Address—Dave Spence
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Like to just say a few words?
And not to add too much to what was brought before us this morning, this due in remembrance of me.
That is a request, is it not?
I trust that each one of us may have that stamped freshly upon.
Our hearts and our souls.
Because even if we are at the Lord's table and have answered to his request.
May it continue to have that power in our lives, the effect in our lives.
Power over our hearts and our minds that it may take precedence over.
Everything else in this life.
Even concerning a relationship, even that which concerns an occupation.
And other things that come in to sidestep the blessedness of that wondrous request. Now I'm just going to refer to a few verses that were read to us this morning.
And the first one is in the Song of Solomon chapter one.
Song of Solomon, Chapter one and verse.
12.
While the king sitteth at his table.
My spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. Now that is the bride.
Speaking, she's sitting at the King's table with him.
That's where we were this morning. Now, we don't refer to him as king, although sometimes that's included in some of the songs that we sing. But he's our Lord, the Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is his table that we have been invited to. Could we also turn to 1St Corinthians 10?
And Justice to make a few preparatory comments concerning the table.
And the table is brought before us.
In the Word of God in First Corinthians chapter 10, before the Supper is.
And the table reminds us beloved young people of communion, fellowship. Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Someone mentioned that verse earlier in our meetings, First Corinthians Chapter 11. It is the memorial.
But the table is brought before us first.
And in chapter 10.
And verse 15.
We'll read just a few verses and not to comment upon all of these verses.
They speak for themselves.
I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say, the cup of blessing which we bless.
Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ?
For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold, Israel, after the flesh, are not they which eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar?
What say I then, that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols? Is anything but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrificed to devils.
That was what was behind the altar.
Hiding, lurking.
And so the apostle brings out the seriousness of partaking.
Or eating the sacrifices of the of the Pagan altars. They were actually having fellowship if they're going to do that with demonic spirits.
And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table.
And on the table of devils.
Now we know, Beloved, that today we live in a society where we are not faced with so much here in this country, although things are getting worse.
00:05:09
We are not faced with tables of demons, so to speak.
But we do have man that has set up systems within Christendom, a system of things.
And a human arrangement in ordered priesthood and all of the things, the accoutrements that aligned themselves with the Old Testament.
And that order of things, and by human appointment and arrangement things are carried out.
We know this, do we not?
And so we're not dealing so much with devils, but with what man has set up, set up, that is, in discord or disagreement with what our Blessed Lord meant for the Church.
And what activity should take place within that circle of blessing that we know a little bit of?
They are not according to men's thinking and man's ideas and his intelligence.
And as sincere as many of our beloved brethren may be elsewhere, how wonderful it is to realize the word of God does not change.
And the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the same yesterday, today and forever.
And he has given us truth to walk in, according to this blessed book, until he comes. Because he says in the 11Th chapter, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lords death till he come. That is the path he has given for us to walk in. And I know there are discouragements connected with that path. Beloved, there is the reproach of being in his presence at his table. There is such a thing as our being discouraged because of fewness of numbers.
We come together like this, we have such wonderful times together and sometimes when we think we have to go home to just a few.
It's a little disheartening, is it? Not if we're honest.
But what will take the place in a measure?
And the more we submit to him in this blessed truth of His presence in the midst, the more it will satisfy the longings of our hearts. David himself we know. Glory to numbers. I was just reading that the other night in my own personal reading, and he got in trouble when he gloried in numbers, and he numbered the people, and he had to suffer some measure of the chastening hand of the Lord in his life because of it.
And all that we would glory in His presence more than anything else in this world. If there are a half a dozen or there are a dozen or two dozen, whatever it might be. May it be that you will see and I will see the blessedness of His presence as our brother read to us this morning. They saw no man save Jesus. Only those are not mystical things, beloved.
Those are scriptures of truth. We may not see bodily our Lord Jesus Christ, but we know that he is in the midst by faith. You know, as we were together during the week, we were sitting in the audience, as you folks here are today, looking at those that were ministering the Word. And there were gifts the Lord has given so that the Word of God can be conveyed in a way that can be understood.
And enjoyed and taken in and digested, and we come to a better, fuller, and richer understanding of these precious things.
But wasn't it interesting this morning as we came together, there was #1 standing up here?
