“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 judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” [1]
It is a strong word which the apostle gives with these closing words detailing the manner in which we ought to observe the continuing ordinance, the rite we speak of as “The Lord's Supper.” The Apostle has delivered what is undoubtedly a needful word for this day, As was true in that ancient day, so grave distortion concerning the Living God continues even to this day. The Lord GOD is viewed in a strange fashion by many. Have you ever heard God referred to in what can only be considered the crass and crude term, “the little man up there.” This is an error of monstrous proportions.
Such conjecture is an attempt, conscious or otherwise, to remove God from serious consideration. It is an attempt to distance people from divine judgment, freeing them from all thought of divine rule. All such efforts are a blatant attempt to convince ourselves, usually unsuccessfully, that God will wink at sin, or that He will, after all, disregard His Word. Such thinking is folly wide the mark, ignoring as it does the revelation provided us by the unknown author of Hebrews, who has written: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” [HEBREWS 12:28-29].
It is bad enough that such thinking prevails in the world, but that such distortion of Holy God should be tolerated even within a proportion of the professing people of God is unthinkable. Truly, the salt has lost its saltiness, the light has grown dim. The casual manner in which we worship among evangelical churches indicates that such is the case. Too often have we witnessed professing Christians performing rote rituals as though such mindless action was worship.
When we approach God in worship, we must approach with an attitude of reverence and with a determination to be obedient to His will. God is much more impressed with our attitude than He is with our formalities. He gave strict orders concerning acceptable forms of worship to His ancient people, the Israelites. Why could not a Jewish worshiper kill a dog or a hog and call it a sacrifice to God? Surely such animals could be considered valuable, just as they are today. But that was not the command of God! His command was that one must bring a bull, a goat, a lamb, or a dove. Why could not anyone who desired to do so come before the altar of the Lord as He wished? When Korah attempted to come before the Lord without divine consent, he, his family, and all those who associated themselves with him were slain for their effort.
Korah was killed for his arrogance; and his entire family and all associated with him were likewise slain when they persisted in sharing in his arrogance. In every instance provided in the Word, the first criteria for being accepted by God is that the one approaching God be possessed of an attitude of reverence and obedience. Holiness is the first criteria for coming to God to worship, and holiness is intimately associated with an attitude of reverence and respect toward Holy God.
Throughout the whole of the Bible we are reminded that God is vitally concerned with how we do the things we do. He is vitally concerned with the attitude demonstrated by those who would approach Him, especially as they propose to worship. For the individual who knows the will of God and yet chooses to exercise his own will over that of the Lord God, there remains but certain judgment. That is the assured teaching of the passage under consideration this morning.
JUDGEMENT PRONOUNCED — “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” [1 CORINTHIANS 11:27 29] God does judge sin! Never allow yourself to fall into the trap of assuming that because God is a God of mercy, and that He is traditionally presented as such by Christian pulpits, that He shall overlook justice or ignore judgement. He will not! There are at least five judgements of which the Bible speaks, and we would do well to refresh our minds concerning those awesome demonstrations of divine prerogative, and reminding ourselves of the neglected or forgotten character of Holy God.
There is, first of all, the judgment of sin at Calvary. What other conclusion can we draw than that God abhors sin when we read passages such as 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21: “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God?” How awful must sin be to Holy God in light of GALATIANS 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” That God judged sin at the cross is conceded by every confessing Christian and also by a surprising number of outsiders.
We are assured from the Word of the Living God that there is promised a judgment of sinners at the Great White Throne. In the Apocalypse which John wrote, we are told, “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” [REVELATION 20:11-15].
How awesome the scene! Yet it is but the formal application of the words John recorded in his Gospel. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” [JOHN 3:16-18].
What John wrote in that passage anticipates what he added in JOHN 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
From these verses, it is obvious that even now divine judgement is being executed. Those outside of Christ are even now under sentence of eternal death. Indeed, we call all to life in the Beloved Son, and that assuredly includes those who are now condemned, but the urgency of our call grows out of the knowledge that all without Christ are condemned already. The lost have no goodness with which they can mesmerise the Lord and deliver themselves from judgement. They are already judged!
