What the Lord's Table Really Means — Zac Poonen

Some may wonder why we sometimes have been a little more strict about whom we permit to take part in the breaking of bread and at other times we are a little more open. Part of the reason is because we don't know whom God has chosen.

If we knew it, we'd do it perfectly. See, in 2nd Timothy chapter 2, it speaks about the firm foundation of God for salvation. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19. The firm foundation of God stands having this seal.

The two sides to the seal. One, the upper side which only God can see. The Lord knows those who are His. We'll never know that till Christ comes again. Then the underneath side of the seal is what we see.

Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to stay away from wickedness or sin. The only way we can identify someone is here's somebody who stays away from sin. Not someone who just says, I've accepted Christ.

And when it comes to staying away from sin, if the person is a member of our church, submitted to the elders, we have some, still not perfect, but at least some degree of knowledge whether the person is walking in the light.

But it's when it's a total stranger who comes from the road or from I don't know where, anywhere and says, I've accepted the Lord. Maybe he has. How do we know? We don't even know whether he's staying away from sin.

So it's very difficult for us. And that's why we have been trying to figure out what is the best way to do it. We've never been able to come to and I don't believe we have come to a clear conclusion even now.

The Two Biblical Passages About the Lord’s Table

Then I want to show you what is written and what is also written. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, first of all, I'd like to turn to 1 Corinthians 10. Two places in scripture where the breaking of bread is explained.

1 Corinthians 10, 1 Corinthians 11. In 1 Corinthians 10, it says in verse 21, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

Now what the cup of the demons is and what the table of the demons is, it's for you to decide. It's not defined here. But if you're in fellowship in your life with anything that Jesus Christ would not approve of.

See, there are only, Jesus Christ is the one who's got all authority in heaven and earth. But Jesus also said that the devil is the ruler of this world. The ruler of this world is not Jesus Christ. There's a difference between earth and world.

You need to understand that. Jesus said, I've got all authority, Matthew 28 verse 18, on heaven and earth. He also said in John 14 30, the devil is the ruler of this world. World is a system that controls.

There are people in the world. Of course, God loved the world. We love them too. But the world is also described as a system which controls education, entertainment, even the medical world now, governments, money, financial systems.

They're all controlled by a system called the world. And the ruler of this world is Satan. One day, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ. And then in that new world, if you have any form of entertainment, it'll be absolutely pure.

Nobody will practice medicine to make money in that world as they do here. So this world is governed a lot by money and honor. And whenever a Christian gets affected by that, he's becoming coming under the control of the ruler of this world without even knowing it.

So we're living in the world, but we're not off the world. It's like a ship in the middle of the sea surrounded by the sea. But if the sea gets into the ship, that's the end of that ship. So we read here in 1 Corinthians 10.

We should not partake of the cup of demons in the cup of the Lord or the table of the Lord in the table of demons. And earlier on, he speaks in verse 16, 1 Corinthians 10, 16, the cup of blessing, which we bless.

It's a sharing in the blood of Christ. You know that this cup we partake of is called the cup of blessing. There is a blessing in it. If we take part in it in a right way, there's also a curse in it. If we take part in the wrong way, the same book, the same cup, just like this book can bring blessing and curse depends on how you react to it.

And the bread that we break, verse 17, we are testifying that we are, you know, from one bread, we all partake to show that all of us are one body, not with the same function, but we are one body, like fingers, toes, eyes, ears.

The Lord’s Table and the Unity of the Body

I want to ask all of you who are partaking of the bread today, not whether you're one with the Lord. You may say yes to that. Can you say, I'm one with everybody here in one body. That's the reason why we have been careful in the past to tell people, listen, we don't want you to tell a lie.

We don't encourage anybody to tell a lie here. Come into the Lord's presence and tell a lie. I can break bread and tell a lie. I'm a part of this body and you're not a part of this body. We've tried to prevent people from telling lies and that's why we say, hey, listen, be careful.

If you're not a part of this body, don't take part. You see, I'm one body with the Lord. True. But the cross has got two arms. Remember, this bread speaks of a cross where Jesus died and that had two arms.

