Address—B. Prost
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While others are coming in, I'd like to suggest the hymn to sing at the beginning of the meeting, the very last hymn in the book #85 in the appendix.
That might seem like an unusual hymn to suggest in an address primarily for believers.
But you will see why when we come to what we want to talk about.
Number 85 in the appendix written by a woman by the name of Clara Taylor.
As far as we know, she never married. Wrote the hymn well over 250 years ago, in 1742.
We don't know a lot of voter. Far as I know, she never left the Church of England. In those days there wasn't a there weren't a lot of other places to go.
But her heart was right.
Very right.
She had a deep feeling, a deep understanding for what the Lord meant to her.
So let's sing that hymn together number 85 in the appendix.
The cross.
The cross. Oh, that's our game.
Because on that the Lamb was slain. It was there the Lord was crucified.
It was there for us. The Savior died.
The.
I really hesitate to speak on the subject that is before me.
But it has been on my heart for quite a long time.
And when I was asked a few days ago to take the responsibility for this meeting.
Immediately that subject came before me, and I trust from the Lord.
And I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, if it is not what you would have me speak on, make it abundantly clear.
And I trust with the Lord's mind, we can go ahead.
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To speak a little bit.
On the remembrance of the Lord.
I've had the privilege, as many of you know, of traveling a good deal, not only here in North America but also in different parts of the world.
And I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression.
But generally, when any of us go to visit an assembly, we end up with a sense in our souls.
Of where those dear brethren are in their souls, what they are enjoying.
How are how they are getting on spiritually?
Paul could say of Timothy.
And I'm quoting from the Derby translation. He could say I know of no one who will care with genuine feeling how you get on.
Sometimes that I'm at a prayer meeting in an assembly. I always enjoy it. It's a wonderful time.
Sometimes I'm at a reading meeting and there is a lot of precious truth brought out.
Wonderful. Sometimes at a gospel meeting. Now, the gospel is primarily an individual responsibility, but it's wonderful to see it connected with the local assembly.
But may I say this I trust without offense.
If I want really to know how those dear brethren in any given assembly are getting on.
Let me be at the remembrance of the Lord.
Because it is there, perhaps more than in any other meeting.
Where our two state of soul.
And how our heart is with the Lord.
We've been talking in the prayer meeting and I really enjoyed it. Wonderful verses one after the other about how the Lord is willing to provide for us, how God provides bread for His people, and how that when we come together like this, we can count on God.
To give us that which we need.
I wasn't intending particularly on quoting poetry, but the words of a poem comes to mind come to mind, written way back in the 1800s, supposedly by a beloved sister by the name of Elizabeth Wilcox, although the authorship is sometimes disputed.
But in the era of sailing vessels, the pole went like this.
One ship sails east and another W for the self. Same winds that blow.
But it's not the gales, it's the set of the sails that determine the way we go.
The winds of the sea.
Are like the waves of let me straighten it out.
The winds of the sea are like the waves of time as we journey on through life.
It's the set of the soul that determine the goal and not the calm.
Or the strife.
More than one brother who prayed in the prayer meeting revert referred to the strife in this world.
You and I don't feel it quite the same way here in North America as those in the Ukraine or those in the land of Israel and many other parts of the world.
But there is plenty of strife to upset us in one way or another.
And in order for you and me to enjoy the bread that God wants to give us, in order to be able to enjoy everything that Christ has for us.
To use the imagery of that poem, the sail has to be set to go against the wind. I am no sailor, don't get me wrong, but I've read enough about sailing vessels to know that when you want to beat against the wind, you have to set the sail in a certain way and be able to do what they call tack.
And sometimes the headwind is so strong that that's impossible.
In human things, but in divine things, we can always sail against the wind.
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And then the second verse went on to say, it is the set of the soul that determines the goal and not the calm or the strife. And you and I in these last days need our soul set.
In the right way.
The brother that emailed me asking me to take this meeting mentioned specifically, he said. Bill, remember there are going to be lots of young people there and lots of children.
And I trust what we have to say this afternoon, we'll have an appeal to each one.
