When should you not take communion?

But there is another question. When I have not a positive sin on my conscience, I cannot properly excommunicate myself. Hence, the separating myself (as to profession outwardly, of course, I mean) from the unity of the body of Christ, of which the Lord's supper is the sign, is a very serious thing; and we are not justified in doing it except on very positive ground. If I felt there had been serious neglect of God, and He was positively dealing with me seriously about my sin, I should rather stay away, but it is a very serious thing when once one sees that it is the unity of Christ's body; but then one ought to take up the matter very seriously indeed with one's self. In many, the abstaining from communion is much too light a matter. On the other hand, if it be as is the case in some souls, only a distrust of God's love, of which the enemy is taking advantage, abstaining from it would only increase the uncertainty of soul. The word of scripture is not, Let a man examine himself, whether he should eat, but, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat." This is the general rule; not to do it lightly - but, in judging evil, to do it. If the peace I first spoke of is not possessed, we cannot judge rightly, because restoring love is not known. The first great question for you is, Do you know really the love of God in an assured conscience (not merely attracted heart)? If so, I should say, go - but do it seriously, so as not to trifle with any evil - unless some definite dealing of God with you about evil be in hand, then you would do well to refrain till that be settled. I know not whether speaking thus generally (I could only do this, of course) will be of any avail. Look to the Lord; He will guide the meek in judgment, and such as are humble them will He teach His way; and trust His love, only truly judge yourself. If I can be of any further use I shall be happy.

And all God's children, whom the Lord has received, have a right to the Lord's table and gather thus around His blessed Person. The only things which bar from the Lord's table, are evil doctrines and an evil walk. And the Lord's supper may be eaten unworthily. He, who comes to the Lord's table without self-judgment, eats and drinks of it unworthily. We eat and drink unworthily when we partake without discerning the Lord's body and blood represented by the bread and the wine, for we do not then show to God the death of Christ. Let a man examine (judge) himself before eating or else he eats for his own judgment. This is God's way of producing and maintaining holiness in the church. And the Corinthians had experienced that the Lord dealt with a number of them in judgment. Upon many the Lord had laid His hand, many were weak and stricken with disease, while others had fallen asleep. It was mercy, "but when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."

Observe further, that he is to examine himself; not only the sin, but also, and chiefly, the self, the nature, that caused it. And why? Because it is the Supper of the LORD.>}

If he be ignorant, the Holy Ghost can instruct him, and hence his ignorance should be no barrier to his reception; on the contrary, those who commended him should feel a special care for him, helping him on in divine things in the name of the Lord. In fact, I am not aware of anything, but immoral walk, or a tenacious adherence to heretical doctrines, that should exclude any believer from the Lord's table; do you? Then why are you all not at it? If He graciously invite you is it humility to refuse? The contrary is the fact. Let us take care that pride, or selfishness, or a shrinking from the cross, is not the hindrance.

The apostle shows how to avoid this sin of partaking unworthily. He says, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." This does not mean that when I am sitting at the Lord's table I am to look into my own heart, which would be a poor, wretched occupation. I can do that at home. A person ought to examine or prove himself. It means judging himself as to what he has done and what he is capable of doing. We may be so self-satisfied as to forget how liable we are to err, apart from God's grace. Then, in our self-complacency, we may come to the Lord's supper forgetting that during that short while it is possible to dishonour the Lord, to rob ourselves, to be guilty with regard to the body and blood of the Lord. But if, in the privacy of our own chamber at home, we reflect that without the Lord's grace and power and the exercise of His priestly ministry on our behalf in the sanctuary we shall not be able to worship Him as we ought, we shall then be examining or proving ourselves as the apostle enjoins. We thus remind ourselves that in us, that is, in our flesh, dwells no good thing.

