Unworthy

>For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread:

>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 remembrance of me.

>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.

>For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

>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.

>But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

>For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

>But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

During 25 years of pastoring churches, I had a small number (three, I think) of members who refused to take communion.

They said they were unworthy, and they didn’t want to get sick or die anytime soon.

“But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I Jn. 1:9).

That is why I always tried to have a prayer of confession before the bread and wine were served.

One result of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the fact that God accounts (or treats) His people as righteous.

Jesus was talking about the Tribulation Period and Second Coming when He said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).

But all who have truly accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will be accounted (treated) as though they are worthy.

One, concerning the expansion of Israel’s borders at the end of the age: on July 30, 2025, Israel used international mediators to warn Hamas to accept Israel’s current ceasefire offer within a matter of days or Israel will start annexing portions of the Gaza Strip.

(More: On Aug. 1, 2025, it was reported that Israel now believes the prospect of securing the release of hostages through an agreement is out of sight. Thus, Israel is preparing to intensify the campaign to defeat Hamas.)

(More: On Aug. 4, 2025, it was reported that the United States has given Israel the green light to initiate ‘powerful military actions’ in Gaza, and likely to annex or indefinitely occupy parts of the Gaza Strip.)

Two, concerning the hostages and wars and rumors of wars at the end of the age: on July 31, 2025, Israel refused to release captured living terrorists in exchange for the bodies of deceased hostages.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff warned that the war may soon escalate if there is no real progress toward the release of the hostages.

Three, concerning wars and rumors of wars at the end of the age: on July 31, 2025, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Min. Netanyahu to discuss the growing threat from Iran.

Four, concerning deceit and claims that Israel is starving Palestinians to death: on Aug. 1, 2025, U.S. Ambassador Huckaby spent five hours in Gaza assessing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) food distribution system.

Huckaby said Hamas hates the GHF system because the food is going to the people, and Hamas can’t steal and sell it.

A recent editorial in the Jerusalem Post stated there is no denying that Israel should help feed hungry Palestinians, but Israel does not bear sole responsibility for feeding them.

The problem is who controls the food, and do the hungry people get it free from GHF or do they have to pay Hamas for it.

(More: On July 31, 2025, GHF said they have delivered one million meals to the Palestinians in the past two months. If there is hunger, it is because other humanitarian groups – including the UN – are not stepping up.)

(Question: Hamas started a war with Israel when it attacked Israel. Many of the Palestinians have supported Hamas. Why should Israel be required to feed her enemies in a war? Is Russia feeding the Ukrainians? Are the Houthis feeding Israel? It is my understanding that the UN has 1,000 truckloads of food that has been purchased for the Palestinians, but the United Nothing is refusing to deliver it. Why?)

(Update: On Aug. 5, 2025, Axios reported that Pres. Trump plans for the US to take a leading role in Gaza aid efforts. And Israel Channel 12 reported that Trump plans to propose US-led reconstruction of Gaza with significant American funding, on the condition that Hamas is no longer in power.)

Five, concerning the effort by many as 140 nations to recognize a Palestinian State in Sept. 2025: U.S. Sec. of State Rubio recently said:

It is counterproductive and meaningless. None of these nations has the ability to create a Palestinian State. Sustainable statehood must emerge through negotiated agreement rather than unilateral declaration. There can be no Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to it. According to the article:

The Oslo Accords, signed in the 1990s, established the principle that final status issues—including Palestinian statehood—must be resolved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. This framework requires that any Palestinian state emerge as the result of a negotiated settlement rather than through unilateral recognition by third parties. (My opinion: I hope Rubio is right, but I know Israel will eventually be divided, and it goes against the Word of God. I strongly believe that we are witnessing a major step toward the division of Israel and eventually the Battle of Armageddon. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.)

(More: On Aug. 4, 2025, it was reported that more than a dozen House Democrats have signed a letter to Pres. Trump urging him to recognize the existence of a Palestinian state. One Muslim Congressman said he intends to introduce a bill in the House in the next few days for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian State. I don’t think it will pass, but I believe he is daring God to judge America.)