Let's turn to God's Word for some simple verses that we all know well, Luke's Gospel chapter 22 first of all.
And again, these are very familiar, no doubt to most, if not all of us.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 22.
And verse 14.
And when the hour was come, he sat down, That is the Lord Jesus, and of the 12 apostles with him. And he said unto them with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Excuse me.
For I say unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.
And he took the cup, Now this is the Passover cup, not the cup of remembrance. And gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divided among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come.
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.
Likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you.
Now over to the book of the Acts Chapter 20. Acts Chapter 20.
Acts 20 and verse 7.
And upon the first day of the week.
When the disciples came together to break bread.
Just leave it there and then one verse back in First Kings.
First Kings.
And you'll see the connection of that verse in a moment.
First Kings chapter, I think it's 17.
Yes, first Kings 17.
And verse 12.
Well, let's read verse 11 to get the connection.
Elijah had just asked the widow of Zarephath to bring him a drink.
Verse 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruise. And behold, I am gathering 2 sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.
And Elijah said unto her.
Fear not go and do as thou hast said, but make me there of a little cake first.
And bring it unto me, and after make for thee, and for thy son.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the crews of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth the rain upon the earth.
The remembrance of the Lord.
Is unique in all of the assembly meetings. Why?
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Because, and I want to emphasize this because it's crucial, it is the one meeting when we come together to give, not to receive.
And without wanting to be critical at all, much of evangelical Christendom has turned the Lord's Day into a day when we come together to hear a sermon.
And that seems the norm.
And again, we are not critical. I'm thankful for some who do remember the Lord every Lord's Day, but many do it only once a month, or even fewer times than that.
But what does it say? In Acts 20, the disciples came together to break bread.
And we didn't read the verse, but if we were to go to Revelation chapter one, we would find that the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, where I suppose he could not break bread because he was probably all alone there, could say I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.
The Lord must have the 1St place and we don't have time to consider all the scriptures that bring that before us, but it is a theme that runs throughout the Word of God, that what is God? Word always comes before what is manward worship always comes first and then service.
And so when we come together to remember the Lord.
It is a time when we come to give.
We ought to come together with that uppermost in our minds that here are precious Lord and Savior who loved us and died for us.
Has called us to come together and has said this.
Do in remembrance of me.
There are others here beside myself.
Who will remember our late brother Eric Smith?
And I can still remember being in his home quite a few years ago now.
When he lived in Florida and speaking a bit together about his life.
And how he had come to know the Lord, and then had come to be gathered to the Lord's name.
And I can still remember his saying to me and to some others of us that were there.
Oh, he said, to be present at the remembrance of the Lord.
Is a privilege, A privilege that I value more highly than anything else, and it is the dearest place to my heart this side of the glory.
I asked myself, is that true of you and of me?
Many years ago and I was not there.
An old brother whom I knew very well.
And he wasn't in our local assembly apparently. Went up to the table to give thanks for the emblems.
And although he didn't know it then, it was the last time he would break bread.
Before the week was out, he was with the Lord.
And apparently as he walked up to the table, he was so overcome with the privilege.
That he said.
Write a little loud. Oh, he said. May this precious remembrance of the Lord.
Never become religious ritual. May it ever be fresh in our minds.
I speak to my own heart as much as to any other here. It is easy to get into a routine. It is easy to come together every Lord's Day simply because it is what we do every Lord's Day. And I am so thankful for that. I am looking largely at those who have been brought up in homes and in families gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You have attended the remembrance of the Lord.
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Week after week, where the Holy Spirit had liberty to lead whomsoever He would to give thanks, to give out a Him.
And ultimately, to give thanks for those precious emblems of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why do I lay such an emphasis on it all? Because if our hearts are right as to Christ and if everything that he has done, the appreciation of His grace, His love, his sufferings.
After all, aren't they going to be our theme for all eternity? Indeed they are.
And if we read the 5th chapter of Revelation, and we are not turning to these scriptures because I know you are familiar with them, we read there that John saw a lamb as it had been slain. And I believe those wounds, as has often been commented on, will not be scars. They will be wounds that will remind you and me for all eternity of the precious.
