The Table of the Lord: Remembering Christ and Honoring His Body

Pastor Derek Evans | Until The Whole World Knows Ministry

The Lord's Table calls the church to remember the crucified and risen Savior, repent honestly before Him, and treat His people as members of one body. Communion is not an interruption in our worship. It brings the gospel into the center of our worship. Before we speak about our gifts, our struggles, or our assignments, we are brought again to the One who gave Himself for us.

Main Passage: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (KJV)

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Beloved, it is possible to become familiar with a sacred practice while growing careless about what it declares. We can recognize the tray, anticipate the prayer, and know when to stand without allowing the truth before us to search our hearts. Familiarity becomes dangerous when we continue the outward action while resisting the Lord who gave it meaning.

Paul addressed a church that possessed spiritual gifts but also tolerated painful divisions. In their gatherings, some were eating freely while others went hungry. Their treatment of one another contradicted the supper they claimed to celebrate. Paul therefore brought them back to the words and actions of Jesus. The answer was not a more impressive presentation. The answer was a church brought under the authority of its crucified Lord.

That correction still speaks. Pentecostal worship should make much of the living Christ. The Spirit who empowers witness does not lead us away from the cross or make love optional. At the table, spiritual power and humble obedience belong together. Let us consider what we are remembering, how we are approaching, and whom we are receiving as brothers and sisters.

1. Remember the Savior Who Gave Himself, and Proclaim His Death Until He Comes

Notice where Paul begins. He does not begin with the worthiness of the congregation or the achievements of its leaders. He begins with what he received and delivered concerning the Lord Jesus. The church did not invent this meal to celebrate its own success. Christ gave it to direct His people toward His sacrifice. That foundation matters because every generation is tempted to place something else in the center: a personality, a manifestation, a building, a program, or even the intensity of its own devotion. The table brings us back to Jesus.

Paul deliberately recalls the night of betrayal. Human unfaithfulness surrounded the Lord, yet He gave thanks and gave the bread to His disciples. His approaching death was not the collapse of God's saving purpose. Jesus was giving Himself for sinners. We must never treat the cross as a disappointing episode that spiritual power helps us move beyond. The cross reveals the cost of our redemption and the character of the Savior whose power we seek. The One we call Lord loved His people with a love that went all the way to death.

To remember Him is more than to retrieve information about a historical event. In the practice He commanded, the congregation deliberately turns its attention toward His self-giving love and responds with faith, gratitude, and obedience. We do not strengthen the sufficiency of His sacrifice by feeling sorrow intensely enough. We receive its significance with humility. Some believers approach every communion service trying to produce an emotion that will prove their sincerity. Yet the measure of Christ's faithfulness is not the temperature of our emotions. The gospel remains true on the tearful morning and on the quiet morning.

The cup directs us to the new testament in His blood. Our standing before God does not rest upon a private spiritual achievement that others must admire. It rests upon God's saving provision in Christ. This does not make obedience unnecessary. It gives obedience its proper beginning. We obey as people who have received mercy, rather than bargaining for mercy with religious performance. When gratitude replaces bargaining, service becomes freer, repentance becomes more honest, and pride loses a place to hide. We have nothing at this table that permits us to boast over another redeemed person.

Paul also says that this action shows the Lord's death until He comes. Communion therefore looks backward and forward. We remember the real sacrifice of Jesus, and we await His return. Christian hope is not an attempt to deny the suffering of the present world. We confess that the crucified Savior is living and that history is moving toward His appearing. This gives endurance a foundation deeper than optimism. A congregation may face loss, opposition, or disappointment, yet it can still gather around a hope that death has not destroyed.

In practical terms, prepare for the table by giving Christ your attention. Read the passage before the service. Thank Him specifically for His mercy. Teach your household why the bread and cup matter, using Scripture rather than superstition. When you participate, resist the urge to measure the experience by whether you felt something unusual. Ask instead whether you are trusting the Savior whom the meal proclaims and whether that trust is shaping your conduct. Let the remembrance continue after the service in gratitude, integrity, and willingness to serve. We do not come to celebrate ourselves. We come remembering Him.

2. Examine Yourself Honestly, and Let Repentance Lead You Toward Obedience

1 Corinthians 11:27–28 (KJV):

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

Paul's warning must be heard within the situation he is correcting. The Corinthians were bringing division, selfishness, and contempt into a gathering that proclaimed Christ's sacrificial love. Their manner of participation contradicted its meaning. The passage does not teach that only people who have achieved sinless perfection may approach. If that were the requirement, no congregation could come. It calls believers to examine themselves and abandon careless participation. Grace does not make the Lord's command insignificant. Grace teaches us to respond to Him with truthfulness.

There is a difference between humility and hiding. Humility agrees with God's judgment about sin and receives His mercy. Hiding keeps the outward religious action while protecting the inward refusal. A person can bow the head while refusing to forgive, speak reverently while maintaining dishonest business practices, or hold the cup while despising a struggling member of the church. Paul calls for more than a solemn appearance. We must allow the meaning of Christ's death to confront the patterns we have learned to excuse.

Self-examination should be specific enough to lead somewhere. Ask whether you are resisting a clear command of Scripture. Consider whether you have wronged someone and avoided taking responsibility. Examine the way you speak about people who cannot advance your interests. Consider whether a public appearance of devotion has become a shelter for private disobedience. These questions are not invitations to endless suspicion about every feeling. They are a way of bringing actual conduct into the light. The purpose is honest repentance, not a permanent state of spiritual panic.

