we do not exist individually, grain by grain or one by one; instead, all of us have become one bread, one Body. Therefore, the apostle says, “We who are many are one Body.”
Thus, the bread that we break in the aspect of the Lord’s table refers to the entire Body of Christ, including all the saved ones in every time and every place. Peter and Paul are in this bread; Martin Luther, J. N. Darby, George Müller, D. L. Moody, all of us who are saved today, and all those who will be saved in the future are in this one bread. All the saved ones, whether in the past, in the present, or in the future, are in this one bread, and all partake of this one bread.
Therefore, when we break bread, on the one hand, we testify that we are one with the Lord, and on the other hand, we testify that we are also one with all the saints, that is, with all the saved ones in every time and every place. We and all the saved ones in every time and every place are one in the Lord’s life, that is, are one Body. All those with the Lord’s life in every time and every place participate in the Lord’s mystical Body, are one in His life, and have become one Body. This is what the bread that we break and eat signifies in relation to the Lord’s table, and this is our testimony when we break the bread in this aspect. Therefore, the bread that we break signifies not only the Lord’s own body but all the saints in every time and every place. We must not break bread only to remember the Lord and display His death; we must also testify that we are one with all the saints in every time and every place. We and all the saints in every time and every place partake of this one bread. Although we are all in different times and different places when we break the bread, we all still break this one bread. In the past Peter and Paul broke this one bread; today we are breaking this one bread. The brothers in China break this one bread, and the brothers in other countries break this one bread. It does not matter that we are in different times or places when we break the bread; we all break one bread because we all belong to this one loaf, and we are all part of the one Body represented by this bread.
The bread that we break represents the one Body of Christ in the universe, so the bread that we break in every time and every place is a representation of the one bread, the one Body. The bread that we broke last year, the bread broken this year, the bread broken last Lord’s Day, the bread broken this Lord’s Day, the bread broken in Taipei, the bread broken in Kaohsiung, the bread broken in hall one, and the bread broken in hall five are all the one bread, which symbolizes the one Body. In the universe there is only the one Body of Christ, and this Body is one. Our breaking of only one bread testifies to this fact.
With the degradation of the church, the matter of bread breaking became confused; therefore, the Holy Spirit in the Bible teaches us to have discernment concerning the breaking of bread.
1. “You come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you” (1 Cor. 11:17-18).
According to verse 20, the coming together spoken of in verses 17 and 18 is the bread-breaking meeting. Some bread-breaking meetings were not for the better but for the worse because divisions existed among those attending the meeting. First of all refers to the main reason. When the believers meet together to break bread, they testify of the oneness of Christ’s Body, the church. If those who meet together to break bread have divisions among themselves, or if a bread-breaking meeting is on a sectarian ground instead of the ground of the oneness of the church, the meeting will not match the essential oneness of the church, and it will damage the oneness of the church. Consequently, the attendants of such a meeting will come together for the worse and will suffer loss. Every time we attend a meeting to break bread, we must discern its ground to determine whether it is a meeting in division or in oneness. Is it a sect, or is it the church? We must discern whether the meeting has a divisive element or a sectarian factor lest we come together for the worse and suffer a loss.
2. “When therefore you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper; for in your eating, each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and the other is drunk” (1 Cor. 11:20-21).
Here the apostle warns us that some bread-breaking meetings are not to eat the Lord’s supper. When therefore...it is not refers to the divisions mentioned in the preceding verses. A divisive bread-breaking meeting, that is, a sectarian bread-breaking meeting, in the apostle’s eyes and in the Lord’s eyes is not the Lord’s supper. The bread broken in the Lord’s supper symbolizes the entire Body of Christ and testifies to the oneness of the Body of Christ, the church. If bread is broken on a sectarian, divisive ground, or if bread with a divisive, sectarian element is broken, it does not correspond with the element of the oneness of the church, and it loses the testimony and significance of bread breaking. Therefore, “it is not” bread breaking.
Christ is not divided (1:13); the church is one (12:13). Thus, in the church those who belong to Christ should not be divided or divide into sects, saying, “I am of such and such a church” or “I am of such and such a group” (cf. 1:10-12). When the believers break bread, they testify that the church is one on the positive side, and they simultaneously announce that there is no room for divisions and sects on the negative side. Yet some bread is broken on a sectarian ground with the element of division in it. Thus, it is no wonder that through the apostle the Holy Spirit declares that this kind of bread breaking is not the Lord’s supper.