Six, concerning the nations recognizing a Palestinian State in Sept.: the Prophecy News Watch (PNW) Staff said (on Aug. 2, 2025):

>Make no mistake: this is not about peace. It’s about power. It’s about appeasing an ideology that has raised its children to hate Jews and murder Israelis.

>Scripture warns—repeatedly—that dividing the land of Israel is a direct provocation against God’s purposes (Joel 3:2; Zech. 12:3).

>In their rush to impose a “solution,” the nations are sowing the seeds of divine wrath. They believe they are peacemakers, but in reality, they are playing with fire—eternal fire.

>A recognized Palestinian state will not be satisfied with the West Bank. The heart of their campaign has always been Jerusalem—particularly East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Once statehood is secured, international pressure will mount to divide the Holy City. That, according to Zechariah 14, is the line God Himself will not allow the nations to cross without consequences.

>The nations of the earth may gather to vote, legislate, and divide—but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will not be mocked. His promises still stand. And those who seek to divide what He has declared indivisible will find themselves facing something far more fearsome than public opinion: the judgment of the Lord of Hosts.

The entire PNW article can be found at this link: https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=8592

Seven, concerning the nations recognizing a Palestinian State in Sept. 2025: on Aug. 3, 2025, highly renowned author, writer, and Bible Teacher Jonathan Brentner said the result of the July 28-29 UN meeting was a document titled, “New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.”

Brentner said, “In many ways, this conclave and resulting declaration are what we might expect to happen during the period of time leading up to the start of Daniel’s seventieth week.”

The document uses the phrase “peace and security” (peace and safety) five times. The words “peace” or “peaceful” occur twenty-eight times. “Security” (safety) appears twenty-four times. We are living at a time when the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:3are coming to life: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” This is stunning.

The Tribulation Period will begin when they (unbelievers) declare peace and security (peace and safety).

And 140 nations have just approved a document demanding peace and security (peace and safety) that they want the UN to approve in September.

(My opinion: If approved by the UN in Sept., this won’t be the document that begins the Tribulation Period, but it could be the document that is confirmed (strengthened) by the Antichrist. And that would begin the Tribulation Period.)

(FYI: I believe the Antichrist will come out of the EU, and many of the 140 nations that signed the “New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution” are members of the EU.

Eight, concerning the UN wannabe world government: on July 31, 2025, a senior U.S. State Dept. official told Congress the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) exists to provide cover for Hamas. They are completely corrupt and should be disbanded.

Nine, concerning Jerusalem and the Temple Mount: on Aug. 3, 2025 (Tisha B’Av, a Jewish Holy Day that remembers the destruction of the first two Israeli Temples), Israel’s Defense Min. went to the Wailing Wall, prayed, and promised to strengthen Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Israeli Holy sites including the Temple Mount.

(More: On Aug. 3, 2025, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a congressional delegation visited the Wailing Wall in Israel to pray and offer support for Israel.)

Concerning the Temple Mount and a rebuilt Temple: on Aug. 4, 2025, Prophecy News Watch (PNW) reported that:

>Israel’s National Security Min. went up on the Temple Mount, he prostrated himself, openly prayed, and led thousands of Jews in songs and worship.

>Jewish visits have soared in recent years. From fewer than 20,000 visits in 2020 to over 56,000 so far in the current Hebrew year, this movement has grown despite opposition from both religious and political establishments.

>The Temple Mount Institute has accelerated its preparations for a future Temple, holding training for Levite priests, rehearsing burnt offerings, and preparing for this week’s Annual Conference of Temple Research, which will address recent temple updates, including issues related to the Red Heifer. They have also just posted to their Facebook page a bold and provocative logo as a call to action – “It’s Time To Build – Synchronize Your Watches!”

