I'm in unconfessed sin....

[strictestsect]

and it's the Lord's supper, can I partake? If I do partake, will I eat in an 'unworthy manner' as the Corinthians did?

 

[turmeric]

Unconfessed to whom? It seems like the Lord's Supper is a good time to confess your sin to God and express faith in His forgiveness by partaking. If you need to straighten it out with someone else, I think you should do that before you partake. in my opinion.

 

[strictestsect]

Unconfessed to God.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

The simple answer to the question of sin and the supper, is that if a man harbors sin in his heart, that is known sin, if he will not repent as best he knows how--resolved to hate and forsake that sin because it is displeasing to God--he is definitely partaking unworthily. "Let a man examine himself" so that what? So he will recognize his sin and repent of it. If he won't, he's choosing sin over fellowship with God, and communion of the supper's benefits. And by partaking, the same action that ought to nourish him instead acts like a toxin--and it judges him. "And some of you have fallen asleep." That's judgment!

Sin changes the covenantal effect of God's promised activity in connection with the supper from blessing to cursing.

 

[Scott Bushey]

Originally posted by strictestsect
Unconfessed to God.

Why is it unconfessed?

 

[pastorway]

forget the Supper and confess your sin!

If you partake of the Supper with unconfessed sin then you are only compounding your sin and mocking Christ, who DIED because of your sin.

Phillip

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

God knows everything. But I'm sure you knew that already.

He knows your unconfessed sin.

Actually, He knew it was going to happen before you fell into it.

And if you want to get real technical about it, He ordained it woudl happen that way, without sinning Himself, and with full justification to punish you or chastise you as the dilemma sees fit in His sovereign plan.

So you are not going to surprise Him by laying the sin out before Him.

That's not what confession is about.

What you need, as we all need in various areas of our lives, is to repent. Repentance is:

sight of sin
sorrow for sin
confession of sin
shame for sin
hatred of sin
turning from sin

Don't just jump to confession and think you've paid the dues to the Big man upstairs with the judgmental baseball bat. Instead, through confessing it in humility, ask Him to give you the power to overcome whatever you have fallen into.

Isaiah 66:2, "But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."

If that's a problem, then there is a bigger issue than just this smoke screen of "unconfessed sin".

Hopefully you don't love your sin more than you love Christ.

 

[turmeric]

Not sure, but that could just be the problem. knowing something is sin is not the same as hating it and being willing to turn from it. I have that problem sometimes. I just go ahead & confess that as well.

 

[strictestsect]

I used to ask for forgiveness just before I reached for the bread and cup thinking I would be "˜right´ before God before I actually partook. Then I heard that your sin should not keep you from the table. Where is the biblical explanation to approach the table even though I have not dealt with known sin? Does the Corinthian (ch.11) text apply here?

 

[Robin]

Here is what the URCNA liturgy says about it:

Preparation for Communion:

For all who live in rebellion against God and unbelief, this holy food and drink will bring you only further condemnation. If you do not yet confess Jesus Christ and seek to live under his gracious reign, we ask you to abstain. Nevertheless, for those of you who have confessed your sins and affirmed your faith in Christ, the promise is sure: "Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life and will not come into condemnation." For on the night in which our Lord was betrayed, he took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "Take eat; this is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me." After the same manner also he took the cup, saying, "this cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

You are invited to this sacred meal not because you are worthy in yourself, but because you are clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness. Do not allow the weakness of your faith or your failures in the Christian life to keep you from this table. For it is given to us because of our weakness and because of our failures, in order to increase our faith by feeding us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As the Word has promised us God's favor, so also our Heavenly Father has added this confirmation of his unchangeable promise. So come, believing sinners, for the table is ready. "Taste and see that the Lord is good."




Robin

 

[Larry Hughes]

Preparation for Communion:

For all who live in rebellion against God and unbelief, this holy food and drink will bring you only further condemnation. If you do not yet confess Jesus Christ and seek to live under his gracious reign, we ask you to abstain. Nevertheless, for those of you who have confessed your sins and affirmed your faith in Christ, the promise is sure: "Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life and will not come into condemnation." For on the night in which our Lord was betrayed, he took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "Take eat; this is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me." After the same manner also he took the cup, saying, "this cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

You are invited to this sacred meal not because you are worthy in yourself, but because you are clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness. Do not allow the weakness of your faith or your failures in the Christian life to keep you from this table. For it is given to us because of our weakness and because of our failures, in order to increase our faith by feeding us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As the Word has promised us God's favor, so also our Heavenly Father has added this confirmation of his unchangeable promise. So come, believing sinners, for the table is ready. "Taste and see that the Lord is good."

