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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 11:17-32
First Corinthians 11:24 and 25 say, “And having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you; this do for the remembrance of Me. Similarly also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, for the remembrance of Me.” In the phrase “for the remembrance of Me,” it is better to translate the Greek word rendered “for” as “unto.” Thus, it should read “unto the remembrance of Me.” The word “unto” implies a result, whereas the word “for” indicates a purpose. Having a purpose is not as good as having a result.
To have the Lord’s supper for the remembrance of the Lord means that we have the supper for the purpose of remembering Him. But to have the Lord’s supper unto the remembrance of the Lord means that we have the supper with the result that we remember the Lord. We may come to partake of the Lord’s supper with the purpose of remembering Him and yet our eating of the supper may not result in the remembrance of the Lord. Instead of having the proper remembrance of the Lord, the result may be condemnation on us. Supposedly the believers at Corinth came together to remember the Lord. But the result was altogether different. Their eating and drinking was not unto the remembrance of the Lord, but unto their own condemnation.
In chapter eleven Paul was admonishing the Corinthians to have the Lord’s supper in a way that would result not in their condemnation but in the remembrance of the Lord. It is possible that the result of our eating of the Lord’s supper may also be condemnation instead of the remembrance of the Lord.
The thought embodied in the word “unto” in these verses is deep and profound. It is, of course, not incorrect to translate the Greek preposition as “for.” However, this does not express the meaning or significance here. Here the word is used with the significance of result, not purpose. What will be the result of your eating of the Lord’s supper? Will it result in the remembrance of the Lord, or in condemnation for wrongdoing? This was Paul’s sober word to the Corinthians.
The eating of the Lord’s supper is to satisfy the Lord. But instead of coming together to satisfy the Lord, the Corinthians were seeking to satisfy themselves. The fact that some even became drunk proves that they cared for their own satisfaction (v. 21). To come to the Lord’s supper with the intention of receiving satisfaction for ourselves is against the principle of His supper. We should not come to the Lord’s supper with such an intention. Rather, we should come with the intention to satisfy the Lord.
Merely to render the Lord some kind of shallow remembrance does not satisfy Him. He is satisfied when we have the supper in such a way that it results in the remembrance of Him. Simply to remember the Lord is shallow. But to partake of the Lord’s supper with the result that we have the remembrance of Him is deep. Remembering the Lord is something temporary. It may last only while we are eating of His supper. As we are eating of the supper, we remember Him. But to eat the Lord’s supper resulting in the remembrance of the Lord implies that the remembrance is coming and also that it will continue after we have finished eating. Thus, the remembrance is a continuation of our eating. Our eating results in the remembrance, and the remembrance is the continuation of the eating.
Paul’s word in chapter eleven is related to what the Lord says in Matthew 26:29: “And I say to you, I will by no means drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father.” This word is found in Matthew, the gospel concerned with the kingdom. The kingdom is a matter of God’s administration. Our eating of the Lord’s supper must result in a remembrance that is closely related to God’s administration.
Does your eating of the Lord’s supper result in God’s administration? If not, your partaking of the Lord’s supper is too superficial. While a believer is at the Lord’s supper, he may say to himself, “Oh, I realize that the Lord died for me. Now His love constrains me in the evening of the Lord’s Day to remember Him by eating His supper. As I partake of the supper, I remember Him. I remember His incarnation and how he was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. I remember how He grew up in the city of Nazareth, how He suffered and was persecuted, how He was betrayed, judged, condemned, and sentenced to die on the cross. I especially remember that on the cross He died for my sins.” To remember the Lord in this way is good, but it does not have anything to do with the kingdom, with God’s administration. After the Lord’s supper, there is no lasting result with respect to the remembrance of the Lord. If our eating of the Lord’s supper stops with this kind of remembrance, our partaking of the Lord’s supper is too superficial. The genuine eating of the Lord’s supper must result in the administration of God; it must result in the kingdom.
Our eating of the Lord’s supper must be related to the kingdom. It should not be without a continuing result after each partaking of the Lord’s supper is over. On the contrary, it must result in the kingdom, the administration of God. In other words, our eating of the Lord’s supper must result in satisfying Him by bringing in the kingdom, by having ourselves and everything related to us brought into a proper relationship with God’s administration. This is not a matter that can take place in an hour’s time. It can be accomplished only by a process which is yet to come. This coming process is actually the kingdom of God, God’s administration, being worked out on earth.
Because the relation between the Lord’s supper and God’s administration is a very serious matter, Paul charges the Corinthians to prove themselves and discern the body (vv. 28-29). If we do not prove ourselves and if we do not discern the body, we may eat the Lord’s supper without having the result of the remembrance of the Lord. We need to prove ourselves that our standing is proper, and we must also discern the body. Then our eating of the Lord’s supper will result in a full satisfaction to the Lord and also in the carrying out of the administration of God. This is the proper eating of the Lord’s supper.
