Address—N. Simon
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And begin and it will tell you what my subject is in Acts chapter 2.
I will warn you that without apology that I will turn to many verses.
Those that have heard me before probably are familiar with that if you.
Can't keep up? There's always the recording.
I suspect, and you could just write the verses down. I'm don't have that gift of being able to learn by rote and quote. But to me too, it's very important that you be able to lay your finger on a verse to support a particular position. Because if someone ever asks you, why do you do that? Why do you believe that you need to be able to fall back upon the word of God?
You need to have at least a verse to turn to.
So the verse in Acts chapter 2 is verse 42, a very well known verse. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and then breaking of bread and in prayers. That's my subject. I want to talk about those four things and what has been on my heart of late has been the local assembly. So I will try to keep it in the context.
Of the local assembly. How these things?
Are implemented in the local assembly. Now you'll recognize, of course that this is in Acts chapter 2. This is very early in the church's history. It's barely been formed and certainly before we have the Apostle Paul. Peter's ministry is what characterized the book of Acts at this point. But I would suggest the principle of this verse is.
As true today as it was when it was written in Acts Chapter 2.
But the work the verse begins with a continued steadfastly.
That what steadfastly is perhaps not a word we use in modern vernacular, but it simply means perseverance to adhere to something.
It suggests that perseverance is not man's strong point.
It's not in man's nature to persevere with something for very long.
It says in Acts 17 that when Paul spoke on Mars Hill that the Greeks were always wanting to hear some new thing.
And that's what characterizes our hearts, our natures, and the world in which we live. But what we have here in the church in her infancy, in those bright days of first love, that she continued on steadfastly with perseverance. And so you and I are called to continue on in perseverance.
The first thing it mentions here is the Apostles doctrine.
This meeting is probably going to be to use an expression, didactic. In other words, teaching.
And teaching is often. I would suggest look down on.
And doctrine certainly doesn't have a good reputation. People will say doctrine divides.
And that's absolutely true. Doctrine most certainly divides doctrine. Sound teaching is that which separates truth from falsehood. It is what heads the list here, the apostles doctrine. It forms that bedrock, that basis, that foundation upon which the Church is built. So.
First verse Ephesians 2 verse 20 it says.
There built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
And the character of the church is given in First Timothy chapter 3, where it says that in verse 15, if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou ordest behave thyself from the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. So the church should have been.
A testimony, a witness, and a stay for the truth of God. And of course, that begins with the local assembly. It begins with us personally.
But it also begins with the local assembly. We have a responsibility to be upholders of the truth. Now the Church does not teach.
That's an important thing to lay hold of because in the Roman Catholic system.
The church teaches, but in one Corinthians 14 there's a verse I want to mention. It's verse 36.
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What came the word of God out from you, or came it unto you? Only the Word of God comes unto the church and not out from the church. It is our responsibility to uphold that which we have been given. Otherwise our fancies can just fly wherever they choose and we can come up with whatever we want.
And so to mention that system again, and not to pick on it unnecessarily, but the Roman Catholic Church has invented various doctrines.
Because the Church in their system teaches. We do not teach, we uphold.
So in the local assembly, how do we practice what we have in Acts 2, verse 20?
Well, there's another verse I want to turn to in first Timothy 4, The Importance of reading the Word of God in the assembly and First Timothy chapter 4 and verse 14.
Sorry, verse 13, till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Now, this is not personal reading that's spoken of here, but that's certainly a good thing to remember that we need to be reading for ourselves. You can listen as well, and there's lots of ministry recorded for us that's available. That's valuable and that's helpful.
Not everyone is a reader.
But God has chosen to express himself to us through words.
And the written word I was just speaking, or brother was speaking rather, to me before the meeting. The value of the book that we hold in our hands and how God has providentially preserved it for thousands of years.
It was long thought that the Word of God had been corrupted and modified. It couldn't be depended on.
And then?
Back in the time of the 1940s.
4567 somewhere in there, I don't remember someone here has better memory those things than me. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The most complete scroll was the Great Scroll of Isaiah and when they compared the text of Isaiah with what we have and have known for for centuries, it was discovered that there wasn't corrupted at all. In fact the IT was discovered around the time of the one of the.
