When we come to this Table in the demeanor of faith, we are not just nourishing ourselves. Rather, the entire Body is being nourished and built up to the extent that various parts of the Body are receiving this gift in true evangelical faith. Coming to the Lord’s Table rightly is not a way for you to get your own personal act together, independent of the rest of us. The apostle Paul teaches us that we approach the Table as members, and not as solitary individuals.
When members of the Body do not have genuine faith, however, what they are attempting is quite different. The faithful Christian, in eating and drinking here, is feeding the entire Body. The faithless Christian, in eating and drinking here, is attempting to devour the Body. I say attempting, because we know from the Word that all such attempts are of necessity unsuccessful.
Faithless covenant members are a cancer, attempting to feed themselves at the expense of the entire Body. For them, there are only two options. Either they must be converted into healthy members who feed themselves and the whole Body at the same time, or they must eventually be excised from the Body. Remember that by the last day, all spots, wrinkles and blemishes will be removed from the Bride, who is the Body. This is just another way of saying the Body of Christ has a strong immune system.
How do we fight faithlessness within the Body? We do it by coming here in genuine faith and submission. We eat and drink in order to nourish. If we are not doing this in faith, then we eat and drink to our own condemnation, because we are trying to devour others instead of feeding others. We as a congregation come here now in all confidence because we know that, in the promises of God concerning the Body of Christ, health is much stronger than disease.