One, a vertical relationship with God and the other, a horizontal relationship with one another. Both are there in the cross. There's no cross with just one arm. I have a great relationship with the Lord.

That's not a cross. That's a stick. If you say you love God but you don't love your brother, you're a liar. So there is a horizontal element to fellowship which is as important as the vertical. And in breaking a bread, he said, this is my body, eat of it.

He also said, we are one body. So that is the reason why we've been very careful in preventing people from telling lies. Okay, 1 Corinthians 11. It says here, when you come together, remember the Lord said in 1 Corinthians 11 .24, he broke the bread, gave thanks, saying, this is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. See, the Lord, why is it this statement is made in the day, in the night in which he was betrayed? What's the point of mentioning that? Do we have to think of, as we break bread, this is, Jesus broke it on the night he was betrayed.

What's that got to do with breaking a bread? Because the one who was betraying him was sitting right there, breaking bread. And it's reminding us that some people could be betraying the Lord and breaking bread today.

None of the others knew it. All the other 11 disciples said, oh, we don't know who's betraying you. And I also say, I look at a couple of hundred people and I say, Lord, I don't know who's betraying you.

And I don't want to judge anyone. I only ask like the disciples, Lord, is it I? That's the question they asked. Whatever other faults those disciples may have had, one good thing. And the Lord said, one of you is going to betray me.

They didn't look at each other and say, oh, it must be that fellow. That's how today a lot of Christians are. One good thing we can learn from those disciples, each of them said, Lord, is it? That's the spirit in which we come to the breaking of bread.

There will be somebody who betrays. It happens even today. It's better for that man or woman if they were not even born because they should not take part in the bread. I'm not talking about people who fail and who get up and are fighting against sin.

I'm talking about people who are playing with a fool with sin and secret and betraying the Lord and lightly come and take part in the bread. It's a very serious thing. In the night in which he was betrayed, he took bread and he gave thanks.

That bread symbolized the people sitting there and he gave thanks for them. And I've learned to give thanks for the brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. I really mean that. Today I can say before God that my family is not my blood relatives.

The Family of God at the Lord’s Table

I don't know if all of you can say that. I can say it. My family is the family of God. It has been so for a number of years. I love my blood relatives. I'm thankful for them. But my family is the family of God.

Jesus had four brothers. None of them were at the Lord's table. He had two sisters. None of them were at the Lord's table. His family were, he said, who are my brothers? Those who hear the word of God and do it.

A lot of people say they're following Jesus, but they don't follow Jesus in this area. Their earthly relatives mean a lot more to them than the family of God. But they claim to be believers. God bless you, brother, sister.

I hope the Lord will forgive you for that attitude when you meet him one day. But I want to have the right attitude now. The attitude Jesus had who said, who are my brothers and sisters? Those who hear the word of God and do it, not those who are born from my earthly mother or my mother's sister, some cousin, some uncle, some aunt.

I love them. But my family is the family of God. And that's why we break one bread and we are one body. You know, there's a lot of to it. You can go through baptism without meaning. You can praise and thank God without meaning.

You can break bread without meaning. But if you do it with understanding, I'm trying to explain what it means. It's not a mere ritual. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do it in remembrance of me.

Remembering Jesus in the Breaking of Bread

So when we come together, we are to remember Jesus Christ. We are to remember him. It's like a married woman whose husband is far away. She's waiting for him to come back. And she looks at his photograph and remembers him.

Who loved him, loved her and did so much for her. And who's waiting there longing for the day when he comes back. And she's also longing for the day he will come back. She remembers him. That's a loving wife who frequently looks at the photograph of her husband and kisses it because her husband is not physically there.

It's something like that when we break bread. I don't know whether you have that type of a bridal relationship with Jesus Christ. That's how it is with me. That's what changed my life. I'm an engaged fiance of the most wonderful man that walked on this earth, Jesus Christ.

And he's coming for me. I'm looking forward to my wedding day. Until then, I remember him constantly. And because I remember him, it keeps me away from other temptations in the world. And in breaking a bread, it's a wonderful opportunity to remember him.