Grace and love.
And the fact that he suffered for us.
What a privilege then, it is down here to remember the Lord.
In the world where he was rejected.
You know it is a privilege we won't have in the same way in the glory. There will be no problem with praise up their will there.
The old sinful self will be gone.
No longer will we have a body of humiliation, it will have been changed into a body fashioned like under His glorious body. No longer will be there will there be the distractions and difficulties of the outside world.
Everything will be perfectly suitable to that wonderful song of praise for all eternity.
But there's a special character, a special quality.
To the priests that's offered down here where there are many difficulties and many problems.
And the Lord Jesus appreciates it more than you and I can ever think.
And we think first of all of Him and what it means to him. Think of the Mount of Transfiguration, all that glory displayed there in the presence of Peter and James and John, where the Lord together with Moses and Elijah.
But what were they talking about? What was their conversation about?
Ah, they speak of his deceased, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Oh, that gives us the theme of heaven.
That which will occupy our hearts for all eternity. Oh yes, the glory will be there and I don't take away from it.
But if I may be permitted, I'll quote the words of a one of our good writers from the 1800s, Brother John Bellitt. He said the glory will be wonderful, but even more precious than all that glory will be the celebration of the grace that brought us there.
But in order to illustrate my point, let me tell you a story.
And forgive me if you've heard me tell the story before.
I grew up in the Niagara Peninsula in Hamilton, where fruit farming was very common, and there are those here from Michigan who are very familiar with that.
Too. We had an old brother in our local assembly who was a farmer and he told me a story that happened a way back in the Depression, back in the 1930s.
And in order to understand this, you have to understand a bit of the geography of the area.
Because through the area where I lived there is what is called the Niagara Escarpment, and it goes down into Western New York. It's actually the overhang over which Niagara Falls goes and it goes way up into Ontario into the Bruce Peninsula.
And below that escarpment and going on down to Lake Ontario, the soil is beautiful, very sandy, easy to work with, and the climate is much warmer.
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But up on top of the escarpment, the soil is hard. Believe in me. I have put a hole in a shovel into it many times. I can vote for it.
And this dear brother owned a farm up on the escarpment. And he told me a story once of how the fruit inspector for the province of Ontario, who was going around in the Depression, came to his farm. And he noticed that in the back of his car the inspector had a big basket of beautiful big Peaches. And I guess they were nice, big, luscious, just the right colors and everything.
And his heart sank because his are much smaller.
And they didn't in any way compare in looks to those Peaches.
But he brought some hope for the inspector and they were not like some that we buy today where they picked them green and you have to put them on the counter for a good while to let them ripen. They were good and ripe.
But they were small.
The inspector took a bite into one of them and his eyes lit up, he said.
My the flavor. Oh.
Should have you got more of those?
All the brothers said to him, well look, you've got way better ones in the back of your car already. Oh yes, he said. They're nice, but they don't compare to the flavor that yours have.
The praise that is offered down here has the character, if I could use the term, in a picture of that which is grown on hard ground.
And it won't be able to be offered in the same way in the glory.
Do we appreciate that?
I said there was going to be something I hoped for everyone here.
And I'd like to talk a little.
To each class of people here, if I may be allowed to do so.
And if I may be allowed to say a few things.
As an old man.
I have to recognize where I am on the calendar.
And some of the things I'm going to say.
You'll say, Bill, where's the scripture for that?
And I don't have one.
But I trust that it is, if I can use the term, some spiritual intelligence that has been garnered over the years and largely from many of those brethren who have gone before.
Who gave their judgment on certain things?
I'd like to talk to the brothers here first of all.
Come together to remember the Lord. It is brothers you and I that have a big responsibility because the sisters are not to take audible part. We'll get to them in a minute.
Are we sensitive to the leading of the Spirit of God?
It's not enough simply to fill the time.
With some kind of activity.
And then at the end, go and remember the Lord.
Let me turn to one scripture that I think is important and we'll mention it, Matthew's Gospel.
Chapter.