"Let a man examine himself", and not stay away, but come and eat of this bread and drink of this cup. There is no excuse permissible according to scripture for a person absenting himself from the Lord's table. Though in himself he is unworthy, he is, unless under assembly discipline, invited to come. If he comes confessing his dependence upon the Lord even that he may remember Him properly in His death, if he is honest enough with himself to get down upon his knees and say, "Oh, Lord, Thou knowest how foolish and ignorant a person I am, and although I have known Thy love so many years and although I have learned much in those years about Thy sufferings and death, I am apt to fail even when eating Thy supper: I dare not trust my own heart, lest when I am present with all Thy saints, I may by my frailty or my folly hinder the working of Thy Spirit. Lord, concentrate my heart upon Thee, shut out everything that is unworthy, enable me to remember Thee as Thou wouldst have it" — do you think the Lord will not take care of one who takes this lowly place before Him?

I doubt its being God's will to deprive a soul of the Lord's Supper because it is in a bad state. The word says, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat." But if I saw a soul in a state as to conscience which sin had produced, and if he did not know where he was, I can, it seems to me, suppose a case in which I might advise a person to keep away until he was clear; but as a general rule, one cannot exclude people provisionally; it is only in peculiar cases that I could give this advice. Pastoral care is the remedy for a soul in a bad state, not temporary exclusion. This care is sometimes rather wanting amongst brethren, and instead of this expedients are used.

Another person's fault should not keep me away: if it rightly acts so on one, it ought to hinder all. Is the Lord then to be as it were forgotten because somebody deserves censure? Let the faulty individual be reproved or otherwise dealt with according to scripture; but my place is to "do this in remembrance of Christ." Again, a sense of my own faultiness should not keep me back. "Let a man examine himself, and so let him, eat" — not stay away. He who abstains from the Lord's Supper virtually says he is none of His.

Be pleased to mark this word of the apostle very carefully, "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." He condemns the way in which the supper was observed. Some persons have misunderstood this text, and have needlessly stayed away from the Lord's supper for years. They say, "I am not worthy to go; it says in the Bible I ought not to go." But they have not read the passage very carefully, because the verse does not speak about unworthy persons eating, but about the unworthy way in which some persons ate.

It is perfectly foreign to Scripture that an unbeliever should partake of the Lord’s supper. It is not sufficient for a man to be a decent living parishioner, and have passed through a course of confirmation. There must be conversion, there must be real faith in the Lord Jesus before a man is privileged rightly to partake of the Lord’s supper.

It is said to true Christians, “He that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Cor. 11:29-30).

It is evident from what has been observed that the first qualification and basis for worship is this: not only that we are really the children of God, but that we should have the consciousness of it. He who may be a real child of God, yet doubts it (and there are many such), cannot worship God practically while he abides in that state. What he needs is to understand the truth more fully; he wants to know even the gospel better. He may be a believer, but far from clear; such an one is not yet free. Supposing he takes his place as a worshipper in that condition, he must join in words that are above, not only his own experience, but even his faith. Consequently such an one is in danger of seeming more or less hypocritical when he is telling the Lord how he delights in Him and His salvation, yet he does not delight; when he is thanking the Lord that he has no doubts, while he has doubts; when he sings as in joy that all his fears are gone, whereas many deep anxieties remain and recur. It is evident that such a condition is not favourable in any way to the general simplicity and truth of the Christian. It is due to the glory of God, according to the Scriptures, that His children and their worship should be direct, transparent, and as true as redemption known in a good conscience can make it; for the worshipper once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. While a man is in a harassed unhappy condition, wisdom would not hurry his coming to the table of the Lord, which is the proper centre of Christian worship. Nor would love call him, till set free, to join in that which is necessarily the expression of peace, of rest in the Lord Jesus, of rejoicing in His grace, of waiting and longing for His return in glory.

If a Jew therefore were to bring an offering to the altar, then remembers that his brother has something against him, he is told not to offer his gift before he has made an honest effort to be reconciled to his brother. On his part, he is to allow no hard feeling to remain if his gift to the Lord is to be acceptable. It is clear that faith must be at work if one is to act on this, faith in fact that works by love.

To apply this to ourselves, we cannot expect to be in a proper condition to worship God if we allow bad feeling to remain between ourselves and others. It has been questioned if this means that if one now comes to remember the Lord in the breaking of bread, and remembers that another has something against him, should he not break bread until the matter is settled? Scripture does not put it this way; but rather "let a man examine (or judge) himself, and so let him eat of that breed, and drink of that cup" (1Cor.11:28).