Standard RSV Bible.
One of that family revised standard version and they incorporated.
And I don't remember the number. I'm very good at getting numbers and things confused. I think it was just 4 modifications.
I have it written down, but I don't hold those facts well in my head. But it's something like that. Very small number of Corrections they applied. And then one of the writers, one of the translators, wrote a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls. And in that book he says, I'm not sure that we should have made any of those corrections.
So, but so in First Timothy, the reading being spoken of is public reading of the Scriptures. At the end of Colossians there's a verse and it says there in verse 16, Colossians 4, verse 16. When this Epistle, that is the Epistle to the Colossians read among you, 'cause that also be read in the Church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea.
We still, I trust, do that in the local assembly. Read the epistles.
As I said, God has chosen to communicate to us by the written word, and we have that preserved in our hands. And so the Epistle to the Colossians has been given to us and it should be read in the assembly. What was the Epistle to the Laodicea from the Laodiceans? Many believe that this was some loss to pistol. It doesn't say the Epistle to the later scenes. As I almost just said, it's the Epistle from Laodicea. So there was another pistol making the circulation around and it was at Laodicea and.
Was to come along to the church in Colossi and they were to read it there in the assembly. Also, some have suggested it might have been the Epistle to the Ephesians. That is pure speculation. But it was simply they didn't have printers like we are at BTP Publishing House. They didn't have apprentice in those days. These all had to be written by hand and circulated. So again, value what you have in your hands.
But there's another side to just reading the scriptures, and for this I will turn to the Old Testament.
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In Nehemiah 8 again these are well known voices, but Nehemiah 8 verse 8.
And so they write in the book, in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense and caused them to understand their reading.
So there are those that we rely on in the local assembly to to give an understanding to what is being read. First Corinthians chapter 14.
I want to read a verse there First Corinthians chapter 14.
In verse three, he that prophesied speaketh unto, unto men, to edification and exhortation and comfort. And so we read the word of God. But there also needs to be that which edifies, builds up the Saints of God. There also needs to be that which is for exhortation, that is to encourage, to press on as I've been speaking, the Saints of God, and then for comfort.
And I trust that one is self-evident exhortation is a brother in a recent meeting asked what's the difference in.
Edifying literally means to build up. That's why we talk of buildings as being edifices. That word just means to build up. But excitation. Think of a marathon runner, you know, and my boss is a long distance runner. I don't think he does it so much anymore, but he's done 50 miles, 100 miles. And you know, you can imagine at some point in the race that you're beginning to feel the effects of the race and someone comes alongside of you and says, come on, keep going, don't give up. That's exhortation.
So there's a place for that in ministry, but edifying comes first. I think there's an order that is presented here.
Without these things, let's look at the negative side of them. What happens when there is?
Not resting in the Apostles doctrine going back to Acts chapter 2.
While Paul's desire for the Saints and Ephesus of Ephesians, chapter 4.
And verse 13 was that so we all come in the unity of the faith. If we look up a little further in that chapter, in verse 5, it says 1 Lord, 1 faith, 1 baptism.
There is one faith.
This is the body of Christian truth that we possess 1 faith.
The church cannot stand and ultimately did not stand when there is division in connection with teaching and doctrine. We need to stand on that firm foundation that the apostles gave us. The first great division within the church was a division over the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It resulted it was a division by caused by bad doctrine, bad teaching.
So it's so important that we have sound teaching upon which we rest.
And Paul's desire for the Ephesians was that they would come in the unity of the faith.
So doctrine far from dividing, except that it divides error from truth, it is what brings us into that unity. We're all here because we have believed and accepted the Word of God as being true, and He doesn't want us, like in verse 14, to be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness.
Wherein they lie and wait to deceive. This hints at what Paul knew was coming.
In the Church of God, there are so many doctrines out of there, and we can so easily lay hold of them.
Why are so many, what they call conspiracy theories just filling people's minds these days? Is because anyone, anyone can create a YouTube video and post it online and catch someone's attention and then they share it with two people and then four people, and then eight people, then 16 people and then 32 People. And if that number by the time it gets to 20.