>For Jews, the Temple’s rebuilding is a return to covenant, the revival of ancient worship, and the final step in national restoration. For many Christians, it signals something else: the nearing of the end of the age.

>What once seemed impossible–Jewish worship on the Temple Mount–is now reality. What was once a dream–the return of the Temple–feels nearer than ever. The question is not if something has changed. It is whether we are ready for what comes next.

(Update: On Aug. 6, 2025, the Temple Institute in Jerusalem announced that all the red heifers that were moved from Texas to Israel in Sept. 2022 have now been disqualified. They said the effort to produce an unblemished red heifer will continue full steam ahead, and they believe they will have one when God sees fit.)

Ten, concerning natural disasters: in one week (July 28-Aug. 4, 2025), a large area of southern Taiwan received extremely heavy rains.

(More: On Aug. 5, 2025, Isesaki, Japan recorded a temperature of 107.2°F) at 14:26 LT, setting Japan’s highest temperature on record and marking the second time in one week that the national record was broken.)

(More: Bejing, China usually receives about 6.5 inches of rain on July 26-28. This year, Bejing received 21.4 inches—more than 3 ½ times normal. The flooding and devastation were widespread.)

Eleven, concerning persecution and wickedness: well-known Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern Cal. recently told his congregation that a proposed bill called AB 495 is the most dangerous bill he has ever seen.

The bill would allow any non-related adult, a neighbor, teacher, ex-relative, or even a complete stranger, to take custody of your child without your knowledge or consent. No background check. No court order. No parent’s signature. Just a piece of paper. If this bill passes, I am going to ask you to leave the state of California. You’re gonna need to pack up and get out; you gotta get out. You gotta run with your kids. You gotta go. (My opinion: The bill has to be dangerous for a pastor to tell his church members he intends to ask them to leave the state if it passes.)

FYI: God does not send anyone to Hell (all of us are born with a sin nature and destined to go to Hell because we sin), but God has provided a way (Jesus) for everyone to go to Heaven (and He is the only way to get there; John 14:6).

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

I appreciate the distinction between being worthy and being counted worthy. Paul’s directions listed here concerning reflection and self-examination in connection with the Lord’s Supper pertain to two things: being right with God as a believer and “discerning the body of Christ”.

When partaking of the bread and cup, we must examine ourselves whether there is evidence that we are in Christ. The primary evidence is an awareness that the Holy Spirit lives in us. This is not merely a doctrinal proposition. This test presumes that anyone who has the Holy Spirit will be aware of His presence in us. Further, we must confess all known sin, repent, and endeavor to “go and sin no more”.

Then, we discern the body of Christ in two ways. First, we meditate on the meaning of the Gospel through which it has been revealed to us that Christ came in the flesh and, in the body of His flesh, He sacrificed Himself on the cross to pay for our sins with His blood. His body and blood, spiritually represented by the bread and fruit of the vine, are incorruptible and were given for our salvation. Through faith we are spiritual partakers of His flesh and blood. And so, we are called “members” of His body.

Discerning Christ’s body goes beyond a remembrance of the sacrifice of His body and includes an acknowledgment of our becoming a part of His spiritual body, the Church. This point is underscored before and after the passage cited above.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 NKJV
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 NKJV
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.

1 Corinthians 12:12 NKJV
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

The author above connects being counted worthy with our escape of the terible things that are going to come on the earth, as Christ told us to pray in the Olivet Discourse.

Luke 21:36 NKJV
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Allow me to point out a few things about this instruction. First, Christ tells us our escape is conditional. We are told to watch and pray. Part of the persevering faith that saves us will manifest in conduct that matches our faith. And this includes watching and praying. The passage tells us that there will be those who profess faith in Christ who will stumble in these dark times and will not esacpe. Rather, they will fall away and perish. Further, these same “Christians” who fall into apostasy will become like Judas and betray believers who refuse to bow to the Antichrist and take his mark.

