1 Corinthians 11:27–34
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
A third way Paul instructs us to prepare for the Lord's Supper is self-examination. The verb translated “examine” is the present tense of the imperative, indicating that self-examination should occur regularly. Therefore, we properly prepare for this Supper by examining ourselves for sin and sincerity. The Puritans emphasized the connection between the Passover meal and the Lord’s Supper in part because they saw such helpful instructions for preparation therein.
Sin
Just as the Old Testament worshiper took a candle and made a careful search for any remaining leaven in the house before the Passover meal, even so the Christian coming to the Table should make careful search for sins that he is holding on to and refusing to submit to the Lordship of Christ.
Donald Grey Barnhouse once told the story of a woman (I am unsure if she was real or imagined) who had become aware of a juicy piece of gossip that she could not wait to share before anyone else could. She made several phone calls to no avail when her husband announced that they must leave for church or they would be late. She sat impatiently in the worship service, eager to get home and call someone with the gossip before anyone else had a chance to spread it. As she reached for the bread and wine, she continued to cherish this sin and in so doing he says she ate and drank judgment on herself. The true worshiper at the Table is not one who is sinless, but is one who hates his sin and begs to be strengthened in his battle against it by the grace he is receiving. There is nothing in his life that he refuses to submit to Christ even as he is embraced by the Savior in the Supper.
Sincerity
Likewise, the true worshiper is one who comes recognizing that his sin explains the gore of the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood. He must therefore come with sincerity. That is, he must examine where he has forsaken vows that he has made in the past to his spouse, or at baptism, or as an officer, or as a public official, or simply those made in privacy to God. He must acknowledge where he has broken those vows, renew them, and ask for grace to fulfill them. In other words, he must come with his heart fully exposed, hiding nothing.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that he who eats and drinks carelessly confusing the elements of communion, intended to nourish the soul, with the love feast intended to nourish the body forgets the solemn sacrifice of Christ. That carelessness will be visited with judgment unless he repents (29).
It is recognition of the love of Christ, not fear, that should move one to come clean in the presence of his Savior at the Lord’s Supper. One Puritan reminds of that love in this way:
You will say, then “What is the special object of this special faith?” Truly that which the apostle tells us here—it is special love, in the first place; and it is the special design of the death of Christ, in the next place: “Who loved me, and gave himself for me.” The object you ought to fix upon, in the exercise of this faith of application to your own souls, is the special love of Christ—that Christ had a special love, not only to the church in general, but the truth is, Christ had a special love for you in particular. It will be a very hard thing for you or me to rise up to an act of faith that Christ had a love for us in particular, unless we can answer this question: Why should Christ love you or me in particular? What answer can I give hereto, when I know he does not love all the world? I can give but this answer to it, Even because he would. I know nothing in me, or in any of you, that can deserve his love. Was there ever such a thing heard ever any person go and fix his love on a creature who was all over leprous? Is this the manner of man? Truly, Christ would never have fixed his love upon any of our poor, defiled, leprous souls, but upon this one consideration, I know I can cleanse them, and I will. He loved us.[1]
[1] Owen Discourse XVIII, Works 601. cf. Discourses XXI,XXII in which Owen argues that the intra-Trinitarian love is the source of our love and the spring of all promises of glory, Works 609-615.