Robin,

That is very helpful. I ran into this in the PCA church we are joining back when I first visited them - very refreshing to the soul. Unfortunately, some have made the Lord´s Table not a table for a simultaneously sinner and justified saint, but a "œperfected" Pharisee. Effectually, neutralizing the Lord"˜s Table altogether as a Gospel for the struggling Christian. I´d never had the Lord´s Table present forth the Gospel so powerfully before than I did that day. I gently cried and felt so forgiven and refreshed words fail. It is telling that Peter himself took the Lord´s Table, then betrayed Christ (failed) not long afterward. Not that that is a good thing at all, but it shows forth the grace and mercy coming back to Christ when we fail (WHEN we fail, not IF).

In Christ Alone,

Larry H.

 

[Robin]

Amen, Larry.

R.

 

[LarryCook]

Originally posted by strictestsect
I used to ask for forgiveness just before I reached for the bread and cup thinking I would be "˜right´ before God before I actually partook. Then I heard that your sin should not keep you from the table. Where is the biblical explanation to approach the table even though I have not dealt with known sin? Does the Corinthian (ch.11) text apply here?

Excerpted from C. H. S.' sermon entitled "To Those Who Feel Unfit For Communion":

"œFor there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the Passover lambs for everyone that was not clean to sanctify them unto the Lord. For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying "œThe good Lord pardon everyone that prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the Lord listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people."
2 Chronicles 30:17-20.

.......Yet, nevertheless, since I fear that there may be a certain number here tonight of the Lord´s own people who are in the condition of the multitude in Hezekiah´s day out of Manasseh and Zebulun"”who have not sufficiently cleansed themselves after the manner of the purification of the sanctuary"”I am anxious to show them how they may, even now, come to the Divine ordinance and realize profit from it through the abundance of Divine Grace. God helping them, from this moment they may commence the necessary preparedness of heart and may speedily attain to it. So long as they do sincerely wish to meet with God and to enjoy fellowship with Him in His ordinance, there is no reason why they should retire from the assembly of the saints.

They may begin, even now, I say, to make ready for this festival and by Divine Grace they may so partake of this Supper as to find in it all that their hearts desire. Our Lord is able, by His Spirit, to wash away their present defilement and quicken them in mind and soul so that they may both draw near to God with true heart and discern the Lord´s body with clear understanding. Such is the power of Divine Grace, that in a few moments the Lord can take away all iniquity and receive us graciously! Our Great High Priest, in the sacred authority of His Divine office, can confer perfect cleansing and give us full right to sit with the family and partake of the Lamb and to rest beneath the roof, whose door has been marked for safety by the sprinkled blood.

I. So I will begin by saying, first, that as in the case before us in the text, so at this very time, THERE ARE SEASONS WHEN WE FEEL UNFIT FOR THE SACRED ORDINANCE OF THE LORD´S TABLE. It may be that at this hour there are many in the congregation who are not sanctified for the feast and are not cleansed according to the
due order. I speak not of you all"”there are choice spirits in this place who "œwalk in the light, as God is in the light," and have fellowship with God perpetually"”so that the blood of Jesus cleanses them from all sin.

Why should we not all seek this acceptable preparedness so that we may never be unfit for the most hallowed of all engagements? Ought we ever to be unfit for our Lord´s Table? Those two disciples who walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus talking together by the way"”what a mercy it was that when their Lord asked them the manner of their conversation they could give this for their short answer"”"œConcerning Jesus of Nazareth"! Could you answer in such commendable style when you talk together?

Consider, my Brothers and Sisters, and answer to your consciences. It is well to be in such a condition that in our common talk we are still keeping near to Jesus of Nazareth. The transition from our private dialogue to our Lord´s actual company and even to His being made known unto us in the breaking of bread should be just like the gliding of a
stream from one part of its channel to another as it hastens its constant flow towards the boundless sea. I fear that many of us have to complain of ourselves at times that we feel unfit for any holy thing"”but most of all for the solemn engagements of this hallowed ordinance.

Let us think of the ways in which the Israelites were rendered unfit for the Passover and see how far they tally with our unfitness for the Supper. Some were kept away by defilement. Read in Numbers, 9th chapter, 6th verse"”"œAnd there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the Passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day." For these men it was provided that they should keep the Passover a month later, but they were to keep it without fail. Read the 9th and 10th verses"”"œAnd the Lord spoke unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto the Lord."

I am afraid that you and I touch a great many dead bodies and are often defiled. You cannot go out to your business tomorrow morning but you will meet with that spiritual death which loads with corruption the air of "œthis present evil world." The dead in sin lie all around us"”contact with their ways and motives, unless we are continually cleansed by Divine Grace"”is defiling in many ways. Worse, still, we cannot even stay at home without finding sin in our own dwellings. Yes, the mass of sin within your own selves, "œthe body of this death," as Paul calls it, is a constant source of defilement.