26.
A little phrase here.
Verse 40, Matthew 26, and verse 40. And he cometh under the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and Seth unto them, or Seth unto Peter. What could you not watch with me one hour?
Leave that now and go down to verse 45.
Then cometh He to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
I believe there's a hint here.
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When the Lord says one hour.
I can well remember many years ago being at a Bible conference like this.
And I'm sorry to say, and we were all guilty.
There was an evident lack of responding to the spirits leading.
And it went past the hour and no one had gone up to the table to distribute the emblems. And I remember afterward in conversation with our late brother Clarence Lundeen, who shook his head. And then most of you who might remember him will know that he was not normally an emotional man. But that time he was, he said, Brother Bill.
We were all guilty.
I can remember another old brother of my acquaintance in my growing up years who would speak about sleeping away the hour, and I believe that's what the Lord meant when he spoke to his disciples. When He said rise up, let us be going. He didn't mean them to continue on sleeping. Yes, they had been physically asleep, but they had been morally asleep and that was the real problem.
And we can come together and go through the motions and be morally asleep.
Very sad.
Two things are mentioned, but I want to preface them with this remark.
I would 1000 times rather.
Bear with her weakness and have it exposed rather than cover it up with human arrangement.
But let me make a couple of comments, because I say to my own heart, as I say to your heart, dear brothers, we should never be satisfied.
With weakness and failure as if it has to be the norm.
Let's be exercised.
It's very easy to sit there, especially in a larger assembly, and say let the others take part.
Are you and I ready, dear brothers, to get up and offer thanks?
Maybe you say, but I'm not eloquent. I don't have the language to do it. Another brothers can do it so much better.
That's not the point.
If you read Leviticus chapter one and we won't turn to it, it brings before us the burnt offering.
And there were those that were capable of offering a Bullock, others who were capable only of a sheep or a goat, and finally those who are capable only of a turtle, dove or pigeons. What does it say after each one? The very same thing.
It is an offering made by fire of a sweet savour under the Lord.
And I am reminded of early, and I'm glad I'm really going back, so pardon me.
I could remember our late brother Jimmy Smith from Southern California.
That goes back a year or two.
And he told a story of how he had been told he wasn't there at a meeting.
Where a number of those who were normally more active in the breaking of bread were not there.
And a dear brother, with much reluctance, went up to the table.
To give thanks for the emblems.
I can remember Jimmy Smith's voice breaking too, as he told the story. He said the dear brother could hardly pray he didn't have the language.
But all he did was go up there and with tears running down his face, he said, Lord, we thank thee.
Lord, we thank Thee.
And then he broke the bread.
And those who were present said they had seldom felt the Lord's presence so real.
And the power of the Spirit so strong as on that occasion.
It's not a matter of language now. There's nothing wrong with a prayer of that.
In the imagery of Leviticus, one offers a Bullock. That's wonderful. The Lord appreciates that.
I've said this before and I want to say it just once more and leave it.
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It's a sign of our weakness and failure to turn the remembrance of the Lord into a Him sing.
I can remember reading in our written ministry.
Where a brother asked a question in a reading meeting and he said in the presence of an older brother.
Would you hesitate just as much even to give out of him?
Oh, the older brother said.
I would hesitate more to give out a him than anything else.
He said because it is so easy to miss the mind of the Spirit and to give out the wrong one, It is so easy to give out a hymn that is far beyond our understanding and our state of soul.
And he said furthermore, it is easy to do it as an excuse.
Let's not be ashamed to get up on our feet and pray.
And brethren, please don't misunderstand me. Hide 1000 times as I say, bear with failure and cover it up with a ritual and human arrangement. But we need to be exercised.
And if there's a pause in the meetings, no one's saying anything. Let's not just give out of him to fill the time. No, let's be exercised. What the Spirit is leading me to do? Maybe nothing.
But I remember reading and I just leave it with the leave this I remember reading.
The notes.
The Bible conference well over 100 years ago, and somebody had taken down everything that happened in the remembrance of the Lord.
I have to say I was rather impressed.
