Thank you so much, my dear friend, for your very excellent and important questions!  Well, let me first clarify that the Lord’s Supper is only for true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not for unbelievers. This remembrance is very unique and special to Christians as it is a perpetual reminder, until Christ returns, of what our Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross for us in ransoming our souls from death and giving us life. But now, as to the Corinthian Christians, I believe that we see their fault in not taking the Lord’s Supper seriously, such that when they gathered to remember Him, they were acting like those of the world rather than like true Christians.  The Corinthians were believers, but they appear to have been in a very carnal state as you can see from the Apostle Paul’s rebukes to them in earlier verses of this chapter. I understand that these early Christians often preceded the Lord’s Supper with a Love Feast, the idea of which was to share a common meal together. The Corinthians, however, apparently had cliques, and those who were of higher earthly status or who possessed much would associate only with certain others in the assembly, and they would not share with others who had little. Since they seemed to cater only to their “favorites”, this was a practical denial of the fact that all true Christians are “one body” in Christ Jesus! Furthermore, those who possessed much seemed to be focused mostly on their personal enjoyment of the social event, and as well their food and drink, and some actually became drunk, while others went hungry and were ignored totally. Then, following the Love Feast, which doesn’t appear to have been very loving, they’d apparently move on to the Lord’s Supper, some being intoxicated, and others focusing on their own concerns rather than on their Lord Jesus, whom they were to be remembering.   They were clearly not judging sins in their own lives, but plowing ahead with the Lord’s Supper in the same careless and disrespectful manner in which they carried on during the love feast. We see the problem spelled out in verses 20-22 of chapter 11,”When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not”. Thus, I believe that the issue with the Corinthian believers had more to do with their lack of respect for the solemnity of this meeting, and their disrespectful attitudes towards the sacrifice at Calvary of our Lord Jesus, whereby He gave Himself for us. As Christians, we must always have before us that we owe our salvation and our all to Christ Jesus, God’s only begotten Son who was made a sin offering for us, we who were poor, lost sinners without any hope (II Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:6-11). In 1 Corinthians 11:17-23, the shockingly carnal behavior of the Corinthian Christians was most unworthy of the Lord Jesus, displaying behaviors that were simply appalling for believers, showing that they were taking very lightly the amazing Grace of our Lord Jesus in His sacrificial death for us on the cross. Again, they were partaking of this solemn  remembrance in a most unworthy manner, and thus bringing judgment upon themselves (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

So, how do we remember the Lord in a worthy manner? In the chapter you refer to, Paul clearly brings out the purpose of the Lord’s Supper, “this do in remembrance of Me.”  At the Lord’s Supper, Christians are to meditate on the Lord Jesus in all of His perfection and holiness, and as well, all that He has done for us through His death on the cross. The object of this meeting is Christ Jesus, the Son of God, Emmanuel (God with us), who loved us and gave Himself for us. Thus, when we come together for this meeting, our spirits should be reverent and sober knowing that He Himself is in our midst (Matthew 18:20). We want to focus on who Christ truly is-the Holy One of God who Himself bore our sins (consider Luke 1:35; 2:51,52; 3:22; Acts 3:14; Rev. 4). When we look at the bread, we think, “The Lord Jesus gave Himself for me.”  The cup speaks to us of the precious blood and what it cost our Lord to purchase our pardon. This would be worshipping the Lord in a worthy manner.

As to how we are to examine ourselves prior to remembering the Lord, we examine or judge our hearts as to any sins that are unconfessed in our lives or wrongs we have done to others. The Remembrance Meeting is not the time to consider our own unworthiness for we are all unworthy of His Grace and mercy, but He loved us and gave Himself for us despite our lost condition, so we come to the meeting in a spirit of praise, having confessed our sins and being undistracted by any worldly thoughts or concerns. Verse 11:28 says, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup”. Then in the meeting, we have our hearts appropriately prepared to go ahead and partake of the bread and the wine, and as well, we’re ready for the Spirit of God to lead us in praising God for His amazing Grace towards us. The Corinthian Christians erred by not valuing the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, causing Paull to rebuke them, and this is why we read in 1 Corinthians 11:30, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”. Since some in Corinth participated in the Lord’s Supper in a carnal and an unworthy manner, there were many who were sick, and some even died. But, my dear friend, if we are true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, this judgment for carnality will not apply so long as we examine our hearts and behavior, confess our sins, and come to the meeting in a humble and sober spirit, truly valuing  the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on our behalf.

In Hymns for the Little Flock, #245, we often sing:

We think of all the darkness

Which round Thy spirit pressed,

Of all those waves and billows

Which rolled across Thy breast.

Oh, there Thy grace unbounded

And perfect love we see;

With joy and sorrow mingling,

We would remember Thee”.  (SF)  (501.1)