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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 10:14-22
As we read 1 Corinthians, it is very important that we understand Paul’s central thought. Paul realized that the philosophical Greek believers had gone astray from Christ. Although they were genuine Christians, they were missing the mark concerning Christ. Instead of living a Christian life by living Christ, they were living their Greek culture. Therefore, Paul was burdened to rescue them and bring them back to Christ.
Paul was not a shallow person, and in his writing he did not carry out the rescue of the believers at Corinth in a shallow way. On the contrary, Paul’s way of rescuing them involves matters that are deep and profound. As he wrote to the Corinthians with the aim of rescuing them from what was distracting them from Christ, Paul unveils the depths of God, the deeper things concerning Christ. If we did not have the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians, we would not know that Christ has become wisdom to us from God; neither would we know that this wisdom includes Christ as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Paul’s thought here is very deep. The problems he deals with in this Epistle may seem rather shallow, but the way he deals with these things is profound. In particular, the eating of idol sacrifices is a shallow matter. But Paul’s way of dealing with this problem is related to the deep, mysterious, all-inclusive Christ.
The depths of God are related to the mysterious Christ. Because what we are teaching and experiencing regarding Christ is mysterious, unbelievers cannot understand what we are talking about. To them Christ is simply a historical figure. But to us Christ is real, living, present, and precious; He is mysterious, deep, and all-inclusive. He is far beyond our comprehension, so deep that we cannot fathom Him.
In his Epistles, Paul did not have a vocabulary adequate to describe the all-inclusive Christ. In Ephesians 3:18 he speaks of apprehending with all the saints “what is the breadth and length and height and depth.” Here Paul refers to the dimensions of Christ. What is the breadth? And what are the length, the height, and the depth? These are the immeasurable dimensions of Christ. Christ Himself is the breadth, length, height, and depth. His dimensions are more vast than the dimensions of the universe. Such a marvelous Christ is beyond our apprehension.
According to Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians, this wonderful Christ is ours. In 1:2 we are told that Christ is “theirs and ours.” In 1:9 Paul says that we have been called into the fellowship of Christ. This means that Christ is our portion for our enjoyment.
For us, as those who have been called into the fellowship of Christ, it is not sufficient only to believe in Him, trust in Him, and rely on Him, as Christians today are often taught to do. Of course, we must trust in the Lord and rely on Him. But we may do this and still miss the central matter of enjoying Christ and possessing Him as our portion. In the past, many of us were taught to believe in Christ, trust in Christ, rely on Christ, and pray to Christ. One very important matter, however, was neglected — the enjoyment of Christ. Before you came into the Lord’s recovery, did you ever hear a message about enjoying Christ? Where is such a word spoken among the Lord’s people today? Christians do not have this terminology because they do not have this spiritual culture. They do not speak of eating Christ or of drinking Him, even though these matters are mentioned in the Bible.
Paul’s purpose in writing 1 Corinthians was not merely to help us trust in Christ or rely on Him. His goal was to encourage us to enjoy Christ. Hallelujah, Christ is ours! The simple phrase “theirs and ours” in 1:2 implies enjoyment. For Christ to be ours means not only that we trust in Him, but also that we enjoy Him. How wonderful that Christ is ours to enjoy!
God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you have a proper understanding of the fellowship of God’s Son? As we have pointed out, fellowship involves participation. Now I wish to say that fellowship includes enjoyment. It is correct to interpret 1:9 in this way: “By Whom you have been called into the enjoyment of His Son.” To enter into the fellowship of the Son is to come into the enjoyment of Him.
In 10:16 Paul again refers to fellowship: “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?” In 1:9 the fellowship is the fellowship of a Person. Here in 10:16 the fellowship is of that Person’s blood and body. When the Lord Jesus ate with His disciples and established the table, He “took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body” (Matt. 26:26). Then taking the cup and giving thanks, “He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you” (v. 27). Today the Lord invites us to His table and says of the bread and the cup, “This is My body; take and eat.… This is My blood; take and drink.” However, we may take these matters for granted, not realizing that by speaking in this way concerning His body and blood, the Lord is presenting Himself to us for our enjoyment. He gives Himself to us as our food supply so that we may enjoy Him. Oh, may the Lord open our eyes! He, the all-inclusive One, has given His body for us to eat and His blood for us to drink. He has given us Himself so that we may partake of Him and enjoy Him by eating and drinking Him.
As the all-inclusive One who presents Himself to us for our enjoyment, Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is the very God incarnate, the One who lived on earth as a man for thirty-three and a half years, who died on the cross to terminate the old creation, who was resurrected physically and spiritually, and who became through resurrection the life-giving Spirit. Today the One who presents His body and blood to us is Christ as the life-giving Spirit. This wonderful Christ is everything to us for our enjoyment. All that He is, is for our participation and enjoyment.
Whenever we come to the Lord’s table to enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive One, in our experience we are in the good land enjoying the riches of the land. This means that the good land has become a table, a feast, for our enjoyment. At this table, this feast, we are satisfied, and God is satisfied also. If we see this, we shall realize that to enter into the good land is to come to the Lord’s table. This is a most encouraging word. Praise the Lord that when we come to the table, we enter into the good land!
Our understanding of the Lord’s table has been limited by the influence of our religious background and also by our natural concepts. Because of this influence, we may think that to come to the Lord’s table is merely to attend a meeting centered around a table with a loaf and a cup. We may not have any realization in our spirit that by coming to the table and enjoying it, we are enjoying Christ as the all-inclusive land.