There can be no mistake, God is pledged to judge sinners as they already stand condemned for their refusal to believe God's Son, the source of life. Sin was judged at Calvary, and sinners are now under judgment which shall be formalized at the Great White Throne of Christ. Prior to that judgment of sinners, there awaits God’s people the judgment of living nations at Christ's return.
While in exile on Patmos, John saw this judgment preceding that of sinners before the Great White Throne, and he wrote: “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” Then, inspired by the Spirit to recall what David wrote, John, in an ejaculation of praise wrote, “He will rule them with a rod of iron,” before appending this commentary: “He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” [REVELATION 19:11-16].
This is but the prophetic fulfillment of that which David saw in PSALM 2:7-12, and which John quoted, moved and stirred as he was by that which he saw. These are the words of that Psalm:
“I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
There is also promised judgment of the redeemed of the Lord, and that judgement especially concerns us in this message today. We are confident that there is scheduled a judgment of believers at the Bema. Certainly these Corinthians had heard of that judgment of the redeemed because the apostle had provided thorough instruction focused on the theme of this anticipated judgment of the saints.
In his first letter to this Corinthian congregation, the Apostle Paul had warned them, “If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:12 15].
The act of judgement for believers in the Christ would be emphasised and clarity provided in his second letter to the Corinthians when Paul again cautioned readers, “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:8 10]. Thus, believers may anticipate a full exposure of motives and actions before the assembled saints, a searching by fire, as it were.
Beyond this judgment before the Bema seat immediately following the rapture of the saints, there is now a present judgment of the sin of believers, that act of discipline which assures us of our relationship to the Lord God. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the author of the Letter to Hebrew Christians reminds us that God does discipline His children. We are assured of God’s judgment of sin in His child. Perhaps you will remember these words: “Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.’
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” [HEBREWS 12:5-8].
This is akin to what we read in our text. “If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” [1 CORINTHIANS 11:31-32]. God is indeed a God of judgment, and thus we dare not think that He will ignore our own indiscretions or deliberate ignorance of His will, even as Peter reminds us: “It is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God” [1 PETER 4:17]. Let us therefore give the Word of God due consideration, and let us approach God with reverence and awe, even in the observance of the Lord's Table, the continuing ordinance.
The Spirit of God, through Paul, has provided a pronounced judgment to be executed against the people of God. What are the reasons for this judgment? First, it is executed because of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. To know the significance of what we profess and to yet ignore that significance is to demonstrate a calloused attitude toward the sacrifice provided. Should we not reconsider the impact of the warning provided in Hebrews? “If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” [HEBREWS 10:26 31].
Hear me well! To come to the Table of the Lord without proper regard for the declaration we are making is to sin against the one sacrifice which is offered for sin. Again, that judgment against which the apostle warns is executed against believers and by the Lord because the believers’ arrogance demonstrates contempt for grace. God has freely offered salvation to anyone who will receive it. By asserting faith in the efficacy of the death of Jesus Christ as my substitute and exercising confidence in His resurrection, I may have my sin forgiven, becoming a child of God and sharing in the inheritance of the saints. Should I approach the Table of the Lord with an improper attitude, I demonstrate that I despise His grace, forgetting that which is foundational to salvation as spelled out in EPHESIANS 2:8-9 among other well know passages of Scripture.
Finally, approaching the Lord's Table in an unworthy manner transgresses God's holiness. The holiness of God is violated when a worshipper attempts to approach the Lord’s Table in an unworthy manner. Remember, three great declarations are made through participation in the Meal. We remember the death of God's Son because of our sin, and we thus actively call to mind His love. We declare our present fellowship with God through Jesus Christ and communion with the Church, which is His Body, thereby attesting to our full commitment to that congregation with which we share the meal. We declare our anticipation of His promise to come again to receive His own that He might take them with Him to that home He has prepared for them. To approach the Table with an attitude of any other concept is to transgress the holiness of God.