Because there were eight brothers that got up and gave thanks.
And there were only three hymns. Some.
No, I don't want anybody to go away and say Bill Cross said there could only be 3 hymns at the remembrance of the Lord. You know I don't mean that.
1000 times no.
But I do say.
The hymns are wonderful.
Oh, what they mean to us.
Someone has said words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling.
But singing a hymn brings the two together. Singing makes you feel a thought, and it's true.
And let me use that as a springboard to say something about singing.
It's not the loudest singer that necessarily feels the most as to the words, no.
But do we sometimes sit there and not sing?
No, everybody Can't Sing. I know that. And some.
Have a hard time singing on key I know that, but most people have good voices.
I speak particularly, if I may.
To young people, Are you ready to lift your voice, and singing unto the Lord the praises to Him? Not for me.
Not for my brethren, it's for him, no. Yes, we all get the odor of the ointment, definitely when we're in the place where worship is going on.
Let's not be afraid to sing.
We'll all sing in heaven. The voices will be perfect.
Let's not sit there with our mouths closed or gaze around the room or something like that.
If our hearts are right, we will want to sing unto the Lord.
We'll leave it at that.
What about the sisters?
It's not proper for them to take audible part, but can you be in the current of the spirits?
Thoughts. And what he's doing. You indeed can.
And you are more important than you think, because behind the scenes, what you bring to the remembrance of the Lord is of supreme importance.
It's easy to be distracted, it's easy to sit there and don't think I haven't had the experience.
Of something coming into my mind.
Or something in the room, the antics of some baby in the next row, or something else that can be a distraction.
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Let me offer you a solution to that.
And it came from an old brother who's now with the Lord, he said. If you feel extraneous thoughts coming into your mind.
Or find something that is detracting you from thinking about why you are there.
Simply close your eyes, look up to the Lord and say, Lord, I thank thee.
That thou seest me.
Not in all the weakness and failure that I am.
But rather in all the perfection of Christ himself.
And that has what it takes to turn our minds around and bring them into the right focus.
But there's something else that is needed and we will just quote the scripture and it's found in First Corinthians 11, it says.
Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat.
Now, that verse has been wrongly used to say that anyone can come and remember the Lord simply by deciding in his or her own heart that they're ready to do so. That's a misuse of that Scripture. That Scripture is talking about those who are already recognized as being believers and at the Lord's table.
And it means self judgment.
And we can't expect to live for self all week long and neglect the Lord all week and then suddenly come together on Lord's Day and find.
That we are going to be able to offer something to him.
If we're going to offer something to him, there needs to be that occupation with him.
All week long.
I'm telling a lot of stories, but I'll try and finish on time.
I grew up in Hamilton, ON, Canada and there was a very elderly sister who was there for many years, although during much of my childhood she had moved back over to Toronto, ON. Her name was Emily Gosby. She never married and she was so old that she could very well remember sitting on JN Darby's lap as a little girl.
This was told to me by a brother in that assembly who was old enough to be my father.
And as a young man he was sitting there in the remembrance of the Lord, and the Spirit of God was leading him very strongly to give out of him.
And he couldn't bring himself to do it.
After the breaking of bread, some other brother gave out that same hymn.
But it wasn't lost on Emily Godsby.
Outside in front of the meeting room, people were chit chatting as they often do, and there were a group of young men there and she had of course no idea. But she said quietly, she said, you know, brothers, I fear that someone quenched the spirit this morning.
I felt strongly that the Spirit was leading some brother to give that hymn out before the breaking of bread.
Now I thank God someone gave it out afterwards, but I think someone quenched the spirit. Now the brother in question told me this himself and he was old enough to be my father. He said I sat there with my OR. I stood there with my head and it went down, down, down.
And finally I had to confess up to her.
Miss Cosby, I'm the I'm the guilty one.
Well, she didn't have to rub it in.
She didn't have to rub it in. No, she was in the current of God's thoughts and in the current of the spirits leading.
Young people.
Are you remembering the Lord and his death?
It's your privilege and I have known, and I'll say this out loud.
