Catechism Class. Lord’s Day 30 Q81-82

Who May Take Communion?

We’ve been looking at the Lord’s Supper, and learning about the true meaning of the bread and wine that we see spread before us on the communion tables of our churches. There’s one final consideration. We must ask “Who may come to the table, and partake in the Lord’s Supper?”  The catechism steers us on a moderate course, and does so with great warmth and encouragement in two questions and answers, Q81 and Q82. Read 1^st Corinthians 11:17-34.  

1 Who is worthy to come to the Lord’s Supper?

Well of course, we all know that only Christians, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in him alone, are invited by the Lord Himself to His table, but there are conditions, as our catechism will point out in Q81 We are asked, “Who are to come to the table of the Lord?” The answer is “Those who are truly displeased with themselves because of their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and amend their life. But hypocrites and those who do not repent eat and drink judgment upon themselves.” We are all unworthy communicants who could never clean up our lives enough to come into the the presence of Christ. Even as Christians we are sinners, until the day we die, and even our best works, are tainted by sin, because we ARE sinners. It is AS sinners, saved by grace that we come to the Lord’s Table. Q81 teaches us:-

• A Proper Approach to Communion. But there is a requirement to have a correct attitude to our sin. We must not come to the Lord’s Table, proud of our sin, pleased with our sin, enjoying our sin. But we must come mourning over sin, unhappy with the sins that we commit daily, sorrowful and repentant. Our catechist tells us that those who should come around the Lord’s Table are  “Those who are truly displeased with themselves because of their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them. So as we come to the Table, we come in humble acknowledgement and confession of our sin, truly repenting of it.  1 Corinthians 11:26-32  
• An Acknowledgement of Christ’s Righteousness. The reason we are able to come, as repentant sinners to the feast, is not because we are good enough. It is in Christ  alone that we are considered righteous before God. Our sins, are covered by the atoning work of Christ at Calvary. The catechism: …and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ,
• A Longing for Sanctification and Holiness. Repentance at the Lord’s Supper would be pointless if it wasn’t accompanied by a desire for personal reformation. In considering the cross, we are motivated to lay down our own lives for Christ, to take up our cross daily, to crucify those fleshly lusts that cause us to sin, or as the catechist puts it, who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and amend their life. Galatians 2:20  We should leave the communion service more secure in our faith in Christ, and more determined to live for Him.  2 Corinthians 7:1  
• A Warning against Falsehood. There’s no opportunity for pretence at the Lord’s Supper. If you come to the Lord’s Table with an unrepentant heart, with unconfessed sin, you certainly won’t fool the God who searches our hearts and knows us inside out, and who will judge us, and will deal with us accordingly. So the catechist says, But hypocrites and those who do not repent eat and drink judgment upon themselves.  He bases this on Paul’s strict warning in 1^st Corinthians 11:30-31  

So, when the Lord’s Supper is taking place in the church, every Christian is commanded to come, all those who love the Lord and who are trusting in him as Saviour. The issue is HOW we come, for we cannot come without serious self-examination, and if we come any other way, with pride, or with stubborn rebellion, we leave ourselves open to judgement and its consequences.

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2 Who should be excluded from the Lord’s Supper?

READ 1 Corinthians 10:21-22 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

Two other groups of people who may well show up on on Communion Sabbath morning: 

• Visitors? We should not permit confusion in our worship. 1 Corinthians 14:33 We really must leave it to the Lord to judge in some situations, – Best practice might be to have a quiet chat with a visitor, to ask if they intend to take communion and simply ask if they are a believer. If they say they are, then they will hear the exhortation to repentance that every believer must hear before they commune with the Lord and with the believers.  
• People living in open rebellion and sin? In Q82 the Catechist asks, Are those also to be admitted to the Lord’s supper who by their confession and life show that they are unbelieving and ungodly? The answer to that question is, “No, for then the covenant of God would be profaned and his wrath kindled against the whole congregation.  Therefore, according to the command of Christ and his apostles, the Christian church is duty-bound to exclude such persons by the keys of the kingdom of heaven, until they amend their lives.”  This brings us to the subject of church discipline. The puritans spoke of ‘fencing the table’ – making sure that profane or openly sinful people would be prevented from coming to the Lord’s Table. They have no right to be there. Psalm 50:16  READ Isaiah 1:11-17 Paul exhorts Christians to examine themselves before they eat, and so to be led to repentance, – but he warns that if we do not do so, and so come before the Lord, we WILL BE JUDGED, 1 Corinthians 11:31-32  Church discipline at the Lord’s Supper must never be withheld, and must be administered with love for the lost, for eternal souls are at stake. Galatians 6:1 

That’s what the catechist calls the “keys of the kingdom of heaven,” – and we’ll look a little closer at that phrase and what it means in our next lesson.

© Bob McEvoy 2023