Some quickness of temper, or levity of language, or excess of care, or thought of pride, or desire of covetousness will occur. Oh, that we were delivered from the liability! These dead and corrupt things lie not only in a corner but on the table, in the bed and everywhere"”and when we touch them we are defiled. Whatever kind of sin it may be, whether of act, or of word, or of thought, or of imagination, or desire, it defiles more than most men imagine. Oh, that those who prate about perfection knew their own uncleanness! It were for their humbling, if they knew the sadly all-pervading influence of evil. How shall we pass through this huge morgue of a world, so full of everything that is corrupt, without coming daily defiled? There are sins even in our holy things! Who shall deliver us?

A sense of defilement sadly tends to hinder fellowship. I know that if you are laboring, tonight, under a sense of sin you do not feel the joyful liberty you would desire in coming to the hallowed Table of your Divine Lord. You long to have that sense of defilement sweetly removed by the application of the precious blood which cleanses from all sin. Thank God, that sacred purification is always available! You can at once wash and be clean and know yourself to be "œaccepted in the Beloved." Thus may you eat the Passover even "œas it is written." But in any case, even if burdened with sin, the Lord does not forbid you to remember the death of His dear Son. Like the men of Ephraim you shall find pardon.

Perhaps, however, you are not conscious of having fallen into any known sin, but you feel like one who is not at home with God"”even at some measure of a distance from Him. You are out of your usual walk and rest. That calm and holy frame"”that perfect peace which once you enjoyed from hour to hour has gone from you. Thus you have about you, spiritually, the second disqualification for the Passover. When a man was on a journey afar off he could not keep the Passover. The Passover was a household institution. It required a house wherein the lamb could be slain and prepared for
eating and a door where the lintel and two side posts could be sprinkled with blood so that, when a man was moving rapidly from place to place and had no house where to sojourn, he could not observe the holy festival.

Even thus, when you and I are out of our usual abode in Christ Jesus and are wandering in anxiety, care and doubt, we do not feel able to commune with our Lord as our hearts would desire. Brethren, do we not sometimes flit to and fro, like Noah´s dove, finding no rest? How hard, then, is it to get into the full teaching of this holy Supper! It is well to sing, "œReturn unto your rest, O my Soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." But till the prayer is answered the ordinance is not enjoyed. The heart´s blood of the Eucharist is nearness to God"”and when we are afar off it is a poor, dead ceremony. Its crown and joy is rest"”and if we are tossed to and fro like the locust and are like a rolling thing
before the whirlwind"”what use can we make of the mere form of the feast?

Then are we very sadly disqualified for the sweets of communion and feel disposed to go home and leave the holy feast to others. Yet such going home would be painful, and might even be injurious. O Lord, what shall Your servants do? We feel like men on a battlefield and this ordinance is as green pastures where the sheep feed and lie down while the Shepherd comes among them, manifesting Himself to them. Gracious Lord, quiet the inward warfare and make us to lie down, as says the Psalmist, "œHe makes me to lie down," for if You do not thus give us rest, we shall trample down even these holy
pastures and grieve Your Spirit!

Beloved Friends, some of you have come here tonight weary with the greatness of the way. You have been on a journey all this week and you came to a halt on Saturday night afar off from that spirit of devotion which you should cultivate. Life of late has been full of troubles and perplexities. I pray the Lord to give you sweet rest at this moment and
bring you near to Himself. "œCast your care on Him; for He cares for you." Lay your burdens down at the foot of the great Burden-Bearer´s Cross. Be quiet even as a weaned child. At the same time, cry unto the Well-Beloved, "œDraw me, we will run after You" and, before you are aware, your soul shall make you "œlike the chariots of Amminadab." If you cannot come to the Beloved, He can come to you, "œleaping over the mountains, skipping upon the hills" and all your distance and disquiet will cease at once"”so shall you keep the feast.

It may so happen that up to this moment you have been in an evil case from unknown causes. You cannot say how or why, but certainly it is not with you as in days past. Marring influences not mentioned in the Book of Numbers and possibly not mentionable at all"”but none the less real for all that"”may have been keeping you from eating the
spiritual Passover to your heart´s content and may now tend to keep you from a truly happy approach to the Lord´s Table in spirit and in truth. Whatever the cause may be I want you to confess it frankly, just as those men in Numbers confessed to Moses that they had touched a dead body. So far as you know the cause of defilement and division, admit it.