Although I hope it isn't true very often that there have been young people who hesitated to go and ask to be asked to remember the Lord because they said I'll be. My behavior will be scrutinized by the brethren if as soon as I take my place at the Lord's table.
I can tell you something interesting, it's nothing new.
The same brother.
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Whom I quoted a while ago, who in going up to the Lord's Table for the last time, said, May the precious remembrance of the Lord never become religious ritual.
As a young man back in the.
How long ago would it have been? 1890s maybe? I would suppose somewhere in there.
Hesitated to remember the Lord because there were some things in his life that he knew were not in keeping.
And he was afraid that when he went to ask for his place, some of those things might be brought to his attention, and he realized they were not in keeping with one who took his place at the Lord's Table. He said that himself.
But then one verse got him in Second Timothy chapter 2.
Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord. I'm quoting the Darby. Now depart from iniquity all he said.
I named the name of the Lord even if I'm not breaking bread. I can't use the fact that I'm not breaking bread as an excuse for bad behavior. The Lord is calling me even if I name his name, to depart from iniquity.
And he went and asked to remember the Lord. May I encourage you?
To do that.
And when you come to remember the Lord, remember.
You were just as integral a member of the body of Christ as anyone else.
Sing the hymns, Sing them well.
Open your Bible.
The Lord doesn't always use older brothers to take part and it's very refreshing to me to see a younger brother get up.
And give thanks. Wonderful. We're to have a hymn that the Lord lays on his heart.
Children.
There are lots of children here and I am so glad to see you. It does my heart good to see you here with your parents, to see you running around and enjoying yourselves.
But also sitting here at the meetings.
And maybe you are not quite old enough, although the Word of God does not give us any definite age as to when you should ask to break bread. Isn't that interesting?
It gives us some guidelines and not going to go on to the end of them now, but the point is.
Are you?
Thinking about what especially the breaking of bread is all about.
May I suggest parents?
If your child is old enough to read and write, I think you should be exercised about letting them have.
Their own Bible and hymn book.
It's all right to pull a Bible off the shelf at the meeting room in a hymn book from the supply that are available there. But it's nice, children, to have your own Bible. Why?
Because it's good to read it yourself at home, your own Bible, and have your own hymn book.
I remember well as a boy when I bought my own Bible.
For some reason which I never did understand and still don't, my father was dubious about it.
But I still remember because it was not his money, it was my own money that I was going to pay for it. Back in those days, over 70 years ago, the Bible was $2.10.
And when the individual that was running the book room saw me, she took the two the $0.10 off, so it only cost $2.00.
But I remember with what joy I could turn to the references in my own Bible.
The one time I didn't do it, I was at a gospel meeting and because there were Sunday school children sitting in the role with my parents, I had to sit behind with an old brother who was old enough to be my grandfather.
And of course, the gospel preacher turned to some scriptures and then started to preach.
And I close my Bible and put it in the.
Little rack there on the back of the seat, and the older brother didn't say a word, but after a moment or two he quietly reached out, retrieved my Bible, opened up to the appropriate scriptures, quietly put it on my lap. I never forgot it.
I can still remember and I know I'm telling stories about myself, but I can remember singing that hymn that we sung at the beginning of the meeting.
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Where it says.
What wonders cause could move thy heart to take on thee our curse? And smart. And I didn't know at that age that to smart for something meant to suffer for something. I took it in a different direction, which may bring a smile to your face, but I can assure you it was real.
Maybe other boys here can relate to this, but when I was growing up there were times when I was accused, and probably rightfully so, of being a smart aleck.
A smart aleck. I don't know if they use that term anymore, but I think we know what it means. And I remember singing those words and thinking.
As a boy with a limited understanding of a boy, the.
The Lord Jesus really have to suffer on the cross because I'm a smart Alec.
Children take in more than you think, parents.
Yes, I know small children maybe needs maybe need something to amuse them in meeting, but if they're old enough to read and write, I suggest.
In a humble way that it's nice for them to have a Bible in hymn book to open that hymn book.
To open that Bible, to learn where the places are.