20 people down.
Two to the 20 is equivalent of if I now I. So I'm supposed to be a software engineer.
I think we're talking to a TB of people, so it very quickly multiplies. Any light can be propagated this way. As Christians, you know, I heard something years and years ago that.
Mormons, the Church, Christ, the Latter Day Saints. One had done a survey, don't know how they measured it, whether amongst the most gullible people in the world.
And I was like, yes, well, if you can believe that someone translated some gold plates by wearing special glasses, yes, you must be gullible.
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As Christians, we should not be gullible.
We need to shut our ears to all that that's going on in this world and not let it influences us and take us away from the truth of the word of God. But more seriously than conspiracy theories is things have come coming in to that.
Are not not the truths that we have long taught?
You know, our brother was once arguing with me about something and I said to him, well, that's.
Knew Why am I defending my position? This is not what we have ever held or taught. Why am I having to defend my position? You defend your position, your new teaching.
But you know, if we don't know what the word of God says, we're going to be like children tossed to and fro.
And then I just want to turn one more verse in connection with doctrine. That's Second Timothy chapter 3.
And there's 2 verses there in verse 15 from a child that was known, the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So we have children here. That's wonderful. That really is wonderful because your teaching begins right now as a little child. And maybe you only understand every 20th sentence that I say.
Perhaps you've only heard that it's important to be able to read and to read the Word of God. That's.
Good thing to lay hold of, but these things, they, they, they need to begin as a child. But then the next verse is what I wanted to touch on All scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The first thing that begins with here is guess what, that unfortunate word doctrine. Yes, doctrine is what lays the foundation for the rest I.
I said to Brother Don before this meeting that I had on my heart to speak on a different subject.
And I just wasn't at peace about it. And the Lord lay on my heart to speak on what I'm now talking on. I trust it's his mind that I do so. But it's a subject that I've been writing a pamphlet on, on and off for more than a year now. But.
The other subject I wanted to I had thought to talk on was the book of Philemon. Now Philemon is not a teaching book.
But it rests upon sound teaching. I just want to.
It's a bit of a digression, but let me just read one verse. To me, it's sort of key to the Book of Philemon, and it's a verse. It's very difficult to translate. It's verse 6. I'm going to read it from the J&D, it says.
I read that verse five first. I thank my God always making mention of the at my prayers, hearing of thy love and the faith which thou has towards the Lord Jesus and towards all the Saints in such sort that they participation in the faith should become operative.
In the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in US towards Christ.
Do you know what every good thing in you is?
Do you know what you your position is in Christ? This is very much Pauline doctrine.
What Paul desired for Philemon was the outflow.
Of that fruit towards Christ, of every good thing that was in him in Christ. That's doctrine, that's teaching. That's the result of that in Philemon now flowing out in the practical. OK, moving on to the apostles fellowship. Apostles doctrine is that foundation, the Apostles fellowship, you know, it is a very dangerous thing.
To neglect.
The fellowship of your brethren and think that you're going to be able to in isolation.
Learn the scriptures for yourselves. Now some people will find themselves in that position and if God puts you in that position, that's a different story, but to deliberately.
Isolate yourself from your brethren and think that you're going to be self-taught.
Only puffs up the mind and the heart.
I read a verse that speaks to this.
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In in Colossians chapter 2, the Colossians were affected by two things. They were affected by the philosophies on men on one hand, and the ritualism of Judaism on the other. You know, I said this before.
And no doubt with every speaker there's words and phrases that become identified with them. And as I get older, no doubt that's the case with me because you get very repetitious, but.
Satan has a cafeteria of every flavored dish that appeals to the heart.
And so if you have a natural tendency towards superstition or towards ritualism or the intellectual philosophy, Satan has something just for you.
And so the Colossians were affected by, on the one hand, ritualism, on the other hand, what we say is rationalism. And so Colossians 2, verse 17, I'll just read. It's out of context, but you can look it up. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.
That is the danger we fall into if we neglect.
The Fellowship of our brethren and particular in connection with the Assembly meetings.
Another verse, A well known verse. Hebrews 10.
Umm, in Turn 25.
Or verse 24, Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of our souls together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.