Perhaps you are wondering how the eating of the Lord’s supper can result in the carrying out of God’s administration. As Christians, we have been saved, we have been born of God to be the children of God, and we have been brought into the kingdom of God. According to John 3:3 and 5, regeneration brings us into the kingdom of God. If we had not been born of the Spirit, we could not enter into the kingdom of God. But through regeneration we have been brought into God’s kingdom and have also become members of the Body of Christ. We need to realize that we have been regenerated to become the children of God, to be brought into the kingdom, and to become the members of the Body of Christ. Once we have this realization, we need to consider the purpose of all this. Why have we been regenerated to be brought into the kingdom and to become the members of the Body? The answer is that we have been regenerated so that we may live a life for the kingdom of God and the Body of Christ. The kingdom and the Body should be the goal of our living.
As Christians, we are not here simply to have a good life. Many Christians love the Lord, but they do not realize that their life on earth is for God’s kingdom and Christ’s Body. To be for the kingdom of God and the Body of Christ is to be for God’s administration. Today God’s administration is carried out by the kingdom and the Body. This should be our daily living. Then on the first day of the week we come together purposely to eat the Lord’s supper with the expectation that our life will be a life for the kingdom of God and the Body of Christ. If you understand this, you will know how eating of the Lord’s supper may result in such a satisfaction to the Lord.
Concerning the Lord’s table and the Lord’s supper, our understanding may still be under the influence of our religious background. Our mind may be so saturated with traditional thoughts and concepts that we have no capacity to take in anything new. This is to be like a glass that has been filled to the brim: there is no room in the glass for anything more or anything else. To use a different illustration, our mind may be like an apartment building with a “No vacancy” sign posted in front of it. Unconsciously we may have put up a sign saying, “No vacancy: I am not able to understand anything more concerning the Lord’s supper.” I am concerned that this may be the situation of nearly all the saints.
In 11:26 Paul says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes.” At the Lord’s table, while we are eating and drinking, we are making a declaration. We declare the Lord’s death until He comes. To declare means to proclaim, announce, or display. In organized religion, whether in Catholicism or Protestantism, I doubt that anyone realizes that the purpose of so-called mass or holy communion is to declare the death of Christ, to display His death to the universe. Those who attend mass or communion automatically have the thought of remembering the death of Christ. This is a natural concept. Furthermore, certain pastors may strengthen this concept with their teaching. People spontaneously think that to participate in holy communion is simply to remember Christ’s death.
However, it was the thought neither of the Apostle Paul nor of the Lord Jesus that we should remember Christ’s death. The Lord Jesus said, “This do unto the remembrance of Me. ” We are to partake unto the remembrance not of something, but unto the remembrance of a living Person. We are to partake of both the bread and the cup unto the remembrance of the Lord. As we have seen, this means that our partaking should result in the remembrance of Him. To remember the Lord Himself is an important matter. Nevertheless, for the most part, Christians do not realize that at holy communion they should remember the Lord and not merely what He has done for us. Notice that verses 24 and 25 do not simply say “remembrance of Me,” but speak of “the remembrance of Me.” The use of the definite article adds emphasis and strength to this expression. We should not remember anything else; we are simply to have the remembrance of Christ Himself.
Although we are to remember the Lord, we are not told to remember His death. Rather, in verse 26 we see that we should declare the Lord’s death. Christ’s death is not for us to remember — it is for us to declare, announce, display. We must display it to all the angels, demons, human beings, and creatures. We must declare, announce, the Lord’s death until He comes. In this verse the word “until” is significant, for it points to the kingdom.
In verse 26 we have the Lord’s death and the Lord’s coming. In between Christ’s death and His coming there is a gap, a gap which is filled in by the church. We may say that the church is a bridge connecting the Lord’s death to His coming. Thus, the church bridges a deep gap from one side to the other. This means that the church continues the Lord’s death and brings in His coming back. Without the church, this gap would not be bridged. There would be no way to connect the Lord’s death with His coming.
The goal of Christ’s first coming was His death, but what will be the goal of His second coming? The answer to this question is in Matthew 26:29. Here, while the Lord was establishing His supper, He tells us that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until He drinks it with us in the kingdom of His Father. This indicates that His second coming has a goal, and this goal is the kingdom.
Each of the Lord’s two comings has a goal. The goal of His first coming was to die to accomplish the all-inclusive redemption. The goal of His second coming is to set up God’s kingdom.
We should not take for granted Paul’s words, “Declare the Lord’s death until He comes,” and we should not understand them in a superficial way. It is a matter of great significance that Paul wrote these words. He did not put them down according to his opinion. In verse 23 he says, “For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you.” What Paul spoke to the Corinthians was what he received from the Lord. This is the reason I refer you to Matthew 26. In establishing His supper the Lord did speak of His coming back in relation to the Father’s kingdom.
It is crucial to see that there are two comings of Christ. With His first coming a great thing was accomplished — His death to carry out an all-inclusive redemption. After His death, Christ went away to receive the kingdom. This is revealed in the New Testament and also in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13 and 14, the prophet beheld that “one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” In Luke 19:12 the Lord, in a parable, refers to Himself as “a certain nobleman” who “went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return” (Luke 19:12). Furthermore, according to both the book of Daniel and the Gospels, the Lord will come back after receiving the kingdom. He will come back with the kingdom and will establish this kingdom for God’s universal administration.