And to be conscious of what the meeting is all about. Yes, it tells us concerning the Passover.
When your children shall ask you what meanie by this service?
But we don't have to wait for that. We don't have to wait for that.
They will learn much by observation.
And I say, brothers and sisters, children will learn from seeing how seriously you and I take the remembrance of the Lord as to what their attitude should be if I'm flippant and casual about it.
They will notice and they won't pay much attention if it means something to you and me.
They will take that to heart.
In the last five minutes, a couple of final comments.
Why do I leave? Why does the Scripture lay such an emphasis on the remembrance of the Lord?
Because if our hearts are right as to Him and everything that He is, everything that he has done for us.
Everything else falls into place.
That's why the remembrance of the Lord needs to take a central place in our lives.
Not just on Lord's Day, but every day of the week.
We remember a dead Christ, We remember him as he was, but he is no longer.
That means we know he's risen. We couldn't remember someone in death who was still dead. It wouldn't make sense. But we remember him in death because he is now alive.
But what he suffered force will be our theme for all eternity and when we remember the Lord.
And it has the first place in our hearts.
We don't have much time, but number one, it becomes the impetus.
The exercise for gospel work because in the morning when we go to remember the Lord, we present Christ.
To God the Father.
And we remember him, but then in the gospel we present him to a lost world.
I hope we don't go to the remembrance of the Lord and then say, well, that's over with, rest of the day is mine. Oh no, 1000 times. No, the Lord's Day only called that once in the Bible. Only once.
But that's all it has to be for the heart.
It honors and glorifies the Lord Jesus in the world where He was rejected.
Paul says in First Corinthians 11 you do show the Lord's death till he come. What does that mean?
It means that when we remember the Lord, the world looking on, and believe me, they know more than you think about what we do when we remember the Lord, even though they're not there.
It makes them realize that we by remembering the Lord in death.
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Realize that he is risen.
Risen and glorified, we show the Lord's death.
Then it's only till he comes.
The remembrance of the Lord ought to bring before us the Lord's coming, perhaps in a more real way that at any other time.
I've already mentioned it. It will be a theme for all eternity on earth. The song begins in heaven. More sweet and loud.
And finally.
The remembrance of the Lord, it's for the Lord we come to give.
But what happened after Mary of Bethany poured that ointment on the Lord?
If you read all the accounts, she poured it both on his head and on his feet. Wonderful. And we don't have time to discuss that now.
What happened? It was for him. She was oblivious to everybody else around her.
What was the result? Oh, the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. If we come to give, do we ever go away empty? No. If we come with the true thought in mind that we are there to give, to respond to His request, will we ever go away without a blessing ourselves? Absolutely not.
There doesn't need to be any ministry after the remembrance of the Lord.
The remembrance is enough, but there's room, there's liberty for ministry. Mary got a tremendous encouragement because there were those that were critical of her. And the Lord says, Let her alone against the day of my burying has she kept this. And then He says, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this which this woman hath done.
Be told for a memorial of her.
Of her.
Oh, how wonderful.
You and I will get a reward for remembering him down here.
Breaks my heart to think about it. A reward for remembering him? How could that be?
He values it.
But he'll rewards you in your soul even now.
Let's sing another hymn together, one that is well known #146.
#146 written by brother James G Deck.
The most prolific hymn writer in our hymn book.
We bless our Savior's name. Our sins are all forgiven.
To suffer. Once to earth he came.
He now is crowned in heaven. And notice the language in verse 30. Let thy love constrain.
Our souls to cleave to thee. Oh, what brings us together of her and makes our hearts right. It's the enjoyment of His love. It's His constraining love upon us that takes hold of our hearts.
And ever in our hearts remain.
That word Remember Me?
May I be allowed to propose a tune to this hymn that I think everybody will know?
The tune happens to be called Armington, but it's similar to another tune that goes up at the end of the first line and this one goes down.
So if we could pay attention to that, it fits this hymn very well.
Let me make sure I can get it right now.
Oh dear, gone from me. Never mind. Doesn't matter what the tune is, we'll start on one that everybody will know.
Way below.