1)“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16-17).
First Corinthians 11:23-25 shows us that the emphasis in eating the Lord’s supper is the remembrance of the Lord, whereas 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 21 tell us that the stress in attending the Lord’s table is the fellowship with the saints.
In the bread breaking meeting, we are eating the one bread, which signifies the body of Christ, and drinking the one cup, which signifies the blood of Christ. Our eating and partaking of one bread and our drinking and sharing in one cup imply mutual fellowship. We have this fellowship because of the Lord’s body and the Lord’s blood. Hence, such fellowship becomes the fellowship of the blood of Christ and the fellowship of the body of Christ. In this way, when we eat and drink together, sharing in the Lord’s bread and the Lord’s cup, we “partake of the table of the Lord” (1 Cor. 10:21). At this table, we share in the Lord’s body and the Lord’s blood with all the saints and have fellowship one with another. The blood of Christ, which we enjoy together, removes all the barriers between the saints. The bread, which we share and which symbolizes the individual body of Christ, comes into us to make us one bread, signifying the one corporate Body of Christ. In the aspect of eating the Lord’s supper, the bread refers to the Lord’s individual body, which He gave for us on the cross, while in the aspect of attending the Lord’s table, the bread points to the Lord’s corporate Body, which He constituted with all the regenerated saints through His resurrection from the dead. The former is physical and was put to death and given for us; the latter is mystical and is constituted with all the saints in the Lord’s resurrection. Therefore, each time that we break the bread, on the one hand we remember the Lord and enjoy Him by receiving the body which He gave for us on the cross; on the other hand, we enjoy the mystical Body which He produced through His resurrection from the dead, fellowshipping with all the saints in this mystical Body and testifying the oneness of this mystical Body. There is not only a relationship between us and the Lord, but a relationship between us and all the saints.
The meeting for the breaking of bread is a meeting for the believers’ worship. According to the procedure in God’s salvation, we first receive the Lord and then draw near to the Father. Thus, in this meeting for worship, we should first remember the Lord and then worship the Father. The center of the section of remembering the Lord is the remembrance of the Lord, and the center of the section of worshipping the Father is the worship of the Father, where all the prayers, hymns, and words should be directed toward the Father.
1)“Jesus took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And taking the cup...He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant...and having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matt. 26:26-30).
On that day, after the Lord Jesus broke bread and sang a hymn with the disciples, He led them to the Mount of Olives to meet with the Father. A principle is implied and established here, that is, after we have broken the bread to remember the Lord, we ought to be led by Him to worship the Father together.
2)“I [the resurrected Christ] will declare Your [the Father’s] name to My brothers; in the midst of the church [the meeting with the disciples after resurrection] I will sing hymns of praise unto You” (Heb. 2:12).
Here is mentioned what the Lord did when He appeared to and met with His disciples after His resurrection, that is, He considered them as brothers and declared to them the Father’s name. He also considered them as the church and sang hymns of praise to the Father among them. Although the Lord is the only begotten Son of God, through death and resurrection, He regenerated us who believed in Him (1 Pet. 1:3) that we might become the many sons of God. He then became the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29), leading us, who are the many sons, with Him to the Father. After He was resurrected, He came among the disciples (John 20:19-29) and declared the Father’s name to His brothers. Then in the status of the firstborn Son of God, He led His many brothers, who are God’s many sons, to sing praises to the Father together, that is, to worship the Father together. According to this fact, after we have broken the bread in remembrance of the Lord, we should be led by the Lord to worship the Father. In this section of the meeting, we take the Father as the center, and, as depicted in Hymns, #52, all our singing of praises to the Father is the Lord in us leading us to sing praises to the Father.
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