And so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Again, perseverance. Perseverance we need, you know it. It's the nice thing with the reading meeting. I'm giving a talk now and it's very much.
My type of talk I would say, and in a reading meeting you have different brothers with different perspectives, different life experiences, different ways that they have come into the truth.
And they provide a balance.
It's very good that we have each other to provide balance, so we cannot.
Study and think that we're going to establish ourselves in the apostles doctrine in our own. Unless of course, God sets us in that position for his reasons.
But the other side of it is that our fellowship itself rests upon sound doctrine. I already read those verses from Ephesians 413 where Paul's desire that we would all come into the unity of the faith, of the knowledge of the Son of God, and so on.
The Apostles doctrine is what brings us into fellowship with them, and then also the Father and the Son.
Just read a verse in first John chapter 1.
First John, chapter 1.
It says in.
Verse three. That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
You know the apostles, John could say in his gospel in chapter 1.
He could say.
No man has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
And those 12, they traveled with the Lord Jesus those three years.
And they saw that revelation of the Father. And so John says in his first epistle, the things which we have seen, keep in mind there were eyewitnesses.
Peter speaks of being an eyewitness to what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration. We have eyewitness testimony here in the Word of God. This is not fanciful mythology. This is eyewitness testimony of things that really happened. But they Peter also and John and the apostles heard things. I discovered something recently which is probably.
Been enjoyed by my.
Peers and older brethren for many years, but I just.
Hit me recently in something. It was probably from synopsis but first Peter.
Really is rooted in Peta's experiences in Matthew chapter 16.
When Peter confessed that thou the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Lord responded by saying that upon this rock that he would build his church, that's first Peter.
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Second, Peter corresponds to Matthew 17, that which Peter witnessed.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, the manifestation of the Son of Man in His glory.
That's second Peter. So these were things that the apostles soar and hood, which they carried with them through the rest of their lives.
And as I said, our fellowship, our fellowship rests upon it. First Corinthians one. Now First Corinthians chapter one, verse 9.
We cannot create fellowships. I don't want to sound critical, it's not my point.
But these things have long been forgotten in Christendom.
But many quite a few years ago now. It's amazing how years just go by. Can you believe that we're middle of October of 2024? I don't know where the year went but there was a church down our Rd. they started and.
They were called Storyline Fellowship.
We don't create fellowships.
In one Corinthians one verse 9, there is one fellowship. God is faithful, by whom ye are called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notice too, it doesn't even say fellowship with his son and I would suggest that many.
Of the systems of men know something of fellowship with his son.
But we're not talking about fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're about talking about the fellowship of.
His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord now.
Just a point to note in passing. In First Corinthians, the Lordship of Christ is emphasized, and it's emphasized because I would suggest that many of the difficulties they had fallen into was because they had practically they wouldn't have, would never have admitted to it.
They intellectually they hadn't rejected the lordship of Christ, but practically.
They had rejected the lordship of Christ. Instead they were following men. So we have the Lord's Supper, we have the Lord's Table. So let's move on because actually we'll get to the Lord's Supper here pretty quick. And just in connection with fellowship and, and you know, it says the apostles doctrine and fellowship in Acts 2. Let's just go back to that verse so I don't misrepresent what it says.
But.
It says apostles, doctrine and fellowship. The two are very closely linked.
So there are things that break that fellowship, and I'll just read one verse for the sake of, well, we're not doing too bad.
3 portions in connection with things we cannot have fellowship with. Yes, there's a responsibility that the local assembly bears in connection with that fellowship. And that is the first one I'm going to read is in John second epistle.
In Saint John the second epistle.
In verse 7 it says many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist. In verse 9, whosoever transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine that we have that word. Again, the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ. He hath both the Father and the Son, if they come any unto you, and bring knock this doctrine.
Him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. So you went. We are not. This is not just past tense. We are not even to give the common courtesy of a greeting to someone that comes preaching a different Christ. We aren't to countenance them for even a minute, to give them the time of day. So we aren't to accept one that preaches a different Christ.
In Galatians chapter 1.
You can.
Guess where I'm going with this one?