JUDGEMENT EXECUTED — We may ask, “How does the Lord judge His people? How does God discipline His children?” In order to provide an answer to that question, perhaps it will help if we ask you to think of how you discipline your own children. I should imagine that you ensure that the children understand your rules and that they know the expected behaviour. You will have set clear boundaries and you also will have detailed the punishment that is to be administered should those boundaries be breached. If the rules should be broken, I would hope that you firmly, but lovingly, administer the punishment, lending enforcement to the rules.
When a child is rebellious, the parent is compelled to deal with that rebellion. And make no mistake, bending the rules or breeching the rules parents have established is rebellion. Solomon informs us,
A child’s heart has a tendency to do wrong,
but the rod of discipline removes it far away from him.
[PROVERBS 22:15 ISV]
In the same way, our God deals with our rebellion and our disobedience because we are His children. It is essential that each of us understands that God does not discipline the devil's children. Though you may be tempted to do so, you don't spank the neighbour’s child, and God doesn't discipline the children of this world. Such discipline would no doubt prove futile! That one would have no idea why she was being disciplined. Moreover, divine discipline would accomplish nothing because there would be no reason for the discipline. God gives His child the requirements expected of them; He establishes the limits beyond which the child must not go. When a child of God transgress the limits that the Father has established, He disciplines that child as He thinks best for the child’s welfare and for His Name's sake.
God’s last Word to the churches is, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” [REVELATION 3:19a]. The warning that is given here is but a pointed application of the Word of the Spirit given in Hebrews. In the latter chapters of that book we who follow the Saviour are urged, “Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it” [HEBREWS 12:7 11].
At first it may be a discipline of conscience. If we ignore that we may find that we are experiencing illness or reversal of a fiscal nature or that which we treasure most is touched in some painful way. It is at this point that I want to say that I don't appreciate interference when I am disciplining my children. It should not be surprising to realise that neither does the Lord appreciate interference when He is disciplining His children. Don't become one of those who claim that it is never the will of God for His children to experience illness or trouble. As someone has aptly said, “God whispers in our joy, and shouts in our sorrow.” Grief and sorrow may (and I emphasize may) be discipline.
If we prove to be recalcitrant in our rebellion against the Master, it may even become necessary for the Lord to remove us from this world, according to His own Word. We witness this extreme discipline spoken of when James cautions, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” [JAMES 5:19-20].
James’ warning anticipates what John would write some decades later. The Apostle of Love warned Christians, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that” [1 JOHN 5:16].
What is at play in such judgement is perhaps best understood as the Lord giving His obstreperous child over to the “tender mercies” of the wicked one. You need to remember that Jesus warned that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” [JOHN 10:10a]. The “thief” is the devil, and he wants to kill the child of God. Satan is our enemy, seeking the life of the child of God. God does not restrain his child when that child refuses correction.
There is a terrifying passage early in the Proverbs of Solomon. Listen to what is written, knowing that it is the Lord GOD who speaks to His own in these verses.
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
[PROVERBS 1:22-31]
The Lord surrenders the obstreperous to their own choices, and the result is inevitably disastrous. They receive the sentence of their own choice in themselves.
The way in which this would play out appears to be provided by Paul’s warning earlier in the Letter to the saints in Corinth. Paul writes, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
“For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” [1 CORINTHIANS 5:1 5].
Therefore, when we see the words, “That is why…” [1 CORINTHIANS 11:30], as it is written in our text for this day, it is a warning that judgement will assuredly be exercised if we fail to exercise discernment. We must never imagine that we can approach the Table of the Lord with an attitude that the Meal will somehow secure forgiveness for what we have not confessed to Him. Neither may we dare come before the Table with an attitude that declares something we don’t actually believe, or while attempting to worship though harbouring envy, jealousy, pride, or a sectarian spirit. We must never forget that God is a holy God, though He is a loving Father. It is because He loves us that God calls us to be holy in our actions. Why would any of us think He would not act consistent with His revealed character as He deals with us who are called by His Name? Will God not treat us as His children, holding us to account for what we claim to worship?
