WLC 175

Q175. What is the duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord's supper?

The duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord's supper, is seriously to consider how they have behaved themselves therein, and with what success; if they find quickening and comfort, to bless God for it, beg the continuance of it, watch against relapses, fulfil their vows, and encourage themselves to a frequent attendance on that ordinance: but if they find no present benefit, more exactly to review their preparation to, and carriage at, the sacrament; in both which, if they can approve themselves to God and their own consciences, they are to wait for the fruit of it in due time: but, if they see they have failed in either, they are to be humbled, and to attend upon it afterwards with more care and diligence.

Proof texts

• Ps. 28:7 — [7] The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
• Ps. 85:8 — [8] Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.
• 1 Cor. 11:17,30-31 — [17] But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. [30] That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. [31] But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
• 2 Chr. 30:21,16 — [16] They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. [21] And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might to the LORD.
• Acts 2:42,46 — [42] And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [46] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
• Ps. 36:10 — [10] Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
• Song 3:4 — [4] Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
• 1 Chr. 29:18 — [18] O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.
• 1 Cor. 10:3-5,12 — [3] and all ate the same spiritual food, [4] and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. [5] Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [12] Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
• Ps. 50:14 — [14] Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High,
• 1 Cor. 11:25-26 — [25] In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
• Acts 2:42,46 — [42] And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [46] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
• Song 5:1-6 — [1] I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. <b>Others</b> Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love! [2] I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” [3] I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them? [4] My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me. [5] I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt. [6] I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
• Eccl. 5:1-6 — [1] Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. [2] Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. [3] For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. [4] When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. [5] It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. [6] Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?
• Ps. 42:5,8 — [5] Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation [8] By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
• Ps. 43:3-5 — [3] Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! [4] Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. [5] Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
• Ps. 123:1-2 — [1] To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! [2] Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.
• 2 Chr. 30:18-19 — [18] For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone [19] who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.”
• Isa. 1:16,18 — [16] Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, [18] “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
• 2 Cor. 7:11 — [11] For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.
• 1 Chr. 15:12-14 — [12] and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. [13] Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” [14] So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Ps. 28:7 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 21 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q88 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. WCF 27.1 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q88 · WCF 27.1 · HC Q65 · BC 8.1 · BC 8.2 · BC 8.3 · 1689 28.1