The gift and the brother, the servant the Lord used, so to speak, was effaced or displaced by the glory.
Of His Majesty who stood in the midst.
And we saw as we read together, no man saved, Jesus only. And I know that may not be true with everyone here, but it is the truth.
It is the truth.
Where two or three, as our brother Doug brought before us.
Are gathered together unto my name, Jesus said, There am I in the midst of them. And that was said before the Holy Spirit came down to bring all of the believers together in one body, to unite them to one another and to their head in heaven. So much so it seemed to be saying that he was anticipating the moment when the church would understand a little bit more of the truth of that which he speaks of in Matthew 1820.
00:10:20
And it is that outside forces our brother described to us that leads us to where he is, in the mids, that draws us to Him as the Holy Spirit work in your heart and in my life to bring us to Christ, to own Him as Savior and Lord. Likewise, He draws us to the one center if we're submissive to Him and His precious word.
If there is a desire to know, we spoke of his desire. Our brother Bruce spoke of his desire this morning.
But is there a desire on your part to really know the truth as to where he is?
So the largest table, first of all, speaks of communion, a place of fellowship. We have fellowship not only one with another, but concerning the emblems of which which they speak, first of all, the cup of blessing that precious blood that was shed, that gives me right and title to be at his table. Therefore #1 you must be saved in order to be at His table, cleansing the precious blood of Christ that gives you right to be there.
And me right by his grace to be at his table.
And the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread.
You know, the bread which we break is not the communion of the body of Christ.
For we, being many, are one bread and one body, So the table also speaks of unity. First of all, communion with one another and with our Lord Jesus Christ concerning.
The precious blood that was shed, the body that was given, that he had given to him in this life when he came into this world. We have communion with him, fellowship together.
As we sit around the Lord's table concerning His precious blood that was shed.
In his body that was given in death for us I.
But I remember a very happy experience in my life, as I think back in times gone by, of the happy unity there was at a table I used to sit at over 50 years ago.
Almost 60 years ago, to begin with, at my grandfathers place, when all the family would come together and we would sit together around his table and I used to think of the family atmosphere that was produced by his invitation for us to be there. So it speaks of unity, does it not?
This is what his intention was in the very first place, and it was true.
As the church was initially set up in its first estate, its first glory, so to speak, there was commonality, there was unity, there was oneness expressed in testimony. It must have been a marvelous thing. There was great grace and boldness. There was a testimony that flowed out as they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, in the breaking of bread and fellowship, and in prayers.
They continued steadfastly in that.
The unity will never change. As far as the body of Christ is concerned, as our brother brought before us, there is one body that will never change. What changes is are we walking in such a way as to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?
Could I illustrate it by the way our beloved brother Gordon Hayhoe used to illustrate it?
And it was so simple as he, in his very simple illustrations could convey things to help us understand. Suppose that you went to the to Washington, DC, and you asked what the addresses were of the Canadian embassy there. You perhaps heard him give this illustration, and you found out from the Information Bureau that there were ten different places that all claimed to be the Canadian embassy, but they had no agreement with one another.
And you thought, well this is very strange, How am I ever going to find out which is the right one?
00:15:05
If there is one that exists, well, he said. The right thing to do would be to contact the Canadian government.
And ask them which one they honored and which one kept the precepts of the government.
And went along with what they had laid down as the requirements to be the Canadian embassy.
And beloved, may I say this, as our beloved brother used to say.
How will we ever find the truth or the true path that will lead us? And we know it is by the Spirit of God to the right place where the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst, where He is, and His table, so that we can sit down together and have fellowship with one another and with him concerning those precious emblems which speak of His body.
And his blood.
It is only by the word of God.
Now you can go down the street where you live, all of us can, and you can knock on various religious institutions, the doors of religious institutions, and you will find various differing ideas and opinions and doctrines concerning the word of God. Isn't that true? It doesn't make any difference if it has to do with the awful tragic.
Doctrinal departure concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some say that it was possible that he could sin.
And some say, well, you have to be baptized to be saved. And we might even go so far as to say.
One man ministry is that according to the word of God?
Read 1St Corinthians 14.