Do you know how the children of Israel established the kingdom of God on earth and how they built the temple of God? They did this through the enjoyment of the riches of the good land. Because the children of Israel enjoyed these riches, they could defeat their enemies. The riches of the land not only enabled the people to live; they also equipped them to fight and bring in the kingdom of God. Furthermore, the riches of the land supplied them with what they needed to build God’s temple. Therefore, both the kingdom of God and the temple come into being through the enjoyment of the riches of the good land. The riches of the land were the source of the living of the children of Israel. These riches were also the supply for them to defeat the enemy, establish the kingdom of God, and build the temple of God. One day the glory of God descended and filled this temple. That was the consummate result of the enjoyment of the riches of the good land.
The experience of the children of Israel in the good land typifies our enjoyment of Christ today. Christ is our good land, and the various aspects of the riches of Christ are typified by the produce of the land. If we enjoy the rich supply of Christ, we shall be able to live Christ. We shall also be empowered to defeat the enemies. The enemies are always defeated when we enjoy Christ. Furthermore, through the enjoyment of the riches of Christ, the kingdom of God is established in the church, and the temple is built for God’s dwelling place. All these matters — living the Christian life, defeating the enemies, establishing the kingdom of God, and building the house of God — issue out from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
Now we must see that these riches are displayed on the Lord’s table. Therefore, the table is a feast for our enjoyment. Many of us have been attending the Lord’s table for years, but we have never had this understanding of the table. It is crucial for us to understand that to come to the table is to enjoy Christ as the good land.
If we have this realization concerning the Lord’s table, we shall be able to understand 1 Corinthians 10. Paul’s concept here is that whenever a person eats of idol sacrifices, he enjoys something related to an idol. Furthermore, what he enjoys gets into him and causes him to become an expression of that thing. This is based on the principle that eating is a fellowship, a participation. Paul uses the word fellowship with the meaning of participation. According to this view, to eat the sacrifices offered to idols is to have fellowship with idols. Moreover, it is to become involved with idols and eventually to become one with them. This is in keeping with the fact that we are what we eat, that what we eat becomes us. Because demons are behind idols, to be one with idols is to be one with the demons behind them. This is an explanation of Paul’s concept in chapter ten concerning the eating of idol sacrifices. The result of eating sacrifices to idols is that a person becomes one with demons and even filled and saturated with them.
In the same principle, to eat the body of Christ is to have the fellowship of Christ. It is to participate in Christ and to become one with Him. This is not simply a doctrine or principle; it is a reality.
Christ today is the life-giving Spirit. Demons also are spirits. The life-giving Spirit is rich and all-inclusive. The demonic spirits, on the contrary, are evil and unclean. One can be saturated and occupied either by a demon, an evil spirit, or by Christ as the life-giving Spirit. We live according to that with which we are occupied and saturated. If we eat Christ and are saturated with Him as the life-giving Spirit, we shall live Christ. In like manner, if we eat the sacrifices to demons and are saturated with demons, we shall live demons. Ultimately, in the entire universe there are only two tables: the table of demons, which causes people to be one with demons, and the table of the Lord, which causes the believers to be one with the Lord. In either case, we are what we eat.
What is called communion in today’s Christendom is not pure. Behind it there are some things related to idols, and demons are behind the idols. Those who partake of the table of demons come in contact with demons. This means they actually touch the reality of the demons behind the table of the demons.
The principle is the same with the dear saints who come to the Lord’s table in the spirit. They touch the reality of the Lord as they partake of His table. Often in the words of these believers we can sense something of the Lord. We realize that in the words of a certain brother or sister we can hear the word of the Lord. These saints can speak such a word because they have been saturated with the Lord.
If there is a problem among the saints when they come to the Lord’s table, the church life will be damaged. There can be no building up of the church in such a situation. But if the saints in a local church have no problems when they come to the Lord’s table, and if everyone fellowships with the Lord and with others in spirit, that is a church, a temple, which has truly been built up. Furthermore, with the temple of God there is the kingdom of God. Those who have become the temple and the kingdom through the enjoyment of Christ are surely those who live Christ.
If we read 1 Corinthians 10 in this light, we shall have a proper understanding of this chapter. We shall realize that idolatry involves the enjoyment of something other than the Lord Himself. Today people everywhere are practicing idolatry, for they are enjoying many things which are not the Lord Himself. The living of worldly people is a living in idolatry. They sit down to eat and drink, and then they rise up to play. Those who engage in worldly entertainments and who purchase many of the worldly things sold in department stores are practicing idolatry.
Idolatry is the enjoyment of something in place of the Lord. But the Lord’s table is the true enjoyment of the Lord Himself. The Lord’s table is not only a matter of a meeting on the Lord’s Day; this table should be our enjoyment every day, even continually. Day by day, the Lord is our good land, our feast, our table.
If we come to the Lord’s table with this understanding, we shall come with a different spirit and a different realization. The cup of blessing which we bless is certainly the fellowship of the blood of Christ, and the bread which we break is the fellowship of the body of Christ. Today we are those gathered around the altar, enjoying whatever is offered on the altar for God’s satisfaction. As we are feasting, we satisfy the Lord whom we worship. This is the proper dealing with the matter of eating.
The proper way to deal with eating is to feast on the Lord. Do not eat anything other than the Lord, and do not enjoy anything in place of Him. We should not have any enjoyment other than Christ. Christ is our table, our feast, our land. As the good land, Christ is a rich feast for our enjoyment. When we feast on Him, we live Him. Then we are able to defeat the enemies, establish the kingdom of God, and build up His temple. This is God’s goal and the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.