Matthew 24:9-10 NKJV
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Second, the escape Christ describes is God keeping us during this time of great trial. The rapture, according to the same discourse, comes AFTER the Great Tribulation.

Matthew 24:29-31 NKJV
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The popular doctrine of a pre-tribulational rapture is an error and stems from a confusion between the Day of the Lord (which is the Second Coming) and Daniel’s seventieth week or the portion of it that is called the Great Tribulation.

The Day of the Lord/Second Coming will follow the Great Tribulation. And the Great Tribulation will begin at the abomination of desolation, which takes place in the third temple. Therefore, the temple must be rebuilt before the Great Tribulation AND, thus, also the rapture.

I’ve already typed a very long post, so I will not write further in this post on the many reasons this must be true. I will simply make one point from the passage. In addition to praying so that we may be counted worthy to escape all of these things, we are told to “watch”. Both watching and praying are required. It would be impossible to watch for a rapture that has always been “imminent” in the sense of being at any moment.

Christ’s return has always been certain. It has always been the blessed hope (expectation) of every believer. And this means that it could happen in any generation or any individual believer’s lifetime. But only God knows the actual time. The way we watch is NOT by looking up at the sky. It is by watching for the signs. And Christ gives us the signs to watch for.

A third temple being built would be a sign of a sign, or a prelude to a sign, rather than the sign itself. The abomination of desolation (which takes place in the temple) is a specific sign Christ gives to watch for.

Matthew 24:15 & 21 NKJV
Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand)...
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

All believers are kept by the power of God so that the mandatory tribulations we all must suffer do not cause us to fall away into perdition. We are kept from Satan and his embodiment in the last days as the man of sin, the Antichrist. We are kept even if we go through times of great deception, times of war, times of pestilence and natural disasters, times of famine, and times of great tribulation and persecution. Most are kept until we go through the gates of death and until we are raised from the dead. The last generation of believers in the Church will be delivered from the Great Tribulation by it being “cut short” and by the rapture, which will remove us from the earth before the coming wrath is finally poured out on it and its inhabitants.

Exactly. It is God alone who can transform our wicked hearts by the power of the Gospel.

The modern, pernicious error that has become accepted even among evangelical believers is that because we cannot be righteous of our own accord or by our own efforts, holiness is not required by God.

It is something that God requires, but also supplies. And it begins with justification but must also continue with sanctification. The ongoing work of God in the believers’ lives is the evidence of His justification.

I have friends who think it is possible to earn salvation. This is an error. Salvation is a gift. It is too expensive to buy with anything but the precious blood of Jesus. Adding any further payment is an insult to grace.

However, I also have friends who believe there are no moral standards or requirements in terms of outward obedience to obtain salvation. But like all gifts, there are requirements. You must receive them. You must show up to claim your gift. This is why, although Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for all mankind, it is only efficient for the elect. That is, Christ carried out His purpose on earth to save mankind, yet many will still perish forever without Him and forfeit the gift of eternal life He paid for.

In order to receive Christ, who is our eternal life, we must respond to hearing the Gospel with faith. A heart that is properly prepared to receive the Gospel in faith is one that has heard the moral laws of God and responded in humility by repenting.

Nothing that we do to receive Christ and eternal life is a payment or meritorious.

The reason it is important to understand what is required for salvation because there is a very real possibility of self-deception in which we think we already have salvation and eternal life, when we do not. Professing believers often recoil at the idea of self-examination to evaluate whether we are in the faith. But this is actually a command of the Bible to believers. Fortunately, if we discover we have not met the requirements, there is a remedy. The Gospel saves the lost, and it saves the lost who thought they were already saved, and it continues to save us as believers by sustaining our faith through trials and tests.

That’s why Paul continued to preach the Gospel to those who were already believers in Rome.

Right.

Romans 1:16-19 NKJV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Romans 2:1-4 NKJV
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Romans 5:1 & 10 NKJV
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Romans 6:1-2 & 15 NKJV
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?...
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

Romans 8:1 & 9 NKJV
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit...
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

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