As a teacher at one of the seminary schools used to say, he said, you know, I have no trouble with teaching the word of God in most of the chapters of the Bible, except when I come to 1St Corinthians chapter 14. And when I get to the 14th chapter, I have to leave that to brethren to explain it because it says let the let the apostles speak two or three and let the others judge.
It is not limited to one man. We are not gathered to one man. One man does not preside as we have before us this morning, as we were gathered together unto his precious name and around his blessed person.
So it doesn't matter how much the departure, it could be the fact that, well, there are some institutions that pass the cup around to everybody that walks in the door.
And you don't know who you're breaking bread with. And the scripture is very clear in First Corinthians 5 that there is such a thing as.
Putting away from the table of the Lord.
That in itself is a reproach to Christians today. And they will sidestep that truth, that necessary truth, and go somewhere else because it's too reproachful.
It's too difficult to walk in in the day that we live. It's easier to come together and.
To be gathered in such a way that we can enjoy music and we can enjoy various speakers and justice, have things simply we don't have to be involved and we just listen.
And we can get into such a state, beloved.
Where there is not exercise.
Any longer in a state of soul that goes along with that coldness comes in indifference. And there is a departure from these principles. Wasn't it wonderful this morning, the 11 young brothers?
To have you dear young brethren.
Participate in the meeting what a blessing that was to those of us who are a little bit older. Stand up and praise the Lord. Read the scriptures and give out of Him.
I've said to my own family members where they go.
I said to my son, can you stand up where you are? And can you read a scripture, or can you give a word of thanks? And do other members of the congregation have that privilege and liberty by the Spirit to do so?
They have to say no.
That in itself would show that this is discordant with the truth of the Lords table. And it is, may I say thirdly, his table. This is why and we spoke together, some of us.
00:20:06
After the meeting concerning, receiving and putting away, because it is his table and a brother mentioned, holiness becometh thine house, O God forever.
It's not our table, beloved. If it was, perhaps we would just kind of compromise and dissolve things and maybe let everybody come in but profess to be a Christian and participate.
But it is his table, and it will cease becoming his table.
If we compromise in those areas, as difficult as it is, to put away someone.
Who has been involved in moral or doctrinal evil?
Just to make those comments about the table of the Lord.
You cannot eat of the sacrifices, so to speak, as it says here.
Of the altar.
Without being in communion with that of which it speaks.
Dan and Bethel were set up two alternative places to go to by the children of Israel, so they wouldn't have to go so far to Jerusalem. Was that according to the mind of God? Absolutely not. They have made may have made it sound very palatable through the mind. And to human thinking, well, don't go all the way to Jerusalem.
You can go right here to Bethel or to Dan, one in the South, one in the north of Israel, be a lot easier to do that. But according to the word of God today the table is not, of course we know a physical table in one place, but as there is the table of the Lord in San Diego, thankfully the table of the Lord in Lawrenceville, IL, the table of the Lord in in Kirkland, WA, and so forth.
It is not a physical table.
And it's not limited to geographical distances and differences. The table of the Lord is 1.
Thus, as we fellowship together after the meeting we had this morning, we were discussing the necessity of abiding by the word of God and receiving those that have been received at another locality.
And also if one has been put away from the Lord's table at one locality.
They should likewise not be received at another. Otherwise, beloved, how can we keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?
And there are fellowships, and you know as well as I do that.
Function independently one of another and they are called brethren fellowships.
So that you might be put out in one fellowship, but you might be able to be received in another fellowship, and they're kind of indirectly linked together somehow.
And I'm not. I'm not. And I'm not being critical. I'm warning that that Satan has all kinds of ways and man's ideas to make things work.
Not in accordance with this blessed book, and may I say this too as just a a fine point.
That there are even those fellowships that go so far as to say we'll let a board of directors decide which when an assembly gets in trouble, what the outcome and conclusion of the difficulty in that assembly should be. In Matthew Chapter 18, it speaks very clearly as to the responsibility each local assembly has.
In coming to a decision regarding the matters of putting away and receiving.
Things are so subtle out there that we can be easily tripped up if we do not check with the word of God as the one who checks with the government in Canada concerning which one of those 10 Canadian embassies is the right one in Washington DC.
Very simple illustration, but right to the point. The Word of God clarifies these things so beautifully.
Could we turn to Luke Chapter 22 That was read this morning? Luke chapter 22.