Galatians chapter 1 and verse 9. As we said before, so I say unto now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you that ye have received, let him be a curse.
So we're not to receive those that preach a different gospel.
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And then Two Corinthians 11 actually puts three things together, including the two that I've already mentioned.
2nd Corinthians 11, verse 4.
If he that cometh preaches another Jesus, that's what we had in second John, whom you haven't, we have not preached. Or if you receive another spirit which you have not received. So that's the one that's new here, one that is preaching or coming with a different spirit and then or another gospel which you have not accepted.
He was afraid for the Corinthians that they might bear with them.
OK, the third thing mentioned in Acts chapter 2 That we are to persevere in is the breaking of bread. So turning back to Acts chapter 2 again we have some verses that come after verse 42 That are relevant. So the first mention we have I think of the disciples breaking bread is in the 2nd chapter of Acts and it was in Jerusalem.
And verse 46 it says they continued daily with one accord in the temple.
And breaking bread. And we should read it as the margin has it.
At home.
Is what the margin has.
Because it says in King James from house to house, but the sense of it is at home. The same expression goes in Acts 20 as well, where it should also be at home. There. I won't spend time turning to it.
So let's just read the whole verse again without commentary, as it should be when they continue daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread.
At home did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.
Now this verse is often.
Been taken.
That they broke bread daily. I I I never realized this myself until I came across the incidental comment, probably, probably by J&D, that the form of the Greek does not require this sentence to be interpreted that way. It doesn't say they broke bread daily. They were in the temple daily and they broke bread at home. Now maybe that they did, I don't want to suggest.
That, but I mean, I don't want to suggest that that was an impossibility.
But I'm just saying the form of the sentence doesn't actually require it. The important thing to bring out from this verse is that it did not break bread at the temple.
Christian worship is a not a public spectacle. And I I mentioned the word worship there. I want to clarify that shortly, but our worship is not a public spectacle.
And two, it has no connection or no fellowship whatsoever with that Jewish system of worship. So in Hebrews 13.
We have a verse that makes that very clear. In Hebrews 13 it says.
In verse 10 we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle.
I'll bring out some more things in connection with shortly in One Corinthians 10. I just want to touch on another thing.
They broke bread at home. Now. There were many in those days.
In.
The end of Acts chapter.
You know, I think it's at the end of.
Someone can help me with this?
It mentions their number.
I think there's two numbers given.
5000 comes to mind with 3000 also comes to mind.
If anyone sees the verse, they can call it out. But anyway, the point being there was no building probably big enough to accommodate that many people. So it was very characteristic of the early church that they met in homes and we instances of that in the word of God. So for example.
Thank you. Acts 4. Four says. Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed in the number of the men were about 5000, number of the men 5000.
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So it was customary in those days to meet in home. Philemon, he had there was an assembly in his home. So even though they met at home.
In Jerusalem, in various homes.
When we get to Acts 15.
It says in verse 4 when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church. There was about one assembly in Jerusalem, one assembly, not individual independent assemblies. There was one assembly in Jerusalem even though they had to meet in their homes for practical reasons.
In Rome it was probably that situation too. It's there's a reference to.
In in, I won't turn to it, of an assembly in a home in Rome. Rome is a big city. There was probably many believers there and they met in homes, but there was still one assembly in Rome.
Back to the breaking of bread. 1St Corinthians 10 You know we've had the apostles doctrine.
We've had the apostles fellowship. The apostles doctrine is the basis of that fellowship. In the breaking of bread, we give expression to that fellowship. So 1St Corinthians 10 speaks of that subject.
The very act of eating is an expression of fellowship, and there are three examples of eating given at the end of 1St Corinthians 10.
The first one was is the Jewish altar and that is in verse 18.
And I only tend to touch on these very lightly. Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
And then the.
The first example, if I didn't say it, of eating, was the Lord's at the Lord's Table, the second was at a Jewish altar, and then the third was at an idolatrous feast.
And the point with each of these that the apostle is bringing out is we express fellowship, identification, where we partake in eating. So if you go and you were Jew and you still went and offered offerings, you were identifying with that Jewish altar. And that is why the end of Hebrews, Paul makes it so clear that they have no part with us, those that still serve the Tabernacle.