For us who follow the Lord, what should be our attitude toward His discipline? When it becomes necessary for God to discipline us (and all believers will experience discipline in some manner because they are being trained in righteousness), what should our attitude be? Earlier we read the tutorial penned by an unnamed writer under the tutelage of the Spirit of God. We read at that time, “We have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it” [HEBREWS 12:9 11].
That instruction delivered by this unknown writer is simply an expansion of the teaching we have been provided by the Apostle Paul in our text. “When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” [1 CORINTHIANS 11:32]. From passages such as these we learn that our attitude should be that divine discipline serves as confirmation that God indeed loves us. The Lord does not delight to punish us; but, rather, He seeks our obedience so that we may glorify Him! Our attitude should be one of gratitude that God cares enough to discipline us. Our attitude should be one of confidence that we will be enabled to go on to greater things now that we have returned to the centre of His will.
JUDGEMENT CAN BE AVOIDED — The Apostle writes, “If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” [1 CORINTHIANS 11:31 32]. It is all well and good for us to speak of the value of discipline, and there is great value in such training; but how are we to avoid needed corrective measures from the Lord. How, indeed, do we live so as to please the Father and thus demonstrate the maturity we long to possess.
We are responsible for ourselves; we must take charge of our own attitude before the Lord. Paul admonishes us to judge ourselves. The word he employs speaks of being discriminating or discerning. We are encouraged to think, discerning our own motives, to discern our attitude, to be discerning with respect to our position before the Lord. What is my attitude toward the Lord? What is my attitude toward these, my brothers and sisters in faith? In a broad sense we can avoid judgment of sin. There is no need for any of us to receive judgment for our sin since Jesus has taken that sin from us, just as is asserted throughout Scripture. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God [2 CORINTHIANS 5:21].
In the Apostle’s Letter to the saints in Rome is found a citation from the Psalmist that comforts God’s holy people. That quotation, as recorded by Paul, encourages us, reminding us of the blessed condition we enjoy when we are forgiven. Paul writes,
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
[ROMANS 4:7-8 quoting PSALM 32:1-2]
We who are forgiven are blessed. We are assured on the authority of God’s Word that our sins, and they are many, will not be counted against us. It is not that we have ceased sinning. Rather, it is that God has forgiven us. Ultimately, all our sins are against the Living God, and He has forgiven us. God has forgiven us because He accepted the sacrifice of His Son as sufficient to pay for the sins we committed against Him. Since our sins were against God, they were infinitely offensive. There is no such thing as a “little sin.” Because sin is against the infinite God, then all sin is infinitely offensive. This means that if my sin is to be forgiven, then a means of setting aside my sin must be discovered, and since my sin is against the infinite God, then it is evident that the means of setting aside my sin must itself be infinite. I require something of an infinite nature to ensure that my sin is put away and I am made acceptable before God Who is holy.
I would not want any who share our worship to experience the Lord’s hand of discipline. I would not want any of those who share in worship to be punished by the Lord God. Yet, I am aware of some who have experienced divine discipline because of presumptuous sin. I know some who have set themselves in opposition to the Lord only to discover that He is holy. God will not permit His child to dishonour Him.
I suspect that each one of us has experienced at one time or another those pangs of conscience as the Spirit of God rebukes us. Some of us have known something of reversal of fortunes and/or loss of prized possessions that we knew were from the Lord because of our own wilful rebellion against the will of the Father. However, I would hope that none of us have put ourselves in the position of challenging God in such a manner that we have been laid on a bed of suffering because we refused to turn from our own presumptuous way. Perhaps we have known of a fellow believer who was called home and it seemed an abrupt homegoing. At such times, we may well have suspected that this was due to a rebellious spirit that would not submit to the Spirit of God. Indeed, we know, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” [HEBREWS 10:31].