And verse 15 And he said unto them, With desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.
00:25:02
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come.
Says that twice.
The Passover Beloved had come to its termination.
Because the very one that the Passover spoke of the Passover lamb, as we have before us this morning.
Lamb of God, our souls adore thee, while upon thy face we gaze. He was the Passover lamb that would be killed. How could he who came to suffer the just one for us, the unjust, to bring us to God? Sit down and drink that which spoke of joy that's reserved for a future day. Ezekiel, chapter 45, verse 21.
In the Kingdom he will sit down with his own enjoy.
And rejoice with them.
But he does bring before us that which has taken the place of the Passover, and it's called the Lord's Supper in First Corinthians Chapter 11.
It is the Lord's table in First Corinthians chapter 10.
And that is communion.
Where we have fellowship concerning his death and His Precious Blood gives us title to be there.
But it is a supper that brings before us the memorial, and he initiated it here. And we know these things very well, beloved.
In all three Gospels.
Excluding John.
He initiates this blessed feast of love.
Could I ask you a question, each one of you who sat around the Lord this morning?
Was it a feast of love to your heart?
As you were occupied with the love of Christ, that was so demonstrated and manifested in him, not only coming into the world, but giving his life for you. And it seems as though the Apostle Paul never lost the good of that, and he was impelled through this life in his service for Christ, because he had that continually before him, the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Could you think of a more wonderful place to be in all of the world?
Including the table at the United Nations where men sit and they struggle for power and control and ideas that don't solve this world's problems. Or maybe some table in a palace where the greatest and richest king may dwell.
Could you ever think of a table?
To be at that would compare with the table of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And to sit down and eat his supper.
There.
I would never want to say, beloved, that believers in other places don't remember the Lord.
May I convey to you one sad story that?
Has so affected my heart.
A sister.
Left home at a very young age, before her 20s, having been raised in the assembly and for nigh unto 60 years.
Had left the Lord's table.
The other members of the family, most of them, continued on at the Lord's table, but she had left.
A few years ago, she came back.
But sixty years intervened.
Another member of my family, almost 35 years.
Having left the Lords table was connected with some religious group and they asked him one time.
Would you like to take communion with us sometime? And he thought about it and he said, well, yes, I guess I will. For 35 years he had walked independent of his Lord and in the world and had taken his children's family into the world.
And as that wafer came by, and that grape juice or wine or whatever it was, it was like all the fountains of his heart broke.
00:30:10
And he began to cry.
I wouldn't want to say that souls in other places don't remember the Lord. I believe they do.
But they are not at the Lord's table.
If they are not walking in accordance and abiding by the precious precepts and principles of this blessed Book.
But that did restore him to the Lord and his wife.
In a great measure, but not to the Lord's table, beloved.
It may seem an easy thing to walk away in indifference or coldness because of coldness, or because you've been stumbled. Somebody was mean to you, somebody offended you. And I know I've been in that position myself.
But the ramifications of it all over the period of time, beloved.
And the effect that will have not only upon your life, but the life of your children, if the Lord leaves us. I know one family that had left the Lord's table years ago.
And he came back about 14 years later, and he said, oh, I'm so thankful to be back at the Lord's table where he is in the midst. But I've lost my family and he wept.
What value do we put upon?
The truth of his table, beloved, these are not our ideas. This is not something that we fostered up in our minds, conjured up in our own way of thinking. This is what the Word of God brings before us. And Jesus said with desire. And in Luke it expresses so tenderly the man Christ Jesus.
Where he touches souls with his hands.
And he has compassion upon them, the widow of Nain and and oh countless situations where it expresses the tender sympathy and compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he says with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
But then he introduces the truth of his supper.
And I want to just point out something that I never saw before until just the other day and it is not in Matthew or Mark.
It is the personal words we might say of the Lord Jesus Christ, not to an audience, so to speak, although it is, but to you personally and to me. Notice what it says, verse 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body.
And it stops there in Matthew and Mark.
Read beloved what it says.
The rest of it?
Which is given for you.
Given for you.
It does not say in the plural form them. It says given for you. This is my body which is given for you. I came into this world to save the world. That's true because I love the world. But all the world's not going to be saved. I came for you.
