The Sacrament

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in ^aremembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this ^abread, and drink this cup, ye do ^bshew the Lord’s ^cdeath till he come.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this ^abread, and drink this cup of the Lord, ^bunworthily, shall ^cbe ^dguilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man ^aexamine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh ^aunworthily, eateth and drinketh ^bdamnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

After a person is baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ, and has recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost, they are eligable to partake what some churches call "The Lord's Supper, or Communion." Latter-day Saints call this sacred ordinance "The Sacrament." Jesus Christ said to do this "In rememberence" of Him. We gain some additional insight about this sacred ordinance from the Apostle Paul who gave us the scripture quoted above.

Paul tells us that partaking of the bread and wine is not a light thing. A Christian should not partake unless they do so worthily. In fact Paul goes so far as to say that if a person partakes unworthily, they are "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."

He also councils that a person should "Examine themselves" before they partake of these sacred emblems. This is strong language.

If you are a Christian who believes in the idea that one cannot fall from grace these verses should give you pause.

Some Christians read these verses and try to twist them to mean that Paul is talking about people who haven't been "saved." But that is not the case. Paul is talking to the members of the Church here.

It's clear that once one has entered the gate through Baptism, they are not done. There is more. They have entered into the straight and narrow way... now they need to press forward keeping the commandments of God.

If a baptised member of Christ's church falters in sin (which WILL be the case) then they will need to repent before they can become "worthy" to eat and drink the emblems of the sacrament again. Once a person has entered the kingdom through Baptism, they then take the Holy Ghost as their guide in the process of sanctification.

God not only wants to save us, but He wants to change us. He wants us to become like Him. After baptism, we continue to have faith in Jesus, repent of our sins, and instead of being re-baptized, we partake of the Sacrament to renew the covenant we have made with God at Baptism. But repentance must come first.

This is what Paul is talking about. In order to be "worthy".. we must be living in a way that keeps us firmly within the bounds of the grace of Jesus Christ. We must keep the commandments and always have an attitude of repentance in order to progress and become more like the Lord.

The Book of Mormon gives us additional insight....

Mosiah 4:11-12

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have ^atasted of his love, and have received a^bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own^cnothingness, and his ^dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ^ehumility, ^fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing^gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the ^alove of God, and always ^bretain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the ^cknowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

We need to be in a position where we have "retained a remission of our sins" in order to be considered worthy to take the sacrament.

The question then comes "How do I know if I'm clean?" The way you can know is based on your ability to feel the Holy Ghost guiding and directing you in your life. The Holy Ghost will not be with you if you are living contrary to the commandments. You will know that you need to "examine" youself, and repent in order to partake of the great feast and renew your covenants with the Lord.

As you conform your life closer and closer to the Lord, with His help (because it is impossible without His help) you will find that there is more and more that needs changing. More and more to overcome. The most important commandment you can keep is the one that you are not keeping right now.

Those who believe in a "once saved always saved" must wonder, "why am I still here on earth if all is done?" The answer is because all is not done. There is changing, growing, loving, and living to do. There is the process of santification, there are furthur covenants to make to seal your family together forever, there is the refining fire to go through.

The sacrament gives us this glorious opportunity to examine oursleves, to repent, to retain a remission of our sins.

None of this is possible without the grace of Jesus Christ. But because of Him, it is possible! You can change! You can make old wrongs right. You can become completely clean. You can become a new creature. You can overcome your desires for sin. You can become Holy.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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