Another reason that some bread breaking is not the Lord’s supper is that some mix this matter with their own supper and make it common. This was the practice of the Corinthians in Paul’s time. On the one hand, they ate the Lord’s supper, and on the other hand, they ate their own supper. The poor among them went hungry while the rich were drunk with wine. In doing this, they confused the special characteristic of the Lord’s supper and lost the significance of bread breaking. Consequently, it was not to eat the Lord’s supper or to break bread. We cannot eat the Lord’s supper as if it were an ordinary meal or consider the breaking of bread to be a common thing. We must preserve the holy nature of the Lord’s supper, and we must honor the high significance of the breaking of bread; otherwise, we will change the nature of the Lord’s supper, causing it to equal nothing and become a matter of loss rather than profit.
3. “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27).
According to the apostle’s word, it is possible for people to break bread in an unworthy manner. The unworthiness spoken of in this verse includes at least the two matters that were previously mentioned: divisions and treating the Lord’s supper as something common. Whoever is in division or treats the Lord’s supper as something common breaks bread in an unworthy manner. This kind of bread breaking makes one guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. The Lord’s body was given for us so that we could receive His life and become His mystical Body, and the Lord’s blood was poured out for us to make us worthy to receive His life to become His mystical Body. This is the testimony signified by our eating the bread and drinking the cup. If we break bread in division on a sectarian ground, we bring the element of division into our breaking of bread and damage the testimony of the oneness of His mystical Body, the church. If we treat His supper as common, we annul the special significance of His body, which was given for us, and of His blood, which was poured out for us. Thus, we are guilty of His body and His blood. We should not do this!
In verse 26 the apostle says that the breaking of bread is to remember the Lord through enjoying the bread and the cup and to declare His death as we await His return. Thus, to eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, as spoken of in verse 27, includes not practicing the fellowship of the apostle in the preceding verse. If, in our breaking of bread, we do not enjoy Him, remember Him, display His death, or await His coming, we are eating His bread and drinking His cup in an unworthy manner. A nominal Christian without the Lord’s life or an unsaved false believer cannot remember the Lord, display His death, or await His coming, so if such a person eats the Lord’s bread and drinks His cup, he is unworthy and is guilty of His body and blood. We should not do this either.
4. “Let a man prove himself, and in this way let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not discern the body” (1 Cor. 11:28-29).
Because there is the possibility of breaking bread in an unworthy manner and thus being guilty of the Lord’s body and blood, we must take the responsibility to prove ourselves and to discern whenever we break bread. To prove is to examine the bread to see whether it is a bread of division, of a sectarian nature, or with a divisive element. Does the bread-breaking meeting treat the Lord’s supper as a common thing? Does it respect the honorable significance of bread breaking? To prove is to examine the ground, nature, and element of the bread-breaking meeting; it is also to prove our own individual motive and condition in a self-examination. Are we personally divisive in the church? Do we have a sectarian element? Are we one with the brothers and sisters? Are we treating the meeting as common and unimportant? Is our living up to the standard and worthy of the testimony of the breaking of bread? To discern is to test the bread to see whether it refers both to the Lord’s body given for us and to His mystical Body. Does it represent the Body of Christ — the church? Does it testify to the oneness of the church? Does it prove that “we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (10:17)? Does it represent some sect or denomination, or does it represent the unique church? After we discern that the bread represents the Body of Christ and decide to break the bread, we must also prove ourselves to see whether we have any disagreement, dispute, or problem with any saint who is a member with us. Are we jealous; do we dislike or despise certain brothers and sisters? We must prove and discern. We must know that the bread is not a bread of division, that the meeting is not treating the Lord’s supper as something common, that we ourselves are not divisive, that we are not in disagreement with the brothers and sisters, and that we are not taking the Lord’s supper lightly and eating it loosely. We also must know that the bread represents the Body of Christ and testifies to the oneness of the church. Furthermore, we must see whether we have any problems or disaccord with any saint who is a member together with us. There cannot be any separation between members. Everything must be so clear before we eat the bread and drink the cup. If we are not in such a clear condition, we are guilty of the body of the Lord and of His blood, and we eat and drink judgment to ourselves. Eats and drinks judgment to himself means that the eating and drinking cause one to be judged and condemned. Therefore, if we do not prove and discern according to the foregoing matters, breaking bread will cause us to be judged and condemned; it will cause us to suffer loss. We must be careful about this matter.
5. “If we discerned ourselves, we would not be judged”; “Not come together for judgment” (1 Cor. 11:31, 34).