Between the Lord’s two comings with their two goals, there is a long span of time. This span of time is the church age. The Lord’s all-inclusive redemption has produced something unique — the church. In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus says, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Here the Lord Jesus seems to be saying, “I am the unique grain of wheat. If I do not fall into the earth and die, I shall remain alone. But My intention is to be sown into the earth and die. Then I shall rise up in resurrection to produce many grains.” This is exactly what took place through the Lord’s death and resurrection. He has produced many grains, and these grains are to be formed into one loaf, which is the church. Therefore, the church is the unique product of the Lord’s all-inclusive death. The death of Christ has produced the church, and the church will bring in the kingdom.
In his early ministry Brother Nee emphasized that the New Testament teaches three important matters: the cross, the church, and the kingdom. He told us clearly that the cross produces the church, and that the church brings in the kingdom. Through the church the kingdom as God’s administration will be brought to earth. The cross was the issue of the Lord’s first coming, and the kingdom will be related to His second coming. But between these two comings there is the church produced by His first coming. The church will bring in the kingdom with Christ’s second coming. Now we must see that in verse 26 to declare the Lord’s death until He comes is equal to declaring the existence of the church for the bringing in of the kingdom.
In 11:29 Paul goes on to the matter of discerning the body. Those who do not discern the body eat and drink judgment to themselves. To fail to discern the body indicates a failure to take care of the matter of the church. It is utterly wrong to come to the Lord’s supper without taking adequate care of the church. The church today is Christ’s mystical Body, and Christ Himself is the Head. In His ascension Christ was made the Head over the entire universe. The church produced by His death is now the mystical Body of this Head.
Because as human beings we have a physical body, we are able to do many things. If we did not have a body, we could not carry on certain activities. In the same principle, the mystical Body of Christ, the church, is for Christ’s move on earth. Yes, the Head has gone away, but the Body remains on earth. The Head is now operating God’s administration through the Body.
It is a fact of history that the Body has been divided and paralyzed. Even at the time Paul wrote this Epistle, the expression of the Body in Corinth had been divided. This is the reason in chapter eleven he speaks of divisions and parties (vv. 18-19). This indicates that the Body had become ill. Some among the Corinthian believers had become sick and others had died, simply because the Body had been divided (v. 30). They had failed to discern the Body. They did not take care of the Body adequately. From this we must learn the need to take care of the Body, the church. Furthermore, the church bridges the gap between the Lord’s first coming and His second coming. This bridge is also a highway from Christ’s death to God’s kingdom. Without this bridge with the highway, there would be no way to go from one side of the gap, Christ’s death, to the other side, God’s kingdom. The unique connection is the church as the bridge. Therefore, we must discern the body. This means that we should never damage the bridge. However, many of today’s Christians neglect the bridge, and others have damaged it.
Now we must go on further to see why we need to eat the Lord’s supper. In this message we have emphasized that we should partake of the Lord’s supper unto the remembrance of Him; that is, with the result of having the remembrance of the Lord. We should come to the Lord’s supper with the expectation that a certain result will issue forth. Our eating of the Lord’s supper must result in the remembrance of the Lord in His two comings. We should remember Him in His first coming to accomplish the all-inclusive redemption to produce the church, and also in His second coming to bring in the kingdom so that both God and we may have a way to carry on the recovery. Apart from the kingdom, there is no way for the Lord’s recovery to be carried onward. Therefore, we eat the Lord’s supper with a view to remembering Him in both His first coming and in His second coming.
To remember the Lord in this way actually is to satisfy Him. The Lord has come and has died on the cross to produce the church. He is very happy with what He has accomplished and what He has produced. Now He is in the heavens carrying on His heavenly ministry so that he may come back to earth with the kingdom of His Father. But who are the people on earth who can cooperate with Him? Who can respond to Christ’s operation in the heavens? Only the church can cooperate with Him and respond to Him. If the Lord did not have the church, He would probably be sorrowful there in the heavens, for there would be no one on earth to cooperate with Him and to carry out what He is ministering.
Truly the church is Christ’s satisfaction. Whenever we come to eat the Lord’s supper, we declare His death. We announce to the whole universe that the Lord Jesus has come, that He has died on the cross to accomplish an all-inclusive redemption, and that His death has produced the church. Now we are the church, His Body, responding to His ministry in the heavens and cooperating with Him. To eat His supper on the first day of every week is to make such a declaration. As long as there is a people on earth responding to Christ in His heavenly ministry, there is a way for Him to bring God’s kingdom to earth. This is what satisfies the Lord and makes Him happy.
The Lord’s supper should serve as a reminder that we are living on the earth for the Lord’s satisfaction. Yes, the supper is for us to eat, but it is not for our satisfaction. We eat the supper not for our satisfaction, but for the Lord’s satisfaction. Eating the supper reminds us to have a life in the church to bring in the kingdom for the satisfaction of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, this supper is a satisfaction to the Lord in relation to the kingdom, the administration of God.
