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.