Discerning The Lord's Body
There are many aspects of discerning the Lord’s body. I have been given revelation and insight into two.
Conduct at the Lord's supper
(1 Corinthians 11:24-34, NKJV) 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." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Communion is about coming before the Lord and reflecting on what Christ has done for us. It is about examining ourselves and seeing ourselves through the sacrifice of Jesus. I believe when we partake of communion we should first take time to examine ourselves and judge ourselves worthy only through Christ's sacrifice and remember all Jesus has done for us because we did not deserve it. We are called as ambassadors of Christ to be humble. There is a fine line between humility and unworthy. God does not want us to see ourselves as unworthy in the sense that we have no self-worth, but He does want us to know that we are only worthy to partake of the Kingdom through the righteousness that Christ covers us. No works of righteousness that we do can ever make us right before God. Seeing ourselves as worthy only through the righteousness of Christ actually heals our lack of self worth. This is humility and examining ourselves. A good prayer to pray every time we partake of communion is: "Father God in my own righteousness I am not worthy to be a partaker. It is only through the righteousness of Christ that I am deemed worthy to partake of the body and blood of Christ and all it has to offer".
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Matthew 7:2, NKJV). When you judge others you are drinking judgement on yourself. There is a fine line between righteous judgment (which we are called to do), and self-righteous judgment. You can choose to see yourself through the blood of Christ where you are judged righteous, or you can choose to see yourself through the eyes that you yourself judge others.
Discerning Right from Wrong – The Lord's Body as the Living Word
The second aspect I received of discerning the Lord's body is to discern right from wrong. Many of us are misled and entrenched in false doctrine. The word of the Lord is the living bread, the Lord's body. When we are not discerning the Lord's body correctly this is when we believe things from the word of God incorrectly.
When we take communion and are living in this deception of false teachings and beliefs, we are also drinking judgment on ourselves. This does not mean that every believer who has unknowingly embraced a false teaching is under condemnation. God looks at the heart, and His mercy covers those who are sincerely seeking truth. However, persistent refusal to examine and correct false doctrine can open the door to spiritual consequences, which is why discernment is so vital. The Lord showed me that this is the reason why many Christians are not getting healed. While healing is ultimately in God’s hands and not always withheld due to error, Scripture shows that unbelief, unrepented sin, and false beliefs can hinder the flow of spiritual life (James 5:15-16, Mark 6:5-6). Discernment of truth opens the heart more fully to the work of the Spirit.
We need to repent of this and ask God to show us where we believe things in the Word of God to be correct, when in actual fact it is false doctrine.
“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life…”
- Revelation 22:18, NKJV
Prayer of Repentance and Deliverance
“Father God, I repent for not correctly discerning the Lord's body which may have brought judgment upon myself. I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me anything that I believe in the word of God incorrectly and to guide me and lead me into all truth. I repent for all judgments towards others especially when partaking of communion without first examining myself.
I break with the blood of Christ all judgments and curses operating. I command the critical spirit, curses, infirmity, deception and every other demonic spirit associated with not discerning the Lord’s body to leave immediately in Jesus name.”
By Tania Francis