| In His Steps |
Chapter 9 |
Page 9 |
The Corinthians to whom St. Paul was writing made it a common feast, with reveling – even with drunkenness. Of course, any one who would observe it in such a way, or any one who would sit at the table without really loving Christ, without believing on him, without truly worshiping him and submitting to him, or who would act irreverently or with levity, would be “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” But in the apostle’s word there is not the slightest allusion to those who feel themselves unworthy, yet who are sincere and true Disciples of Christ. A sense of personal unworthiness is part of all true faith in Christ.
“Not worthy, Lord, to gather up the crumbs
With trembling hand that from thy table fall,
A weary, heavy laden sinner comes
To plead thy promise and obey thy call.”
If the heart be sincere, if the trust in Christ be true though trembling, and the obedience loyal though imperfect, we have the same right to come boldly to the Lord’s Table as to prayer or any other ordinance. We can sin in any act of worship by formality, by insincerity, by levity, by want of heart, and we can sin in the same ways in receiving the Lord’s Supper. In partaking of this sacred memorial feast we need to be sure only that we are truly in living union with Christ, that we are trusting him alone as our Saviour and following him faithfully as our Lord, and that we come to his table with a sincere desire to meet him and to seek blessing from him.
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