He said, remember me. Does he need to say that? I said, Lord, you don't have to say it to me anymore. I remember you every day. As soon as I wake up from bed, wake up in the morning, before I get out of bed, I remember him.

If you have that type of devotion to Jesus Christ, then you have not left your first love. I first loved Jesus 55 years ago as a 19 and a half year old boy. I have the same love for him even more today.

It's not Bible knowledge. It's not important as much as fervent love for Jesus. Remember me in the breaking of bread. I hope you're like that. I cannot vouch for you. I can only vouch for myself. So, and as often as you, and this cup is another important word there in verse 25.

This cup is the new covenant. You know, there's only one time in Jesus' life he used the word new covenant, which we use so frequently now in this church. Jesus used it only once in his whole life. New covenant.

And he said it in relation to his blood, which was a symbol of death on the cross. So, there is no new covenant without blood. There's no new covenant without death. When you drink the cup, if you don't think of death to self and death to sin, that's what the new covenant is all about.

The old covenant was about forgiveness. The new covenant was about freedom from sin. This cup is not the old covenant. That was in the Passover. That's finished. This is the new covenant. Do it in remembrance of me.

Remember what I did for you, not just to forgive your sin, but remember what I did for you to free you from sinning in your life. This is the new covenant. And so we proclaim the Lord's death. You know, two things mentioned there, the Lord's death and his coming.

Here we are standing in between verse 26. So, when we stand here in between, we look back and say Jesus died on Calvary and I died with him to sin. And until he comes, we look to the future as well and say he's coming again.

I'm looking forward to that. It's a wonderful thing, breaking a bread, if you do it meaningfully. It's like the excitement that an engaged girl has when she gets a letter from her fiancé. It's an excitement.

But someone who's just not really getting married for marriage's sake or something like that, doesn't really love her fiancé. She's not so excited. She can, you know, letters come, we can read it tomorrow or something like that.

There are Christians like that who are not passionately devoted to Jesus. They will not appreciate the Lord's table. You know, it says about two disciples walking to Emmaus in Luke 24. They were so concerned about Jesus.

It says their face was sad because their fiancé had died and he was walking with them and they didn't know it. But their sadness showed how much they loved him. And it says when they sat together in the house, you read in Luke 24, and he broke bread with them, their eyes were opened and they were so excited because they loved Jesus.

They had walked seven kilometers or 12 kilometers, seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Three hours they had walked. They got so excited by seeing Jesus and so much energy. They got up and walked 12 kilometers back in the middle of the night back to Jerusalem and said, this is wonderful.

We've got to tell people my fiancé is alive. I thought he was dead. He's alive. They walked 24 kilometers in that night because they were excited to know that their fiancé was alive. That's devotion. Those are the people who enjoy Christianity the most.

To many people, Christianity is a drudgery and somehow get along and I want to go to heaven when I die. I tell you, I'm not particularly interested in heaven. I want to be with Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, this is a love feast.

It's not a ritual. It's a love feast and those who love the Lord will enjoy it the most. For those who cooled off in their love, maybe once upon a time you accepted Christ. I'm not asking whether you still come to CFC and you still believe the doctrines and all that.

I'm asking whether you love Jesus fervently. Like when I meet married couples after three years, I say, do you love each other three times more than the day you got married? I'm trying to love my wife 46 times more than the day we got married and I want to love Jesus 55 times more than I loved him first.

I never want the fire of my devotion to go. My health may become weak. My back may ache and but there's one thing that must burn in my heart till the end, fervent love for Jesus Christ. Well, you know, even my memory of scripture, I'm getting old and memory cells die out and you don't remember verses so easily.

That's okay. If your devotion to Christ is there, you've got the main thing, brother. If you don't have that, you've missed the main thing in Christianity. Despite all the doctrines you understand and the wonderful church you're a part of.

Examining Ourselves Before the Lord’s Table

So this is a love feast. We celebrate he's coming again. In verse 27, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup in an unworthy manner, what does that mean? So he'll be guilty of crucifying Christ. Guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord means crucifying Christ.