This is my body, the loaf on the table this morning that we saw and we partook of.
It was given, it was speaks of that which was given his body, given for you.
Personally, we partake of it because it's personal.
He was given for me.
Have you ever thought of it that way?
Does that not put a greater emphasis upon his request? This due in remembrance of me I gave my body for you, beloved.
And the next verse it says likewise also the cup after supper, saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for them.
Shed for you.
The Precious Blood of which it speaks, beloved, was for you and for me.
It is not spoken of that way in Matthew and Mark, but where he is brought before us. The Lord Jesus Christ in Luke, as that compassionate one whose heart was full of sympathy and tenderness, reaches out to you and to me. And think how much it must affect his heart when we do not take our place at his table and take that personally.
00:35:23
Lord, yes, I want to remember thee.
When we don't?
Respond favorably.
Through that blessed request.
Now just one short little portion in First Corinthians 11 That was read to us this morning.
Verse 20 The Lord's Supper. The end of the verse. They were not eating it as the Lord supper. Supper should have been eaten. It says in verse 21 in every in eating, every one taketh.
Before others his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken.
Verse 23.
And Paul says this in case.
Some may have thought that what the Lord had initiated in the gospels would be terminated or just become a tradition. It was never meant that way, beloved.
For I have received of the Lord that also which I have delivered unto you, Paul had told them beforehand.
Because he had received fresh instructions from the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
To convey the importance of this partaking of his supper at his table to the Saints in Corinth, and to all of the assemblies for all ages, down to the very last moments of time. We are living in the last stages of the churches history on earth, beloved. And we have the privilege of being at His table, partaking of his supper. And I say again, is there any more wonderful place in all the world to be?
On Lord's Day Morning.
Than at his table, partaking of his supper.
There was a brother who had a very important job and he went to a certain area and he was supposed to have a meeting at a certain time come 11:00 on Sunday morning with all the officials of this certain company that he worked in directly for. And he said to his boss, I have a more important meeting that I have to attend.
Do we have that kind of conviction? Beloved, I speak these things to my own heart.
Do we regard his tape sitting at his table and partaking of his supper?
As something very personal, not only to my heart, but to your heart, to his heart.
This is my body, which is given for you. This is my blood, which is.
Shed for you.
And the way he introduces this to the Corinthian Saints, he says, the same night in which he was betrayed or delivered up, it says in Mr. Darby's translation, he took bread. What a night of horror. That was, when all of those things were happening all around about the Lord Jesus Christ, including one who sat with him at the Last Supper.
Not when he introduced the truth.
Of the Lord's Supper, because it says that he went out, Judas went out, and it was night, and thus he was not there to be a partaker of the Lorde Supper.
But the awfulness of that scene?
So tremendous.
A traitor sitting there with him, and it says in John chapter 13 that his heart was troubled.
He had continued with the Lord for 3 1/2 years. It wasn't as though.
The Lord Well, that's.
What he gets.
That's his own fault.
Never.
Even when Judas came to him in the garden, he says, betrayed thou the son of man, with a kiss.
Friend.
Why art thou come? Hit her. Call them friend.
And so there was a traitor, and there was the chief priests and all of the religious clan in Israel. They are in Jerusalem plotting his death.
00:40:09
An awful night. That same night in which he was betrayed or delivered up, he took bread.
And even when he stood before Pontius Pilate.
He said the pilot, You could have no power over me at all, except that were delivered to thee from my Father, which is in heaven.
Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. No man taketh it from me. So he was.
In full control of offering himself up as that spotless victim.
The same night in which he was betrayed or delivered up, he took bread.
Beloved with all that was happening around him, in fact.
Right there, he expresses the greatest desire of his heart, and oftentimes this happens to one who is dying.
They tell their family, I want you to do this or do that. My grandfather did with me just before he passed away. He told me some things that he felt I needed to do in my life.
I remembered I can remember to this day what he told me.
Important words, important requests are made on such.
Occasions.
Here we have the repeating of what the Lord had brought before us in Luke chapter 22.
And when he had given thanks, he break it and said, take eat, this is my body, which is for you, says broken, but we admit the word broken according to the new translation, which is for you again.
I would ask you beloved young folks.
And I know what our brother Bruce brought before us this morning. It is true.
It is.
