Comments on the Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (AV)  Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
In approaching the Lord Jesus’ Supper, we read that well known and definitive passage in 1 Corinthians 11 to guide us.

1. We first and foremost consider that God is by inspiration speaking through the Apostle Paul.
2. God is addressing a church, not an individual. The Lord’s supper is to be taken in context of, and under the authority of, and by the rules of the local church. The same unity in doctrine applies as would be for membership of the local church. The focus is on unity, and unity in the true doctrines of God. The church needs to be in agreement on the doctrines of God; Trinity; Salvation and it’s availability to all; Baptism of the Believer; the main Work of the Holy Ghost as being, leading men to Christ and sustaining the Church; the authority of the Local Church; the place and purpose and authority of the Pastor and Deacons; and the subsequent position and silence of the Women in church; the need to evangelize; the looking for the receiving of the Church unto her Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus; the reality of the resurrection of the Dead; and the Second coming of our Lord; the reality of Heaven and Hell and the Lake of Fire; and further doctrines as is known and understood by the Church. It is to be taken with a clean conscience and without knowingly harbouring heresies.
3. God is addressing a church, which has done many things wrong and needed to be corrected. These heresies being allowed in the church causes divisions, and disqualifies the whole church from having a proper remembrance of the Lord and His work in this Supper.
4. He sets out to explain that the coming together into one place (συνερχομενων  ουν υμων  επι το  αυτο), is not for the purpose of having a dinner together where one eats a lot and another eats his food quickly and another takes his food slowly etc. The point is that this is not a meal; it is a remembrance ceremony, ordinance which reminds us of a sacred act by our Lord and it is a reminder to consider it and it’s consequences with great reverence. Eat beforehand so that you are not hungry and think only about your stomach when taking part in the Lord’s Supper.
5. “Took bread. Evidently the bread which was used at the celebration of the paschal supper. He took the bread which happened to be before him--such as was commonly used. It was not a wafer, such as the papists now use; but was the ordinary bread which was eaten on such occasions.” - Albert Barnes - Matthew 26:26 It can therefore be said that the Lord Supper was originally by this example set only to be repeated once a year. And that every time you took that passover bread, you once again remember what great work the Lord has done for us.
6. Luke 22:14 shows that only Him and the Twelve Apostles were present, with Judas Iscariot leaving earlier before the actual Lord’s Supper, after they’ve already had something to eat. In this instance there were only men present and the single cup which the Apostles were to divide among themselves (Luke 22:17) was of sufficient volume to serve all present. In a regular Church women are also present and the size of the group together might warrant more than one cup.
7. Acts 2:46 mentions “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house...” and this as well as the following verse, lead many to believe that they had the Lord’s Supper every single day or even as many times as they were able to meet. (1 Corinthians 10:16) “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?”
8. The following Breaking of Bread was however about three weeks after the passover as the feast of unleavened bread is the week after passover. It also appears to be for the purpose of bringing people together in a church service kind of manner so that Paul could preach. It was also a supper at night. (Acts 20:6-7, 11)  “And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight... When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.”
9. I don’t think it is 100% clear on whether the Lord’s Supper itself is meant each time the breaking of bread is mentioned, since one would expect the Bible to make a more direct point of saying that, and since breaking bread and blessing the food and drink is part of many meals. However considering the liberty Believers have in Christ I don’t think one would err by taking the Lord’s Supper more than once a year, as most churches do. As long as it is done in the proper setting of the local Church, in unity and with the correct purpose of remembering the Lord. I do think however if one does take it every day that it would lose some of it’s special value and could easily become a kind of a sacrament to which undue superstitious powers is added. It is a remembrance and not a special ritual to obtain healing or such.
10. It is important to remember that you are eating bread and wine (unleavened and unfermented) which is a picture of Christ’s body and blood and that these do not at any time become the actual body of Christ as the papists believe!
11. 1 Corinthians 11:25-26 does not say how often we ought to take the Lord’s Supper but that as often as we do take it, we need to take it in remembrance of Him.
12. The final verses in 1 Corinthians warns us not to take the Lord’s Supper unworthily. this would include things like harbouring heresies knowingly, having hatred towards others, sheltering unconfessed sins, and of course being a non-believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will judge those physically who do such things and the way it is described indicates that Paul is primarily referring to Believers being chastened of the Lord.

Paul concludes in saying that when you receive your piece of the bread, wait for the others to receive theirs also and eat it together. Don’t rush your part, but take the Lord’s Supper as a Church in harmony before the Lord GOD.