Q. 171. How are they that receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it?
A. They that receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, are, before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto, by examining themselves of their being in Christ; of their sins and wants; of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance, love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong; of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience; and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer.
1 Cor. 11:28;
2 Cor. 13:5;
1 Cor. 5:7;
Ex. 12:15;
1 Cor. 11:29;
2 Cor. 13:5;
Matt. 26:28;
Zech. 12:10;
1 Cor. 11:31;
1 Cor. 10:16-17;
Acts 2:46-47;
1 Cor. 5:8;
1 Cor. 11:18,
20;
Matt. 5:23-24;
Isa. 55:1;
John 7:37;
1 Cor. 5:7-8;
1 Cor. 11:25-26,
28;
Heb. 10:21-22,
24;
Ps. 26:6;
1 Cor. 11:24-25;
2 Chr. 30:18-19;
Matt. 26:26.
WLC
Thinking through this is exactly what Burroughs does in breaking this down. This is by no means exhaustive....
BEFORE you come to the supper - do you do this?
1) Do this
before you come.
2)
Prepare yourself to honor God. How?
3) Examine yourself. How?
4) Ask the following questions:
Am I in Christ?
What are my sins?
What are my besetting sins?
What do I lack in honoring God daily?
Do I have a biblical knowledge of faith?
What do I know to be true about the God I serve?
Who is He to me?
What does the Bible say about Him?
(What He has done (covenant) and who He is (attributes).)
Do I really repent of my sins?
Have I? Have I truly repented so as not to do them again?
Sight of sin, sorrow, confession, shame, turning and hatred of sin?
Do I love God?
How do I show I love God?
Do I love the brethren?
How do I show I love the brethren?
How am I charitable and how do I love all people?
Do I forgive others or harbor bitterness and resentment?
What is my desire after Christ?
How much do I love him?
How do I show it?
How am I obedient to Christ?
Is it obedience or some legal performance?
How do I seek being filled with the Spirit?
How do I exercise the fruit of the Spirit?
Is this the fruit of the Spirit, or have I deceived myself?
Am I a hypocrite?
How do I grow in grace?
5) Consider these things by serious meditation. (Who knows how to do this rightly?)
6) Consider these things by fervent prayer. (Who has done this?)
Burroughs would say - I challenge everyone reading this if you have ever even done
part of this in honoring God and sanctifying his name.
Then Burroughs would be blunt - If you
have, then you need
to improve it. If you have not, you're guilty of blood-guiltiness of the supper and have never sanctified or honored God's name in worship of him through the supper int he way he requires. (Lev. 10:1-3)
We want the Christian name, and we say we want revival, and we say we want to honorable....but do we really? What happens, in my estimation, is that we tend to default: "Thank goodness that Christ has saved me!" Which tends to give us excuses for not doing what God requires. It's almost like we say, "I'm so happy that Christ has saved me because I don't act like a Christian for God's glory the way I should,
but I'm safe anyway, so I'll come to the supper regardless because the supper is for sinners, and I'm a big sinner."
We need to repent of that.