The Lord's request for you, it's not my request for you.
But can we not convey the importance and the blessedness?
Of being at his table where he is.
It may take a grandparent or maybe a grand.
A grandmother, grandfather, father, mother, some time to just mention to a child how wonderful it is to be at the Lord's table and perhaps to show it in a life more than words that are spoken. And I say these things the this afternoon because.
A brother came to me here at Lassen this year and he said.
You know, I was 16 years of age.
Until I took my place at the Lord's table and he said I waited. And I waited and waited because I thought that I was not quite up to where I needed to be spiritually, he says. It wasn't because there was anything wrong in my life.
He said my life was pretty much in order. I thought, but he said I just didn't feel qualified to take my place.
At the Lord's table. And he said one night I was so tired, he says I fell into bed and he thought, I'll sleep all night through without waking up for sure. Well, he woke up a couple hours later with one thing on his heart and mind, and that was this Do in remembrance.
Of Maine.
Is there someone here that?
Is living a life that's pleasing to the Lord.
You feel that you have to arrive at a certain spiritual plateau in your life before you answer to His loving request. This do in remembrance of Me.
It took a grandfather to stir my heart up a little bit.
Can we stir one another up a little bit?
Say there is no greater privilege in this world as we await the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than to take our place at His table. He is so worthy. Now I know there may be some walking in such a way that would disqualify.
You to take your place at his table, beloved, be done with it. Be done with it. Put it behind you. The Scripture says, forgetting the things which are behind judge it, Repent, having done with those things that are so far inferior and so far less important, be done with it. Let Christ have His first place. Let him reign upon the throne of your heart.
00:45:27
And listen to what he says. Not what I'm saying to you, but what he says to you. Because all scripture not only is given by inspiration of God.
And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, instruction and righteous righteousness. But it is very personal, very personal.
The Lord wants you, and you will miss something if He comes and takes us home.
Without your having taken your place at his table.
There was a sister who was in happy fellowship.
And have gone on for years without her husband.
Her husband attended one of the local churches, seemed to be very happy and was involved in activities and had taken his place as a member of the board and so forth the church.
One day, he said. I'll go with you this morning.
And he did. He went to the morning meeting where they broke bread simply around the Lord.
And it seemed to be one of those meetings that maybe it didn't go just exactly right. You know, we've been in meetings like that where things have been a little bit topsy, turvy and maybe silences so forth.
After the meeting, they walked home together.
Got to the home of where they lived and he went to his bedroom.
She went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
He was gone for some period of time. She got the meal ready and so she went.
Into the bedroom.
And there he was sitting, taking a pen.
Off of his lapel that had identified him with.
The establishment that he had attended for years.
And she said, What are you doing?
You know what he said.
Honey.
I have seen the Lord.
When and if you see the Lord Beloved, there will be no replacements or equivalents for that.
And you will only see him.
By walking in the truth, submitting to his word, owning.
His Word as supreme authority in your life and the Spirit of God will lead you to the place.
Gathered to his precious name, seated at his table, being able to partake of the Lord's Supper. And this is what he did.
He took his place.
At the Lord's table.
And I've told this story before, you know, I don't know if I have time, Steve, to tell it, but a brother who had walked in the footsteps of Charles Fuller and some of us remember the name Charles Fuller.
Had a pastorship.
In a church in Placentia, CA.
And a brother came and took his place.
And it was a very popular church in Orange County in those days.
And he had a quite a large congregation.
Begin to have prayer meetings at the bottom of the church basement of the church. Suddenly he realized there were those that were there in the company that came to his his his preachings to hear his sermons that had just as much or more gift than he had as they begin to have Bible studies well.
The Baptist Church came along and said either you leave this church.
Voluntarily or we will ask you to leave, and he left.
And he was gathered through the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is our brother Paul, Mayo's father.
Did he regret it? Oh, he was one of the happiest men I've ever met.
But beloved, there is no greater place, no more wonderful place.
00:50:04
And to be in this world and it is not a table in heaven.
He's prepared a table in the midst of his enemies. We have that read to us this morning our beloved brother Wally Psalm, 23. It's here in this world. We have the opportunity and privilege of sitting at it to remember him.
And he says to you, this do in remembrance of Maine, Shall we just pray together?