Come together for judgment in the original Greek means “come together and bring judgment upon ourselves.” The meeting spoken of here is the bread-breaking meeting. Thus, these verses tell us that the bread-breaking meeting can cause us to be judged and condemned. Consequently, whenever we break bread, we first must discern clearly and prove ourselves thoroughly. If we do this, we will not be judged, and we will not bring judgment upon ourselves. We will not be condemned and suffer loss. Therefore, in the matter of breaking bread we must discern and prove ourselves.
1. “Come together...for the worse”; “Come together for judgment” (1 Cor. 11:17, 34).
If we do not eat the bread and drink the cup in an approved manner when we come together to break bread, we are guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. This is to come together for the worse, and it brings judgment and condemnation upon ourselves. If we have a divisive element, if we break bread on a sectarian ground, or if we treat the Lord’s supper as a common meal when we break bread, we bring condemnation and judgment upon ourselves and will be disciplined.
2. “Eats and drinks judgment to himself” (1 Cor. 11:29).
If we do not discern whether the bread we break represents the Lord’s physical body given up for His mystical Body, if we do not discern whether the bread represents the entire Body of Christ, the whole church, and if we break bread loosely, we eat and drink condemnation and judgment to ourselves. This will cause us to be condemned and disciplined.
3. “Because of this many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep” (1 Cor. 11:30).
Because the Corinthian believers did not break bread in an approved manner by proving or discerning themselves, they brought discipline onto themselves. This discipline caused many of them to be weak and sick, and a number even died. Since some did not eat the bread and drink the cup in an approved manner, the Lord caused them to become physically weak as a warning. When they disregarded the warning of their physical weakness and continued to be guilty of the Lord’s body and blood, He gave a stronger warning by allowing some to become physically sick. When they disregarded the stronger warning of their physical sickness without proving and discerning themselves, there was a final discipline of death. This is very serious. This should be a warning to all of us. Is it not possible that the weakness, sickness, and even death of many believers is due to their breaking of the bread in a disapproved manner, without proving or discerning themselves and thus being guilty of the Lord’s body and blood? Could it not be that they are eating and drinking judgment, condemnation, and discipline to themselves? May the brothers and sisters who are weak, sick, and even dying seek the Lord’s enlightenment in this matter, receive the Lord’s warning, and be adjusted in their way of breaking bread so that they may be spared the discipline of judgment. May all of us who have received the Lord’s grace prove ourselves and solemnly discern the matter of breaking bread lest we come into judgment and are disciplined by the Lord.
1. “Gave it to the disciples” (Matt. 26:26).
When the Lord established the matter of bread breaking, He gave the bread and cup to His disciples. The disciples, who received the Lord’s salvation and life, belonged to the Lord. Only those who have this kind of relationship with the Lord and who know the Lord as their salvation can remember the Lord and declare His death through the bread and the cup. How can those who have not received the Lord’s salvation, who have not been brought into a life relationship with the Lord in His salvation, remember the Lord? How can those who have not received the redemption accomplished by the Lord’s giving up of His body and shedding of His blood declare His death through the bread and the cup? Those who are not saved cannot and should not break bread. Nominal Christians, who have only been ritually baptized without obtaining the Lord’s life, and false believers, who have only a name but not the reality, cannot and should not break bread. Some think that Judas was present when the Lord established the breaking of bread. This is not so. In the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and John all tell us that Judas, who betrayed the Lord, left before the Lord established His supper (Matt. 26:17-28; Mark 14:17-24; John 13:2, 21-30). Only Luke is different (22:14-23). This is because Luke’s record is according to the order of morality, but Matthew, Mark, and John are according to the order of history. All the authoritative Bible expositors attest to this. Before the establishment of the breaking of bread, Judas left. How could the Lord require one to remember Him who had not received Him as Savior, who did not have a relationship with Him in His salvation? Therefore, only those who have received the Lord’s salvation, who have the Lord’s life, and who belong to the Lord are able and qualified to break bread in remembrance of the Lord.
2. “All those who believed...breaking bread” (Acts 2:44, 46).
Those who break bread should be those who believe. The believers are those who have received the Lord’s salvation through faith, partake of His life, and belong to Him. Only those who have this kind of faith are able and permitted to break bread.
1. “Continued steadfastly...in the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42).
The early believers continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread. Continued steadfastly in the original Greek denotes “continued without ceasing,” which means “always.” Always breaking bread is the pattern that the early believers left for us, and we should follow them.