But the other side is as those that were taken up in Corinthians with Pagan altars. They were, whether they liked it or not, identifying.
With that altar, and same to with us in this present day where we partake of that loaf and cup, we express identification with what it represents, whether we like it or not. There are other things expressed too in the remembrance, and I probably should have started with that first. It says the cup of blessing which we bless. Is it not the communion? That word communion is that word fellowship?
Fellowship of the blood of Christ. We express fellowship with the blood of Christ.
And the bread which we break, is it not the communion of fellowship with the body of Christ? We express fellowship with the body of Christ, but that's not all. We express fellowship with verse 17 For we being many A1 bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread in partaking that word just means sharing.
Their of that loaf we express fellowship, or we give expression to that fellowship that is AL's in Christ Jesus.
So how very important it is that far from some casual breaking bread from home to home as we might.
Be led by the human spirit. Smallest to practice. We realize that the remembrance of the Lord is not an insignificant thing. There's an expression in the next chapter I want to bring out in the 11Th chapter where we have the Lord's Supper. So we have the Lord's Table in first Corinthians 10, the Lord's Supper in verse, Corinthians 11.
With the Lord's Table we have the thought of fellowship, What we're identifying with. That's the key take away.
In the 11Th chapter we have the Lord's Supper.
But there's a very interesting expression.
In.
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Why is it that I can never?
Find out when.
I need it.
Yeah, 1St 18.
When ye come together and it says in the King James in the church.
If you look at Chinese translation, you will find it says when you come together in assembly.
We remember the Lord in his death when we come together in assembly.
Now there are other times mentioned in the word of God, when Saints came together, where it could not be said that they were.
In assembly. So we have examples in the books of Acts where brethren came together to pray, which will be our final point. Prayer in connection with the assembly.
But not every time, brethren come together. It might be for a volleyball game. That could hardly be said that that was.
In assembly, so the Word of God makes a distinction with brethren just merely coming together from some 'cause that they might be interested in, whether it be playing a volleyball game or perhaps even for prayer in my home for some matter that concerned me.
Makes a distinction between that and coming together in assembly, but we come together in assembly to remember the Lord Jesus Christ in his death. Now the actual act of remembering the Lord, what he has asked us to do, I do not believe in itself is an act of worship. And why do I say that? Because I don't think we worship as it speaks of in Acts 17 with our hands. We don't worship by doing.
Worship is that adoration that flows out from our hearts.
To God for all that he is and who he is to us, and for his Son that he gave. I think the thought of worship is expressed very nicely by Joseph. When he sent his brethren back to their Father, He said to them, Tell my father of all my glory in Egypt. That's the true character of worship. And when you come together on the Lord's Day morning.
You know, sometimes the churches will do this. And again, not to be excessively critical, but we say it ourselves.
They'll have worship. Well, worship can't be prescribed. I can't show up to a place and say I'm going to worship.
Maybe I will, but maybe I'll fall short of that. But nevertheless.
And this is a quote from someone.
Actually, I didn't write it down.
Maybe I did.
No, I didn't. I didn't write it down this morning. I'm not. As I said, I'm not very good with quotes, but.
What the Lord, what that supper represents there on Thursday morning, It represents, first of all, let us never forget a dead Christ. That is what He has asked us to have, a memorial of Him in His death. It is first of all a memorial, not a reminder. It is a memorial. What is a memorial? Well, we have memorials for.
Fallen soldiers, for example. It is a day to honor them.
It is so that we might not forget, but it's to honor them in their sacrifice that they have made.
And that's exactly what the remembrance of the Lord is. It's a memorial is to honor Him in his death, the blood.
Is separate the wine from the body, the loaf separate That figure on the table represents Christ in his death. But what that?
Supper represents to us is that which should produce worship in every child of God. Heart of every child of God.
It is that we should produce worship. Sometimes I think we overemphasis and a reminder too often that the actual breaking of bread in itself, in the physical thing that we do is not worship because.
We can't divorce it from the thought of worship. And if we don't come on the Lord's Day morning with a desire in our hearts, again, worship cannot be prescribed. But if we don't come with that desire in our heart to worship, why should we ever expect worship God?