Is it possible for someone today sitting here to take the bread and be as guilty as the fellows who killed Jesus on the cross? Yes. Believe it or not, yes. That's what the Bible says. How can you be guilty of the body and blood of Christ?

How can you be guilty of crucifying him? You know, it speaks in Hebrews 6 about people who crucify Christ again. It can happen. Do you know that verse? Let me show it to you. People who crucify Christ again.

Hebrews chapter 6. If you have borne again, verse 4, that means you've gone through the foundation, verse 1, of repentance, faith, baptism in the spirit, baptism in water, and you believe in resurrection, eternal judgment, and all that, and then you've been enlightened.

Verse 4, Hebrews 6, 4, you've tasted the heavenly gift. You've even been baptized in the Holy Spirit and you've tasted God's word in the Bible, and you've tasted something of supernatural power in your life, and then you turn back, fall away from that devotion to Christ.

As long as you're like that, it's impossible to bring you back to repentance because you're crucifying the Son of God afresh. You're killing Christ all over again, putting him to an open shame on the cross all over again by your life.

But beloved, verse 9, we are convinced of better things concerning you that you won't be like that, and I say that also. So it's possible to crucify Christ again. When you break bread and you have got the spirit of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

You can betray Jesus for a little bit of money you owe somebody that you never returned. A thousand rupees? What's the difference between you doing that and Judas doing it for 30 pieces of silver? Or cheating somebody he never knew about it?

Yeah, there are betrayers sitting around the Lord's table, even today. And therefore, there are such people who are crucifying Christ. Judas Iscariot was guilty of crucifying Christ, even though he didn't actually put the nails in.

He was responsible, and we may not actually put nails in, but we're guilty, because if we do it, the night he was betrayed, he broke bread, and today we don't want him to be betrayed again. Therefore, a man must examine himself.

I can't even examine my wife, because we don't know what all is in a person's thoughts. You know if there is any area in your life where you're denying Christ or betraying him. I don't know, and I will not judge you because I don't know.

A man must examine himself, and thus eat the bread and drink the cup. But if you eat and drink in an unworthy manner, then you're eating and drinking judgment. What did we see in 1 Corinthians 10? A cup of blessing.

The same cup of blessing can be a cup of judgment. Judgment from God, because he did not judge the body rightly. The body is the body of Jesus Christ, that we don't see why he was crucified on the cross.

He was crucified to take away my sin. I don't take sin seriously, or I don't recognize this body is now the body of Christ, and I don't recognize. Hey, I'm breaking bread with a number of people. Do I love them?

Don't worry about whether they love you. Do you love them? That's all. God, Jesus will never ask you in the final day, why didn't so-and-so love you? Can you imagine Jesus asking such a foolish question?

He'll certainly ask you, why didn't you love somebody? Do you discern the body of Christ? And when people take part in the Lord's table without recognizing this, the cup of blessing becomes a cup of judgment, and the result is they become weak.

Verse 30. Sick, and some die before their time. Believers who die before their time, because they play the fool with God. They become weak physically, sick physically, die physically. They become weak spiritually, sick spiritually, die spiritually, because they played the fool with the Lord's table.

This is the reason, my dear brothers and sisters, why we have sought through the years to preserve the sanctity of the Lord's table, and to be strict, to save people from getting sick and dying. We have said we don't want certain people to come here in the Lord's table, to save them from death.

Don't you think that's a good reason to stop people from coming to the Lord's table? To save them from getting sick and dying? Not because we wanted to exclude them. One day they will discover that when we kept them away, it was to save them from sickness and death, and why have we opened it up now?

Because we have warned enough. We have warned people enough, and now we're not going to sit on their heads and treat them like little children and hold them, say, no, no, no, you can't. No. You know, there's a certain time after which you can tell your children, okay, now you can cross the street on your own.

You hold the three-year-old's hand when he's crossing the road, but when he's 25 years old, you don't hold his hand and say, hey, don't cross the road without me holding you. He's grown up now. He can cross the road on his own.

