Eating and Drinking Unworthily.
By R. F. Cottrell
1 Cor. xi, 27-29. 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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. It is extremely doubtful whether a person can properly partake of the Lord's supper without a deep sense of unworthiness. The text does not refer to the worthiness or unworthiness of the person, but to the manner in which the eating and drinking is performed. The Corinthians had abused the sacred institution, forgotten its solemn significance, and made it a profane feast in which “one was hungry and another was drunken.” They ate and drank “unworthily”—“not discerning the Lord's body.” This is what the apostle reproved. “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” Let him in the love and fear of God approach the table of the Lord, discerning the solemn, and yet joyful, significance of the sacred institution, and he will not eat and drink unworthily—eating and drinking condemnation to himself.