In Living Union
Participating in communion requires self-examination to ensure you are in living union with Christ, displaying love and loyalty to Him and His Church.
G.W. North emphasizes the significance of participating in communion as a testimony of one's living union with Christ. He explains that partaking in the feast is not a means to become a member of the body of Christ, but rather a declaration of one's current relationship with Him. North warns that without self-examination and genuine communion with the Lord, participation can be destructive both to oneself and to the community. He stresses the importance of coming to the table with a heart aligned with Christ, as true communion fosters love and loyalty within the Church. Ultimately, the act of communion should reflect a shared life in Christ among believers.
Text
By the act of eating and drinking the communion, a man is testifying of his own fitness to be a member of the body of Christ, he is saying that he is worthy to do this because he is living in present communion with Christ. He does not come to the feast to be made a member of Christ thereby, neither does he come in order to have himself restored to Life in Christ and communion with his fellow-members; he comes to testify that he is in living union with Christ. Thereby he is helping to build up the body of Christ, in communion or common-union with all the saints.
Otherwise participation is in vain; worse still, continued eating and drinking is destructive to self and obstructive to others.
It is because of the seriousness of this dreadful possibility that Paul says, 'let a man examine himself'. When a man eats and drinks, he must do so from the position of self-examination and self-judgement. He must judge whether or not he is in The Communion, and has been living in communion with the Lord. If this has not been so, he must rectify that state or else he may not eat and drink. If he is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, he is living as Christ in this world; if not he has no part in the feast.
Eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ is permitted to those who, in a common union of life, display their love and loyalty to Him and His Church.
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of Self-Examination
- The Consequences of Unexamined Communion
- The Necessity of Living Union
- Eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ
- Permitted only to those in common union with Christ
- Displaying love and loyalty to Him and His Church
Key Quotes
“He does not come to the feast to be made a member of Christ thereby, neither does he come in order to have himself restored to Life in Christ and communion with his fellow-members; he comes to testify that he is in living union with Christ.” — G.W. North
“Eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ is permitted to those who, in a common union of life, display their love and loyalty to Him and His Church.” — G.W. North
Application Points
- Regularly examine yourself to ensure you are in living union with Christ.
- Display your love and loyalty to Christ and His Church through your actions and decisions.
- Participate in communion only when you are certain you are worthy and in a state of living union with Christ.