what is using communion "unworthily"

Co 11:27 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.
I have recently visited a church where a visiting prophet quoted the above verse and from this verse continued to say that the idea that people who have sinned, who have unresolved issues, who have unrepented unforgiveness against their fellow man, whoever it may be,cannot use communion is utter rubbish. According to this person the only thing required is that the communion must be used "worthily" Please help me in this, for according to my reckoning, all of the above things is being "unworthy" to partake in communion.Thank you. Gloria :-o

Please help me in this, for according to my reckoning, all of the above things is being "unworthy" to partake in communion.

I just want to offer one thought here. It may be important to make the distiction that the verse does not say "unworthy" but rather it says "unworthily". To me this speaks more to the [i]manner[/i] in which communion is observed than to the fitness of the participant. It appears some of the Corinthians were using communion simply to have a sort of party. It may be like the way many Americans will use any old holiday they can think of as an excuse to get together and party (Cinco de Mayo comes to mind). Perhaps not the best analogy but you get the point, communion was not being observed with the proper reverence for the body and blood of Christ.

Perhaps others here can offer additional thoughts.

In Christ,

Ron

I think that the verse is saying:

1) Communion does nothing for the unsaved.

2) Communion is not some formality that pleases God, but our opportunity to remember the breaking of our Lord's body, and the spilling of His blood that saved us in the first place.

1 Corinthians 11:21-24 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. 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.

What does it matter if it was wine or Juice or food, that is not the center of attention. The center is, "do this in remembrance of Me." If it was wine, so what, just don't do it in an unworthy manner, like getting drunk then remembering the Lord and calling it communion. If it was juice so what, just don't eat a sandwich and fill your stomach then call it communion. If it was food same thing don't eat for your stomachs sake and then call it communion in remembrance of Christ.

Wine or juice or food is no matter, doing is the matter, in remembrance of what Christ did on the Cross and what He has done in each believer. That is Christ in you the Hope of Glory. This is communion, the remembrance of Who has been born again in each of us, who are now son's of God by this communion, (Common Union) of Christ and the believer. In Every thought captive remember Him.
2Cr 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

1 Corinthians 11:33-34 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

The Lords supper should be 24-7 always remembering what His Body and Blood has done for us, That is Christ in you the Hope of Glory, the Hope of our Salvation, Crucified with Him raised with Him glorified with Him. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.

In Christ: Phillip

Quote:

"Please help me in this, for according to my reckoning, all of the above things is being "unworthy" to partake in communion.Thank you. Gloria"

According to scripture, none of us are worthy. There is only one that is worthy and that is Christ, and He is born again in us. This only in itself makes us worthy of the Blood and Body of Christ. That: 2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This is our communion, Christ in us the Hope of Glory.

It says as often as you do it do it not
for this reason: 1Co 11:29. Not discerning the Lord's body; not discerning the spiritual character and import of the ceremony; that is, he makes no distinction between the Lord's supper and an ordinary festival.

Do it for this reason: 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 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.

In This context of 1 Cor 11 it was eating and drinking as in a pot luck type setting and eating and drinking unworthily in using it as the Lords Supper for themselves and not in remembrance of Him.

As to all the other reasons for not taking the Lords Supper, what better way to repent of our sins when we remember the Body and Blood of our Lord and what He did to save us and what the cost was.

In Christ is central to this remembrance in taking every thought captive to the obedience of Him.

In Christ: Phillip

In Christ: Phillip

without knowing his exact comments he could be right, That verse has to do with relationship, the relationship of the individual not only to Christ but also toward other believers. Is that what you're asking???

Its kinda hard to see what it is exactly you're looking for here, but it doesn't sound as if that person is to far off base, if i'm understanding what you said he said*** ???You may want to explain further for a clearer understanding as to how you heard that scripture explained and applied and than ask the question clearly.

To understand what Paul means by "unworthy", we have to read chapter 10 & 11 together, because in both he is speaking about the attitude of the heart when having communion with the Lord's body.

A parallel with Israel in the wilderness, when they had Communion with the Lord but died because they did not please God.

So he is talking about idolatry(v.7), immorality(8), tempting the Lord, complaining (not being content), not dressing properly, participating in pagan rituals or practices, not sacrificing for others(v24), divisions, playing favorites, etc...

Al the while he links this to the Communion with the Lord's body: v.3-4 "they ate spiritual food, drank spiritual drink", v.17 "we are one body, for we all partake of that one bread", v.21 "you cannot the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons"

So this context is what Paul calls "unworthy", because we should want Christ in us to change us in to His image, but if we do these kind of thins with no remorse, we are guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

"This is my body which is broken for you; do this (breaking for the others) in remembrance of Me."

May God bless you and us all.

Hi Dohzman, thank you so much for answering. What the prophet said, in so many words, was:" It is utter rubbish to refrian from taking communion when there is unforgiveness or any other sin you are knowingly doing actively in your life."
According to this said person, NOTHING in your natural or spiritual life can prohibit you from taking communion. As I understand this, even if I am a pedofile, or whether I commit murder, God will not frown upon it if I partake in communion. If i read the whole of chapter 11, I am utterly convinced that I bring judgement against myself if I partake in communion with eg. unforgiveness in my heart.
Shalom
Gloria 8-)

What is cheap Grace?

Sorry it took so long for me to get back. I'd have to say that the person you are referring to neither knows his bible nor the Lord God of the bible. 1Cor talks about thoughs who sleep--That's natural death, literally in this body, for thoughs who partake of it unworthily, in other words death, they die physically, they are judged in this body. Ouch! In this church age we have a tendency to have 2 Gods', one God of the Old Testament and one God of the New. Thats just not to accurate. I constantly ask the Lord to weed out bad doctrine in me and ask that He'd help me to hear sound (healthy) doctrine from His Word. As an evangelist I can tell you the trouble with many --pulpiteers who travel from church to church is that they don't minister full time, so they have little time to really study the Word of God and when they get up to speak often they just "wing" it and hope that what they say is anointed, big mistake. We'er all called to study to show ourselves approved unto God....etc.... but especially in penecostal and charismatic movements you'll see more of a leaning on the "let it fly" method preaching, personally I don't like such methods, they may touch the emotions for a time but they never work grace into an individuals life. BTW---unforgiveness isn't the only sin that brings God's corrective rod--I believe the context of that scripture was the relationship of believers within the body, as well as personal sin. The offering of the Red Heifer is to good study, I believe there's a decent thread on SI about that, it can be very relevant to the subject at hand. God Bless