Notice the direction of Paul's instruction: examine yourself, and so eat. Examination serves renewed faithful participation. It is not a command to remain forever at a distance from Christ. A tender conscience may hear every warning as proof that the Lord will never receive it. But the passage gives a path of response. Confess the wrong without defending it, turn from it, and seek the help necessary to walk differently. Where restitution is possible, make it. Where a pattern has become entrenched, seek accountable pastoral support. Do not confuse postponing obedience with carefully preparing for it.

Paul's subsequent words about weakness, sickness, and death are serious. He identifies judgment in that particular congregation and explains the Lord's discipline in relation to His people. We must neither dismiss the warning nor turn it into a universal explanation for illness. This passage does not authorize us to diagnose a sick believer's spiritual condition or assume that another person's suffering proves secret sin. Pastoral care must be truthful and compassionate. We can pray, examine our own lives, and encourage appropriate professional care without making accusations God has not given us authority to make.

For a Spirit-filled church, this means making room for repentance without manufacturing fear. Leaders should explain the passage clearly, allow time for prayer, and direct people toward Christ. They should not use the table to threaten the vulnerable or display control. If you recognize a serious conflict, begin addressing it honestly; do not stage a reconciliation merely to satisfy appearances. Where harm or abuse has occurred, forgiveness does not require abandoning wise boundaries or accountability. The fruit of repentance is truthful change. Come with reverence, receive mercy with faith, and leave determined to obey. The table is too holy for pretense, and Christ's mercy is too precious to treat lightly.

3. Honor the Body by Refusing Contempt and Practicing Costly Love

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 (KJV):

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

The Lord's Supper has a personal dimension, but it is not merely a private moment between an isolated believer and God. Paul describes a people sharing in Christ and belonging together as one body. In chapter eleven, the failure of the Corinthians was visible in their relationships. Some had plenty while others were humiliated. Their gathering displayed the divisions of their social world instead of the love appropriate to Christ's people. The problem was not solved by saying the correct words over a meal while leaving those relationships untouched.

This is why we must resist separating reverence for Christ from regard for His people. A person may be moved by the thought of the wounded Savior and remain unmoved by a hungry brother sitting nearby. Yet the church cannot honor the meaning of His self-giving love while treating vulnerable members as inconveniences. Communion confronts our ranking systems. Wealth, influence, education, ethnicity, and public gifting do not purchase a superior place in the body. The believer who can offer no social advantage is still someone whom the church is called to love.

Such love must become concrete in congregational life. Look at who is welcomed warmly and who is overlooked. Consider whether someone without transportation can participate in the fellowship. Notice whether a struggling family feels safe acknowledging need. Ask whether ministry opportunities are distributed only among familiar friends. These are pastoral applications of the passage, not a claim that Paul prescribed a particular modern program. The governing principle is that our shared life should agree with our shared confession. If our worship declares Christ's generosity, our arrangements should not quietly communicate indifference.

Honoring the body also changes our speech. We cannot treat another believer's weakness as entertainment and then imagine that our unity is healthy because we sat in the same sanctuary. Gossip trains a congregation to consume people rather than care for them. Honest correction is sometimes necessary, and serious wrongdoing requires responsible action. But correction should seek truth, protection, and restoration where possible. It should not become a religious excuse for humiliation. Before repeating a story, ask whether you know it is true, whether you are the right person to address it, and whether your words serve a faithful purpose.

For those who minister in the gifts of the Spirit, this principle is especially searching. A public manifestation never gives us permission to disregard ordinary kindness. We should desire the Spirit's work and welcome His power, while remembering that spiritual ministry takes place among people who must be loved patiently. The person who needs explanation, accommodation, or repeated encouragement is not an obstacle to the service. That person belongs within the care of the church. A powerful meeting does not excuse an unloving culture. Our life together must bear witness to the Lord we proclaim.

Begin with an action that costs something real. Share a meal with someone outside your usual circle. Offer practical assistance without turning the recipient into a story about your generosity. Correct an unfair assumption you helped spread. Listen before defending yourself when a member describes being overlooked. Leaders can examine patterns in the congregation and create ways for needs to be known without public embarrassment. These actions do not earn a place at the table; they express the grace we confess there. As we remember His body given for us, let us also take responsibility for loving the people joined to Him. Do not leave the table remembering the bread while forgetting your brother.

Come Remembering, Come Repenting, and Leave Loving

Beloved, the Lord's Table calls us into a consistent Christian life. We remember Christ's sacrifice rather than our own importance. We examine ourselves rather than protect our excuses. We honor His people rather than preserve our preferences at their expense. These responses belong together. Remembering without repentance becomes sentiment. Examination without trust becomes despair. A claim to unity without practical love becomes empty language.

The answer is to turn our attention again to Jesus and follow Him. Let the Holy Spirit bring the truth of Scripture to bear upon your actual life. Where gratitude has faded, remember the Savior. Where conscience has been resisted, repent. Where fellowship has been wounded by your conduct, take responsibility. Where someone has been forgotten, make room. Let the church's life after communion agree with its confession during communion.

We proclaim His death until He comes. Therefore our hope reaches beyond the present moment, and our obedience matters within it. The Lord who gave Himself is worthy of a reverent, grateful, loving people.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank You for giving Yourself for us. Deliver us from empty religious routine and bring our attention back to Your saving love. By Your Spirit, help us examine ourselves honestly, confess what is wrong, and walk in obedience. Guard tender consciences from despair and stubborn hearts from presumption. Teach us to honor Your people, care for those in need, and pursue truthful reconciliation. May our fellowship proclaim Your grace until the day You come. In Jesus' name, amen.

Pastor Derek Evans
Until The Whole World Knows Ministry

Deliverance is the children's bread, all are welcomed.

Scripture quotations: King James Version. Main passage and context: 1 Corinthians 11; supporting passage: 1 Corinthians 10:16–17.