1 Corinthians 11:20

When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

When ... therefore - resuming the thread of discourse ().

This is not to. It is not possible to eat a true Lord's supper where UNITY exists not (); where each is greedily intent on "HIS OWN SUPPER," and some are excluded altogether, not having been waited for (); where some are "drunken," others "hungry" (). The love-feast preceded the Lord's supper (as eating the Passover came before the Lord's supper at the first institution of the latter). They ate and drank together earthly, then heavenly food, in token of their unity for time and eternity. It was a club-feast, where each brought his portion, and the rich extra portions for the poor. From it the bread and wine were taken for the Eucharist. It was at it that the excesses took place which made a true celebration of the Lord's supper, during or after it, with due discernment of its solemnity, out of the question. Hence, the love feasts were afterward disjoined from the Lord's supper, and in the fourth century forbidden by a council.