If he gets run over, it's his own fault. But when he's three years old, we hold his hand and say, no, you're not going to cross to life. So in the church also, as we've grown through the years, we are warned and warned and warned, and we hold people.

Don't come for the breaking of bread. Don't come. I say, no. We say, okay, you've heard it enough. You're grown up. It's your decision. Cross the road. Please look on both sides. Don't think you're so smart.

Look, see whether you're, you know, like we cross the road, we look left and right. Look at the Lord. See whether you recognize why he died on the cross, his body. Look at, towards the right, look at the church, the body of Christ, and see if you've got a right relationship this side and that side.

Go right ahead. But if you're careless there, you can get run over. That's the truth. Little illustrations that drive a truth straight into our heart. That's how Jesus spoke. But here's a wonderful verse, verse 31, if we judge ourselves rightly.

Judging Ourselves Rather Than Others

You know, that's why we left that verse out there. We've had it here for many years. If we judge ourselves rightly, we will not be judged. You'll never be judged in your life if you judge yourself rightly.

You stop judging other people. I've said this many times before that in my house for about 25 years, I had a verse, not a verse, but a statement written in front of my table. The happiest people in the world are those who always judge themselves and never judge others.

I don't need it in front of me now because it's in my head. The happiest people in the world are those who always judge themselves and never judge others because they will not be judged. I want to be in that.

God's made me a very happy man. I can testify to that. I've often said to people, if you find a happier man than me in India, I'd like to meet him. Not one who's happy in the meetings. No, no, no. There are plenty of them.

You go to charismatic churches, you'll see them there. But who's happy 24 hours. You will never see in a bad mood at any time. You wake him up at 2 .30 in the morning, he won't be in a bad mood. I get phone calls sometimes from people in the middle of the night.

Oh, brother, I'm sorry for calling you at this odd time. No, it's okay. What's your problem? They're calling from some other country. They don't realize it's 2 .30 in the morning here. I don't want to be in a bad mood.

Jesus has saved me. Why should I be in a bad mood? Never. God has made us to be happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If there's grief in our heart, it's because people are living in sin. It's because of corruption in the church.

That should concern us all the time. But I want to say to you, my dear brothers and sisters, if you judge yourself rightly, and you stop judging others, you'll be the happiest person of all. Believe me, it's true.

Remember that it's in relation to the Lord's table. It says, if we judge ourselves rightly, we will not be judged. When God judges you, He's disciplining you because He doesn't want to condemn you with the rest of the world.

So we want to come to the Lord's table, not in fear. You know, it says in verse 27, unworthy manner. You got to distinguish that between being an unworthy person. Unworthy person, I'm number one. I hope all of you recognize you're unworthy to come to the Lord's presence at all.

But unworthy manner means I'm taking part without recognizing the body of Jesus broken for my sin and the body of Christ in which He has made me a part. What shall we say? He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Walking in the Light Before Communion

I think it's important to remember that as we break bread on this solemn occasion together. Some of you, even the elders here, don't even know. We hope you're walking with the Lord. Like you heard, we hope you repented of your sin, believed that Christ died for your sins and rose again from the dead is alive today and is coming back to judge the world.

That you're baptized in water by immersion to testify that your old man is buried and come out to testify your new person. And that you're walking in the light you have. The light a kindergarten student has is much less than the light a person has in the 10th standard.

God doesn't ask you to live by the light of somebody else. You don't have to live according to the light I have. You have to live according to the light you have. Walk in the light you have with the Lord.

That means your conscience does not condemn you at this time for anything. If it does, set it right now. If you haven't forgiven somebody, forgive that person now in your mind with your will. Name the person.

Say, Lord, I've forgiven and I'll not bring it up again because I've forgiven it right now. Don't say that now and bring it up again tomorrow. Secondly, Lord, I have also asked forgiveness from those who I've hurt.

Maybe you hurt your wife or husband. Have you asked forgiveness? If not, you can't do it right now. But you can say, Lord, at the first opportunity after this service is over, I'll go and ask forgiveness from whomever.

Maybe a phone call, maybe a letter, maybe personally I want to ask forgiveness. I want to settle it. The Lord will accept it. You don't have to. He doesn't wait till it's all done. Zacchaeus said, I'll repay four times what I've taken.

