What is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper in the time of the administration of it?
It is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, that, during the time of the administration of it, with all holy reverence and attention they wait upon God in that ordinance,1 diligently observe the sacramental elements and actions,2 heedfully discern the Lord's body,3 and affectionately meditate on his death and sufferings,4 and thereby stir up themselves to a vigorous exercise of their graces;5 in judging themselves,6 and sorrowing for sin;7 in earnest hungering and thirsting after Christ,8 feeding on him by faith,9 receiving of his fulness,10 trusting in his merits,11 rejoicing in his love,12 giving thanks for his grace;13 in renewing of their covenant with God, and love to all the saints.14
Scripture proofs
The Westminster Assembly's proof texts (KJV). The bracketed numbers in the answer above mark the clause each set of references supports; expand a row to read the verses.
1 Lev. 10:3; Heb. 12:18; Ps. 5:7; 1 Cor. 11:17, 26–27
Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
1 Cor. 11:17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.
1 Cor. 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
1 Cor. 11:27 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.
2 Exod. 24:8; Matt. 26:28
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
3 1 Cor. 11:29
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
4 Luke 22:19
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
5 1 Cor. 10:3–5, 11, 14; 1 Cor. 11:26
1 Cor. 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1 Cor. 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
1 Cor. 10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1 Cor. 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1 Cor. 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
6 1 Cor. 11:31
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
7 Zech. 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
8 Rev. 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
9 John 6:35
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
10 John 1:16
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
11 Phil. 1:16
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
12 Ps. 63:4–5; 2 Chron. 30:21
Ps. 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Ps. 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
And the children of Israel that 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 loud instruments unto the LORD.
13 Ps. 22:26
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
14 Jer. 1:5; Ps. 1:5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
This doctrine across the Standards
Where the Confession and the Westminster Shorter Catechism treat the same matter, so the question can be studied alongside its parallel statements.
In the Westminster Confession
XXIX.1 Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, …
Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his Church, unto the end of the world; for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body.
→ XXIX.1 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.2 In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all …
In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead, but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same; so that the Popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ's one only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.
→ XXIX.2 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.3 The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the …
The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.
→ XXIX.3 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.4 Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other, alone; as likewise the denial of …
Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other, alone; as likewise the denial of the cup to the people; worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.
→ XXIX.4 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.5 The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation …
The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly, and only, bread and wine, as they were before.
→ XXIX.5 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.6 That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's …
That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly called transubstantiation) by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason; overthroweth the nature of the sacrament; and hath been, and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.
→ XXIX.6 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.7 Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really …
Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are, to their outward senses.
→ XXIX.7 · Of the Lord's SupperXXIX.8 Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in this sacrament, yet they receive not the thing …
Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in this sacrament, yet they receive not the thing signified thereby; but by their unworthy coming thereunto are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, to their own damnation. Wherefore all ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with him, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table, and can not, without great sin against Christ, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto.
→ XXIX.8 · Of the Lord's SupperIn the Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q.96 What is the Lord's Supper?
The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.
→ Open Q.96Q.97 What is required for the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?
It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.
→ Open Q.97