A Casual Observance With Obvious Consequences Series

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.” [2]

Fewer and fewer people today believe the Word of God. I realise that a statement such as this is confrontational, but nowhere is this observation more evident than in our approach to the Lord's Table. I am not a judge, but I am able to observe the reaction of those coming to the Lord’s Table; and I have been observing for many decades. I am not an ecclesiastical policeman, but I do witness what transpires within the churches; and I have been present in multiple churches when the ordinance was observed. As an overseer of the Lord’s flock, I am obligated to warn all who hear me speak week-by-week. During the worship services I address the great issues of the Word of God, and during the Communion services I caution all that we must take care to avoid sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

Merely because centuries separate us from the supernatural judgement of those who shared in Korah's rebellion, or from the death of Ananias and Sapphira when they attempted to lie to God, we must never think that we may ignore God's warnings in this day. We are cautioned that we are responsible to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.” And the reason for this responsibility is that “our God is a consuming fire” [HEBREWS 12:28b-29]. We are also warned against presuming against the Lord as we approach His Table. Though I issue this grave note of caution with regularity as we meet to observe this continuing ordinance, it is mandatory that we emphasise the cautionary note as we consider the text assigned this day.

No church in the apostolic era was more gifted than was the Corinthian church; no church in that same era was more self centred than was the Corinthian church. Their failure to focus on the Lord of the church exposed an exclusivist attitude. They excluded other Christians within the same local fellowship and demonstrated arrogance toward believers outside the immediate congregation. This attitude, unchecked and unjudged, caused them to presume against the Lord Himself. Nowhere was their presumption more evident than in the observance of the continuing ordinance. For them, the rite served as yet another opportunity to promote personal ambition. No longer was Communion a time of worship, it was merely another opportunity to promote self while humiliating others. In short, they had a casual attitude toward the ordinance of the Lord.

PRINCIPLES FOR THE LORD’S SUPPER — In CHAPTERS TEN and ELEVEN of Paul's first letter to the Church of God in Corinth, several terms are used when referring to this continuing ordinance. The Apostle speaks of “the cup of blessing” [10:16], of “the cup of the Lord” [10:21a and 11:27], of “the Table of the Lord” [10:21b], and of “the Lord’s Supper” [11:20]. In the references to the ordinance, The words Paul used emphasises the Lord's ownership of the act. The rite is “the cup of the Lord,” “the Lord's Table,” “the Lord's Supper.” The use of the possessive should give pause to any who may rush to participate in the observance. If it is the Lord’s Table, and if it is His cup, then He has the right to invite whom He wills to share in that meal.

I have a universally recognised right to invite whom I wish to share a meal with me. Likewise, I can restrict those uninvited from participating in sharing the hospitality of my table. Therefore, it should be no great surprise that the Table of the Lord should have similar conditions for participation and restrictions against any who might presume upon the Lord’s Table. The first principle to be applied to the Communion Meal, often forgotten or ignored in this day, is that IT IS CHRIST'S RIGHT TO INVITE WHOM HE WILLS TO THE TABLE.

That assertion raises the legitimate question: WHO IS INVITED TO THE LORD'S TABLE? Clearly, from the context of what is written in the Word of God, non Christians are not invited to share in this commemorative meal. Outsiders have never received Christ as Master over life, which is why they are identified as outsiders. They have placed themselves outside the precincts of grace because they have never brought themselves under the rule of Christ the Master. I must wonder why one who is unsaved, one who is outside of the precincts of grace, would want to partake of the Communion Meal. Since such individuals have not submitted to Christ as Master of life, how can they remember His sacrifice since they have not acknowledged that His sacrifice was for them? Unbelievers and the willingly self deluded have no invitation to the Lord's Table. They neither accept His sacrifice for themselves nor participate in the new covenant in His blood; therefore, they have no share in the Table which is spread to remember those very things.