Look at the mischief as best you can and mourn over it as far as it is sinful. Then carefully put it away from you, so far as it is a matter of care or distrust, and labor earnestly at this moment to prepare your heart to seek the Lord your God"”even though you cannot quite feel that you are cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary"”I mean even though you do not feel in the best possible frame of mind for holy fellowship. Some supposed disqualifications may be removed by an act of faith or by a fuller knowledge. Do you fear to come because you have such little faith? May not the little children have their supper as well as the grown sons? Are not these precisely
the members of the family who most need to be fed and comforted? The utter absence of faith could shut you out, but not the feebleness of it.

Come, you little one! To you I say, "œCome in, you blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside?" Do you hesitate because your joy is not now overflowing? Is this a sufficient reason for refusing to obey the command, "œThis do in remembrance of Me"? Were the 12 full of joy at the founding of this feast? Had they no questions, saying, "œLord, is it I?"
May not the feast, itself, furnish the joy? Is not the Lord of the feast your exceeding joy? If you cannot bring joy with you, come that you may find it here! Do you say, I am spiritually weak in all points? Again I ask, is that a reason why you should not feed on the best of food? It seems to me that it is a chief reason why you should feed often and heartily!

"œEat you that which is good" is a safe prescription for you and a generous invitation from your Lord. Greatly you need it"”freely take it! The supply of heavenly bread is intended for those who are faint. "œHe has filled the hungry with good things." He will fill you! Do you complain that you feel so useless? This is a deplorable fact"”but what has it to do with the matter in hand? Are you to come to your Lord´s Table because you are useful to Him? No, but that the Lord Jesus may be useful to you! Surely this is not a wage, but a provision of free Grace. You do not bring the feast"”your part is to receive it. So you can only become useful to Christ as Christ is abundantly useful to you! You cannot help to feed the multitude till your Lord first puts the bread into your hands. Come, now, and take what He has blessed.

I know that for many reasons the choicest saints at times deem themselves disqualified for this holy banquet and I have sometimes thought that that is not altogether an ill feeling. At any rate, it is a symptom of many healthy things. If I felt myself worthy in any sense except the Scriptural one, I should infer from my self-satisfaction that I was unworthy. This Table is no place for Pharisees. Where the Savior presides there may come none but sinners saved by His Grace. If you have merits of your own which you can boast and no sin to confess, you are not the man for whose salvation the Substitute has shed His precious blood! How could He atone for those who have no fault?

But if you are a sinner, you are the sort of person whom Jesus came to save. Jesus is the sinner´s Friend. He will be yours if you go to Him in that capacity. How can we commemorate the shedding of His blood unless we daily feel that we have solemn need to be washed by it? How can we remember Him except as we see how we derive all from Him? Jesus is never seen to be a full Christ except by those who feel their own emptiness apart from Him. He is never prized at a true value by those who have a high esteem of themselves. A broken heart knows best His power to comfort. A bleeding heart sees best His power to heal. If you are sensible of your unworthiness you are not unworthy in the Scriptural sense, but may freely come.

For my own part, I enjoy my holiest seasons when my heart lies low before the Lord. No communion is more intensely sweet than that which washes His feet with tears and covers them with kisses of penitential love. When I have been most ashamed of myself, my Lord has been most glorious in my eyes. When I have, in shame, covered my face, He
has, in love, uncovered His own Countenance. Come, then, you weeping saints, for I know that you seek Jesus"”and you are such as He welcomes to His table! Bring your disqualifications and turn them into confessions of sin! And these, by increasing your hunger"”will enable you the better to enjoy the provisions of that sacred Table where Jesus is both the Host and the Food"”the bread and the wine and yet the Master of the feast.

Thus much upon those hindrances and disqualifications. It is not a cheering theme.

 

[nonconformist]

Originally posted by webmaster
God knows everything. But I'm sure you knew that already.

He knows your unconfessed sin.

Actually, He knew it was going to happen before you fell into it.

And if you want to get real technical about it, He ordained it would happen that way, without sinning Himself, and with full justification to punish you or chastise you as the dilemma sees fit in His sovereign plan.

So you are not going to surprise Him by laying the sin out before Him.

That's not what confession is about.

What you need, as we all need in various areas of our lives, is to repent. Repentance is:

sight of sin
sorrow for sin
confession of sin
shame for sin
hatred of sin
turning from sin

Don't just jump to confession and think you've paid the dues to the Big man upstairs with the judgmental baseball bat. Instead, through confessing it in humility, ask Him to give you the power to overcome whatever you have fallen into.

Isaiah 66:2, "But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."

If that's a problem, then there is a bigger issue than just this smoke screen of "unconfessed sin".

Hopefully you don't love your sin more than you love Christ.

That is an AWSOME answer