What were the disciples thinking about when the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper?
We don't have to guess because we were told.
I read this. I'll tell a little story. We've got time yet.
00:45:02
They were thinking about who was the greatest.
A couple of weeks ago I was looking for a book on my bookshelf and my bookshelves are not tidy and neat and not organised, except they are organised in my head, but no one else would be able to identify the organization scheme. I never did find that book and I don't even remember what that book was I was looking for, but there was a thin volume which I pulled out and it was called The Lord's Supper by Hawking.
I had my wife's uncle's name written on the top and I thought this book has been my bookshelf ever since.
Amy's aunt died, her uncle passed away 1St and then her aunt Roy and Viola Garrett. Some of you will know them.
So that's 30 something years ago, 30 years ago roughly.
I never taken that book off and read it. And so I took it off and I read it and it's an easy read. It wasn't difficult. It wasn't a heavy subject, but he brought this out in the book and that's why I'm bringing it up this morning because it's the one thing that was like an arrow to my heart. What were the disciples thinking about when the Lord instituted his supper? Who would be the greatest? And then the author turns around and says to me, the reader, what?
Are we thinking about?
During the breaking of bread and the remembrance of the Lord.
Is it any wonder that very often Lord's Day mornings are quiet?
And there is praise. Precious little, if ever, if any. Not if ever, but if any.
Worship Incidentally, in that book he also says that we ashamed of the.
Are we, are we just going to give out of him? Because there's a long silence and we think it should be filled.
Know those precious moments if we use them to exercise our hearts.
I mentioned in the beginning that they broke bread, not necessarily every day. As I said, the Greek text doesn't actually require that interpretation, but perhaps they did. In Acts chapter 20, we find that they settled down on a pattern and they came together on the Lord's day.
To break bread.
And so Acts chapter 20 in verse 7, upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, that was their reason for coming together.
It wasn't for fellowship though. They had fellowship.
There wasn't for ministry though. They got ministry.
It was for that which was God would first. It was to break bread to have that memorial for the Lord Jesus Christ in a world that says away with this man think of that the world denies he ever existed in in many instances, some will acknowledge his historic figure of minor importance.
The world wanted him to leave and to forget him, and we have that privilege.
On the Lord's day of this memorial, as I said, it's not merely a reminder, though it does that to our rather dull hearts, but it's a memorial to honor him in a world that does not want him. What a privilege.
You know, I someone said to me, well, number one, I'll touch on prayer.
In the last five minutes, probably. But someone asked my daughter at her previous employment about her church that she went to and they said, oh, that sounds liturgical, My daughter said. What does that mean?
And I had to look it up. It means a prescribed ceremony. And so there are those going to be, say, every Lord's Day, you come and break bread. Doesn't that become liturgical? Doesn't that become just an empty ritual that you repeat over and over again?
And the answer is yes, it absolutely can.
But that's not a reason not to come on Lord's Day to remember the Lord in his death.
That is a reflection upon the state of our own huts.
We read in these addresses to the seven churches, the first one to Ephesus. They had left, not lost, but left their first love.
We need that which warms our hearts again.
That one that that supper represents and speaks of. And then it won't be.
Called Lethargy Liturgy.
00:50:00
Prayer, So the apostles doctrine defines the fellowship, the breaking of bread expresses it, but it's prayer that maintains it. You know, it's not a gift to be able to pray. You know, a brother, a younger brother recently, now assembly, he got up to pray at the breaking of bread.
And incidentally, in connection with the remembrance of the Lord, 1.
Says, and I think I did write this quote down, We cannot worship without prayer.
Because desire goes even beyond our present ability to worship, restricting it to mere praise is impossible. It's never unmixed with prayer. Because I said it doesn't take a gift to pray. Obviously, many of us are timid about praying. It really bears our soul to use an expression the world uses. But it really does bear our soul. But his younger brother stood up in our assembly some weeks ago and he simply said thank you.
I I don't remember his exact words, but maybe thank you, Lord Jesus, or thank you. And and then he ended his prayer and sat down.
Do we have nothing in our hearts that can respond to what God has done for us and just simply say thank you back to Him?
