Lord's Supper

[Forrest]

Originally Posted by Amanda S.

Before the Lord's Supper one is to examine his heart for any unconfessed sins. If you take the Lord's Supper unworthily and push aside that sin you will be calling God's judgment upon you and you make the church weak, sickly and sleep among you. The context here is the church. If there are people that are bringing God's judgment down on themselves by keeping their sins unconfessed then it WILL have an effect on the whole church.

I do not wish to redirect this thread but just had to comment on your above quote. The “unworthy” issue specifically regarding the Lord's supper at the church in Corinth is clarified with this verse.

11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

They (the church at Corinth) failed to “discern the Lord’s body” and were therefore observing the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. That was the specific issue. What does it mean to discern the Lord’s body? The Lord Jesus instructed the disciples on what to do. “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” And “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Where in HIS instruction did the Lord Jesus Christ invite, invoke, or encourage the disciples to confess their sin before partaking of the supper?

The point of observing the Lord's supper is remembrance. Remember? As often as we observe the Lord’s Supper let us remember that He died for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day, and is ascended where He sits in final rule and authority. Remember you are cleansed, washed, declared righteous, and reconciled with God through Christ Jesus. The Lord’s Supper is a time of remembrance that causes me to rejoice in and boast in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time of remembrance and overwhelming joy for what Jesus has already accomplished at the cross. If, on the other hand, we fail to discern the body of Christ as the church at Corinth did (eating and drinking) then we are are taking in an unworthy manner.

This truth will require some serious contemplation on your part because like I was, you are probably rooted in the teaching that we must "confess" all of our sin so we can be worthy. What happens if you forget to "confess" one sinful thought, word, or deed? If the truth be known, if our "worthiness" depended on being prayed up and confessed up, we would all be unworthy.

The next time you observe the Lord's supper, rejoice in, praise, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ for what He has accomplished on your behalf. It will humble you and bring delight in your inner man as you remember! It will be worship, celebration, and provoke you to love Him.

[Amanda S.]

Bro. Forrest,

Thank you SO much for speaking to me in that manner....I will certainly look into what you've said.

You've no idea how refreshing it was to see that you disagreed, wanted to share and have me consider your position, yet was kind in doing so.

Thank you Bro. Forrest too for your comments on other threads.

Be blessed!

[Diligent]

Bro. Forrest,

I thought it'd be a good idea to move your post into a new thread. It's quite important. I also want to echo Sister Amanda's comments -- I appreciate it when people approach correction in a calm and rational manner -- especially when it comes to an entrenched "traditional" doctrine like this one.

[Amanda S.]

WoW Bro. Forrest!!!

I have always thought that "unworthily" meant not confessing your sins before you partook and I have been studying a bit on this contemplating what you said and I thought I'd have a look see at what Bro. Reagan had to say and was shocked to read this:

I always hesitate to come between someone and their pastor. So let me just deal with what I see as the main doctrinal issue here. I have known people, actually quite dedicated Christians, who refused to take of the Lord's Supper for years because they felt that they were unworthy and they felt that the warning against eating or drinking unworthily applied to them. My guess is that this scripture may be the source of the problem to which you refer.

Let us look at 1 Corinthians 11:26-32: For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Therefore 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. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Paul here warns against taking of the bread and cup of the Lord's Supper "unworthily" (v.27, 29). Some who have done so are weak and sickly and some even sleep (they have died). God's judgment had fallen heavily upon the saints of Corinth because of this sin. But what actually was the sin? What had they done? They had eaten and drunk of the Lord's Supper "unworthily." But what is this? Before giving an interpretation, we must look at the word itself. The word, unworthily, is an adverb. That means it describes a verb or defines the way an action is done. In this passage, it describes how the Corinthians had taken of the Lord's Supper. But most people read this wrong. They think it describes the character of the person. But it does not describe the condition of the people taking of the supper. That would require an adjective. God did not say that unworthy Corinthians took of the Lord's Supper. He says that they took of the supper unworthily. They did it in the wrong way. The Lord's Supper is a picture of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. No one is worthy to partake of this sacrifice. That is not the point. However, they could take of it unworthily by making a mockery of this solemn event and that is exactly what the Corinthians did.

Look at 1 Corinthians 11:20-22: When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

The Corinthians had made a drunken party out of the Lord's Supper. They brought food for a feast and fought over who got to eat what. Some of them got drunken on the beverages they brought to the "party." This made God angry and He judged a number of them: some with sickness and some with an early grave. Paul is telling them to treat the Lord's Supper with proper respect--to take of it in a worthy manner. The Lord's Supper is designed to be one of the highest forms of spiritual fellowship a body of believers can have on this earth. However, we are not to exclude people because everything is not right in their lives. We are to examine our hearts when we come and give proper honor and respect to the Lord Jesus who offered Himself to us. This way, we experience the true fellowship of the Father and the Son. What a blessed time this can be for a church! We can look to the One who gave Himself to us and praise Him for His unspeakable gift. May we not keep this blessed time from our churches.
Reagan, David

Still looking, reading, studying and waiting for my hubby to come home and discuss this with him...

Very, very interesting! I LOVE learning and figuring out new things!!!! I never thought to read that any differently than what I "knew" it to be.

Thank you Brother and Be Blessed!!

[Biblestudent]

Amanda,
Thanks for posting Bro. Reagan's article.
Your discussion with Bro. Forrest gave me a "new look" at the Lord's Supper.
I'm gonna be looking at this, too.