And Jesus said, fine, I accept your word. Salvation has come right now. It may have taken 10 years for Zacchaeus to repay everything, but the Lord didn't wait for 10 years. He forgives you right now if you say it, if you're sincere.

Have you forgiven everyone? Are you in debt to somebody? It's one of the terrible habits in India which Christians have also acquired, of borrowing money so lightly. Borrowing money and taking your own cool time to return it or then forgetting about it because the other person has forgotten about it.

I don't think you fear God. That's all I can say to such people. There was a man who wrote to me from a poor village in Kerala, a very poor person. He wrote in Malayalam, I'm a poor person, Brother Zac.

I have a debt of 30 ,000 rupees. I'm just sort of scraping by my daily, monthly needs for my family. You say we must return what we have borrowed. How shall I do it? I said, I'll tell you how to do it.

Can you save 10 rupees a month? Give back 10 rupees. It'll take you 250 years to repay the entire debt. You won't live that long. But the Lord will see your heart that you gave back what you could and he'll release you.

Now some of you who are earning 20 ,000 rupees will say, Brother Zac said I've only got to return 10 rupees a month. No, not to you. Not for you. I say that to that guy who was getting 400 rupees a month.

Not to you. You got to repay what you can. I've told people, why don't you sell some of the gold and silver in your house or some of the things you have in your house which you don't need regularly and repay it.

I did it and I realized in my younger days that I had cheated the government of some money. I worked and worked and worked, saved a number of months. I saved the money and emptied my bank account and cleared that debt instead of carrying a chain on my leg for 40 years.

That's why I could run. Some of you can't run. Some of you are, I find, in the same spiritual state you were in many years ago. There's a chain on your leg. Get rid of it. Say to the Lord, Lord, I'm going to do my best to obey your word in Romans 13 verse 8.

Oh no man anything. Yeah, we teach the whole word of God in this church. Let a man judge himself and so take part in the Lord's table. We are not setting impossible standards. There are godless worldly people I know who have never been in debt, who repay debts immediately.

Unconverted godly people, ungodly worldly non-christians who repay their debts. What shall we say about born-again people sitting in CFC who take this lightly? I sometimes wonder whether they have lost their salvation.

They've still got the theory. Their sensitivity to sin is gone. You know whenever sensitivity to touch goes from your hand, go and see a doctor. It may be leprosy. Sensitivity is gone. Has the sensitivity gone from your conscience?

Get a checkup. It could be spiritual leprosy. I never want it to happen in my life. My goal is that next year or this year, 2014, I shall be more sensitive to sin than I have ever been in my entire life.

Not less. I'm sorry to say that there are some people here who are less sensitive to sin than they were when they were first converted. Dear brother, sister, you're running in the wrong direction. The marathon race is this way.

You're running the other way. Turn around. Repent. Let this be the opportunity at the Lord's table to turn around and say, Lord, I want to take sin more seriously. I've been running in the wrong direction.

That's why I'm losing out spiritually instead of gaining spiritually. It's your attitude to sin that determines whether you're growing spiritually or not. People ask me, Brother Zach, what's the mark of God's blessing in your life?

I'll tell you that he shows me unchrist-like areas in my life which I never knew in my whole life till now. That's the mark of God's blessing. If God doesn't show me areas of unchrist-likeness in my life this year that I never knew in 55 years, new areas, not the old ones, I'd say he did not bless me in 2014.

But it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen because I decided some years ago which way I'm going to go. I know where the finishing line of the marathon race is. Total likeness to Christ. I'm not bothered if other people fall by the wayside or other people slow down or other people turn back, even people in CFC.

I don't care if some of my fellow elders in CFC churches turn around. Oh, God bless you, Brother. I'm sorry I can't hang around waiting for you. I'm pressing on. If you want to come, welcome. If you want to run the race, welcome.

But I can't force you. I can't hold your hand and pull you. You got to run yourself. I can only encourage you. Paul said, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. Which the Lord has reserved for me and for those who love his appearing.