It is not necessary that the believer should ever come under divine judgment for present sin if he will judge himself. We who follow the Master need not be disciplined if we will obey our Father. We must learn to rid ourselves of motives and attitudes which are not worthy of the Name of the Lord. Further, we must rid ourselves of those feelings of hostility or bitterness or jealousy or malice, especially those which may be directed toward a brother or a sister, and we must rid ourselves of any feelings of superiority or feigned inferiority, especially as directed toward a brother or a sister. We must ruthlessly judge our motives in coming to the Lord's Table, insuring that there is a commitment of love for and fellowship with the brotherhood of believers, fulfilling the injunction provided by the apostle Peter. You will perhaps recall that the Apostle to the Jews has written, “Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God” [1 PETER 2:17].
We are to judge our own attitude as we come to the Lord’s Table, and a major part of that judgement is to review our attitude toward our fellow saints with whom we share the Meal. It is required of us that we actually treat each one with respect due to those who are in fact members of the same family, the Family of God. Paul has given us strict counsel of how we are to view those with whom we share this Holy Faith. He has written, “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honouring one another” [ROMANS 12:10 CSV].
Our love is not to be that sticky, treacle sweet emotion worldlings imagine to be love. Rather, we are to honour one another highly, as we are taught when the Apostle writes, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” [PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4]. If this is not true at the Lord’s Table, it is true nowhere.
This requirement of holding one another in honour is, as you well know, one of the declarations we make at the Lord’s Table. To be certain, as we partake of the Meal we remember the sacrifice of our Saviour, and we confess our unreserved acceptance of this truth. And we look forward to His return just as He has promised as we thoughtfully partake of the meal. However, what must never be overlooked is our confession that we are sharing our lives as part of the same family. This is the reason we should hold back from partaking of the Meal in an assembly that has no authority to administer discipline to us. We are confessing that we are members of that assembly, and not merely members of the same Faith. To be sure, we are confessing that we hold to a common Faith with those gathered, but we tacitly acknowledge that we are held to account by that particular congregation.
In order to establish this truth, I invite you to recall the instructions Paul delivered to this same Corinthian congregation earlier in his First Missive. You will no doubt remember that a member of the assembly was engaged in an immoral relationship—he was sleeping with his father’s wife. The behaviour was scandalous, even for the pagans. The church had not taken responsibility to hold this member accountable for his sinful behaviour—and his behaviour was indeed sinful! What was worse, the failure of the congregation to hold its own members accountable for their actions had become a reason for ridicule of the church by the pagan society in which the church lived and ministered.
The passage I ask you to recall is 1 CORINTHIANS 5:3-5, 9-13 ISV. That portion of Paul’s letter to this church reads as follows. “Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together (and I am there in spirit), and the power of our Lord Jesus is there, too, turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord…
“I wrote to you in my letter to stop associating with people who are sexually immoral—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, greedy, robbers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you to stop associating with any so-called brother if he is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunk, or a robber. You must even stop eating with someone like that. After all, is it my business to judge outsiders? You are to judge those who are in the community, aren’t you? God will judge outsiders. ‘Expel that wicked man.’”
We who are Christians are responsible to instill a proper attitude toward the Lord. This is especially true as we come to the Lord’s Table. Ask yourself some questions to reveal your attitude. As you come to the Table, do you recognize the body of the Lord? Do you recall His perfect love for you as demonstrated in His death? Do you realize the continuation of His grace demonstrated as He placed you in the Church, which is His Body? Do you refresh your spirit with the hope of His coming? Is there an attitude of reverence toward Him who loved you and gave Himself for you? The answer to each of these questions can be positive if we will take time to review what we are doing and why we are seeking to participate in the Meal.
Clearly, the apostle has said that God will judge those who fail to exercise discernment in their approach to the Lord's Table. The Lord must judge such insouciance because the attitude reveals the heart. Those words, penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are meant to be taken as literal. Coming before Him at His Table, we are challenged to consider what we are doing. Do we believe Him? As we come before Him at His Table, do we give evidence that we believe Him? Would we be willing to permit Him to openly examine us, judging us as He judged those who were known to the Corinthians in that day so long ago? Do we believe Him? Amen, indeed!
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
