One in the Bond of Love

Why do we take this supper? To remember His presence—He’s here with us—oh, my dear friend, to remember His provision—“this is my body, which is broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24)—to remember His passion—“[we] do shew [His] death till he [comes]” (1 Corinthians 11:26)—and to remember His purpose. Why did He do it all? Well, look, if you will, in verse 29: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation”—that is, “judgment”—“to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” (1 Corinthians 11:29)

Now, what body is he talking about? Is he talking about the body that walked with sandaled shoes on the shoes of Galilee? Oh, no. He’s talking about the Church. You see, what had happened here was people had come to take the Lord’s Supper, and rather than taking the Lord’s Supper, they had made a drunken brawl out of it. And, one would bring a big feast, and they would eat a feast. And, some actually were getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper—not with the communion but with wine that they had brought along. And, they would get drunk, and Paul said, “What you’re doing when you do such a thing is you are eating and drinking judgment and damnation because you have not discerned the Lord’s Body.” (1 Corinthians 11:29) What body is he talking about? He’s talking about the Church—He’s talking about the Church.

You see, what was the purpose of the suffering of the Lord Jesus? What does He want us to remember? Well, you see, dear friend, His passion and His provision deal with His purpose—that is, that He would have a new body, the Church. And, that’s the reason that the Lord’s Supper is a church ordinance: it is here to bind us together, to say that we are one in the bond of love.

Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 17; look at it: “For we being many are one bread”—that is, “one loaf of bread.” All of the grains ground together make one loaf—“and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:17) And, the word partaker means “fellowshipping in that one bread.” We—all of us, dear friend—are the Lord’s Body. That’s what he’s saying.

Look in the chapter that follows chapter 11. Look in chapter 12, and you’ll see the same thing in verse 13: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) That’s why it’s so important that you come together when we take the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a church ordinance. It’s not something that individuals do. It’s not something nice that some people might do at a wedding. It shows that we are one in the bond of love. And that, my friend—these—are the purposes of the Lord’s Supper.

Adrian Rogers, “Thoughts for the Lord’s Supper,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), 1 Co 11:18–32.