2. “Day by day...breaking bread” (Acts 2:46).
The early believers continued steadfastly in breaking bread to such an extent that they broke bread day by day. At that time the believers were on fire for the Lord and loved Him deeply; therefore, they spontaneously wanted to break bread day by day in remembrance of Him. This tells us that the more often we break bread to remember the Lord, the better.
3. “On the first day of the week...gathered together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).
At first, the early believers broke bread day by day, but later as it became a long-term practice, they broke bread once a week on the first day of the week. The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day, the day of the Lord’s resurrection; it is also the beginning of the week, which symbolizes that the old things have passed away and a new life has begun. Breaking bread in remembrance of the Lord on this day is most appropriate because even though we break bread to declare the Lord’s death, we remember Him in resurrection. We break bread in the realm of resurrection, and we remember the Lord based on the life of the new creation. Thus, it is not only a convenient time but also very meaningful to come together to remember the Lord on the day in which old things passed away and new life began, the day of the Lord’s resurrection.
4. “Supper” (1 Cor. 11:20).
Since breaking bread is to eat the Lord’s supper, it is best that it is held in the evening in order to fit the name. Moreover, in the evening all the things of the day are finished and our personal burdens are laid aside, so our hearts are light and our spirits are happy. This is the most appropriate attitude in which to remember the Lord and to sense His presence as we touch Him. This, however, is not a law. If it is too difficult to arrange the meeting in the evening, or if it is not convenient, we can do what is convenient and hold the meeting in the morning or at midday.
1. “Breaking bread from house to house” (Acts 2:46).
The earliest believers broke bread in many of the believers’ homes. At that time there were many people, so it would have been inconvenient with regard to both time and space for them to gather together to break bread in one place; therefore, they spontaneously split up into different homes for this practice. This shows that if there are many believers in one place, they may divide themselves among different homes to break bread.
2. “When therefore you come together in the same place...to eat the Lord’s supper” (1 Cor. 11:20).
It is permissible for the believers in one locality to divide themselves among homes and break bread, but it is more appropriate and more flavorful if everyone can come together in the same place to break bread. Thus, the early believers came together in the same place to eat the Lord’s supper. Today when we break bread, we may either split up or all come together as best fits our need.
1. “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26).
Those who break bread in remembrance of the Lord should long for the Lord and await His coming. Therefore, after we break bread, we should long for the Lord’s appearing and live a life of waiting for the Lord. If we only break bread in remembrance of the Lord every week but do not live a life of desiring His coming and waiting for Him, we are not in accordance with the meaning of breaking bread.
2. “You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the demons’ cup; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the demons’ table” (1 Cor. 10:21).
After partaking of the Lord’s table, we cannot partake of the demons’ table; after drinking the Lord’s cup, we cannot drink the demons’ cup. According to the preceding verses, the demons’ table and the demons’ cup refer to the things sacrificed to idols. After breaking bread, we cannot eat anything sacrificed to an idol. When we break bread, we fellowship with the Lord, just as when Gentiles worship idols, they fellowship with the demons. After we fellowship with the Lord, how can we return to partake of something related to fellowship with demons? Therefore, after breaking the Lord’s bread, we cannot return to eating idol sacrifices.
The demons’ table and the demons’ cup refer to idol sacrifices. But is not worldly enjoyment also a demons’ table? Is not worldly prosperity a demons’ cup? Since we have enjoyed the Lord Himself and all that He is and has at His table, how can we go back to desire worldly pleasures? Since we have been satisfied by the Lord at His table, how can we go back to Satan to obtain anything? How can we return to Satan’s world to obtain the pleasure that Satan gives to people? After breaking bread, we should not lust after the world and its enjoyment.
3. “Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8).
In the time of the Old Testament, the Israelites kept the Feast of the Passover and immediately followed it with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, during which they eliminated every bit of leaven from their lives (Deut. 16:1-4). Since the breaking of bread in the New Testament replaced the Passover in the Old Testament, we should be like the Israelites after the Passover and eliminate all leaven from our lives. Leaven refers to all evil and malice, to all things that can corrupt man. After breaking bread, we should remove all sin, evil, and every corrupting thing from our lives, and we should no longer keep the old living that we had before we were saved. We should not have any of our former evil, our old leaven; rather, we should live a holy, sinless life by the Lord’s holy, sinless life, that is, by the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We should truly be those who keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread so that we can be those who are entirely in accordance with the meaning of breaking bread.