Yes, there are very elegant prayers, but I can give you an example of a prayer that's not very eloquent.
And it's Luke 18.
Verse 13 The public and standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes into heaven, but smote upon his breasts. And God be merciful to me.
A Sinner.
Incidentally, when we come together to remember the Lord in His death, the subject is not our sins, is not what we were. That should not be our occupation. We come into His presence of those that have been made meat, made perfect to be in the presence. A A Sinner cannot worship God because he cannot approach God. He may think he will be fearless in the presence of God, but put a Sinner in the presence of God and he's anything but fearless.
No, there is no liberty to worship with a Sinner, but we can come now in the full liberty in that position that Christ brings us to worship. And so occupation is not what we were and what our sins were, but our occupation is with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But you know, you might say, I don't know what I don't know my hymn book very well. I.
There are many excuses that we can have. On the one hand, the the hymns that we have expressed thoughts so beautifully that it's sometimes much easier just to give out a hymn to express the thoughts I feel in my heart than try to put them in words. Conversely, perhaps there is no hymn that the Lord brings before me, but I can still stand up and express what's in my heart through prayer.
You know, there are individual prayer that's very important.
But there's collective prayer, so I we don't have time to turn to them. But Acts chapter 12 is an example when Peter was taken captive of collective prayer. I will turn to this one. Philippians 1. Paul valued the prayers of the Saints. So Philippians chapter 1, Paul says in verse 19, I know that this shall turn to myself.
Through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of God, my salvation. What salvation was that? That he would be said at liberty.
No, I don't think that was the salvation Paul was specifically looking for, but I think here.
Umm, it's actually.
Well, I won't, I won't get bogged down into this verse, but Paul look for two salvations. There was 2 possibilities, 1 he'd either be set free or the other that he would be.
Delivered from the scene to be with Christ, which is far better.
And then Second Thessalonians.
Chapter 3 and verse one Paul says, brethren speaking to the Thessalonian Saints, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even it is with you. And then in First Thessalonians 517 there's a familiar verse. Pray without ceasing. And as I said, we I had thought of taking up the book of Philemon and I just noticed the other day that.
In verse 22 of Philemon, it says, I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you know, Paul speaks of praying for the Saints, but he also valued the prayers of the Saints for himself. Prayer is not, you know, it's such cliche in the world in which we live every time there's a natural disaster.
00:55:10
Political leaders will say something like our thoughts and prayers are with you and it rings hollow and the world knows it rings hollow, but prayer is.
Real and the apostle Paul valued the prayers of the Saints and he prayed for them. So I I think I already read the verse Philemon verse 4I thank my God making mention of the oyes in my prayers. So he prays for them.
There's in First Timothy chapter 2, verse one. There's a verse in connection with prayer, which we won't turn to for lack of time now, but I just want to.
Something a meditation that I enjoyed many, many years ago, and I've shared it many times, but in connection with the subjects that we've had before us, at least when it comes to the individual, not so much. Not, of course, so much the assembly.
An example for our encouragement is Mary, and we read of Mary at the Lord's feet three times.
And so, without turning to them, in Luke 1039, we read of Mary at the Lord's feet, hearing His word.
That is.
In, let's say, the reading meeting that is listening to his words speak to our hearts.
We of course see Mary at the Lord's feet in John Chapter 11, at the grave of Lazarus where she's weeping.
That is prayer. The one thing I was going to mention from First Timothy 2 is it gives 4 aspects of prayer, Supplication. That's asking God for things, prayer, which I think it speaks there of communion with God. Not all prayer is for asking, or the other two which I'm about to mention. The third one is intercession. That is when we ask God for things on the behalf of others. And it's not always asking them because they're in difficulty. It might be asking them to help.
Them in their work for the Lord, for example. And then the 4th aspect of prayer is Thanksgiving, which we often forget to thank the Lord when He has indeed answered our prayers. But Mary, of course, at the Lord's feet, that would be an aspect of supplication.
Or maybe intercession in this case, but.
The last time we see Mary is in John at the Lord's feet is in John chapter 3, and there it's in the attitude of worship. And I see I went over, which I didn't intend to do.
Let's just close in prayer.