Issue 16 - Day 7

1 Corinthians 11

1 Corinthians 11:26-29
26)  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
27)  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.
28)  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29)  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Sticking to the subject of food again this morning, having sorted the problem of eating food sacrificed to other gods, are you eating the food dedicated to Christ when you should not? The Corinthians had made the taking of communion into a feast similar to the debaucheries that happened at that time in celebration of other gods. They took the feasts they were banned from by Paul’s earlier command, and introduced their own, and in so doing removed the whole point of the meal.

Do you make a practise of examining yourself before coming to take communion? I am not talking of the few minutes we spend in silent prayer at the service, but in the week before. In Old Testament times there was a list of things that would stop you from entering the temple. Everything from disease, to having had slept with your husband or wife last night. You had to have lived your life righteously in preparation, not just on the day. The same is true of the Lord’s table. If there is an argument with a brother then sort it out on Saturday, and come ready to praise God together. If you have sin in your life repent of it on Saturday, or even earlier, then come to God with a clean heart.
His table is not for cleaning us, but a celebration of the cleansing he has already performed. His death cleansed us, and we remember until he returns.