The Highest Privilege on Earth
The remembrance of the Lord is the highest privilege of the believer on earth. The One who gave up everything so that the Father’s will might be done, that the matter of sin might be settled, and that we might be brought into blessing has asked us to remember Him. Surely this precious remembrance should produce the deepest affection in our hearts and draw them out in worship. It is really a foretaste of heaven, for Christ — all that He is and all that He has done — will be our occupation up there for all eternity. God in His grace has given us the privilege of experiencing something of that joy down here.
In considering this wonderful privilege, there are elements that should not be part of it, and there are things that should be before our hearts. Let us look first at some things that should not be connected with the remembrance of the Lord.
Coming to Give
First of all, we must remember that it is not a meeting where we come to receive. Rather, it is our privilege to come and give. This is brought out typically in John 12:22There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. (John 12:2), where it says, “There they made Him a supper.” While this, no doubt, refers to an actual meal, the passage is a type of the supper which we make for the Lord when we remember Him. If we come expecting to receive, we will be disappointed, for we are missing the real privilege of the meeting. At other meetings, such as a prayer meeting, an open meeting, or a reading meeting, we may come expecting to receive, and rightfully so. God feeds His people through those whom He has provided and in the power of the Spirit of God. But the Lord Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:3535I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)). In grace He has given us the better part and allowed us the privilege of coming together to give.
Of course, we have to say, like David of old, “All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee” (1 Chron. 29:14). It is the Spirit that leads out our hearts in thanksgiving, praise and worship, and only in true waiting upon Him can we give properly. Then, in coming together expecting to give, we will receive. We will find that, as “the house was filled with the odor of the ointment” (John 12:33Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. (John 12:3)), so our hearts will be filled with Christ and we will be encouraged.
From what we have just said, it is evident that the remembrance meeting is not a place for exercise of gift. Gifts are for edification, exhortation and comfort, but they have no place in worship. The enjoyment and appreciation of Christ transcends gift and brings every saint into the place of a worshipper.
It Is Himself, Not Our Blessings
It is also a meeting where we should not be occupied with our own blessings. No doubt the blessed results of Christ’s work for us will come to mind and will draw out our thanksgiving and praise. The greater our appreciation and enjoyment of these blessings, the more our hearts will be filled with praise and worship. However, our thoughts and hearts should be directed to Him who has brought us these blessings, not to the blessings themselves.
Likewise, we do not come together to pray in the sense of bringing needs before the Lord. This is properly the character of a prayer meeting, where we come “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” to let our “requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:66Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6)). In the remembrance of the Lord, our own needs should be forgotten, as we have our thoughts and hearts focused on Him.
Human effort should have no place in the remembrance meeting. The outflow of thanksgiving, praise and worship must be in the power of the Spirit, and if the Spirit is free to lead and guide, there will be that energy of praise and harmony of thought and expression that is fitting. When the power of the Spirit is not felt, there is tendency for human energy to try and take its place. This results in man-made services which may appeal to the natural heart, but which do not result in that which is pleasing to God. We should never come together with a sense of duty, for the result will then be that we will go away self-satisfied, supposedly having done our duty. One old brother, long since with the Lord, once remarked, “May the precious remembrance of the Lord never become religious ritual, but may it ever be fresh in our minds!” Let us remember that God is not seeking worship, but He does seek worshippers (John 4:2323But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23)).
Collective Worship
In the same way, thoughts peculiar to one’s self should not be presented, for when one takes part, he does so as the mouthpiece of the assembly. Thus, what is expressed should be what can be appreciated and approved of by the assembly of worshippers. Worship in Scripture is recognized as being collective, and thus one individual should not force that which only he can enjoy.
Finally, true worship cannot be rendered if the Spirit of God is grieved. This is a very delicate thing which cannot always be defined, but can certainly be felt. Many of us can remember occasions when we came together, expecting the Spirit to lead out our hearts in worship, only to find that there was an evident and felt lack of the Spirit’s liberty to do so. If sin on our conscience has not been judged before the Lord, or if sin in another is present, it is sufficient to stifle the Spirit’s liberty, for the Spirit must occupy us with the sin until we confess it. The Spirit’s liberty may be curtailed by serious acts of sin, but it may also be affected by evil thoughts, personal feelings against others, worldliness, a careless attitude, and many other things. May we be sensitive to the presence of the One who is in our midst, and whose love and grace deserve the very best from us!
Remembering Him in His Death
On the positive side, it is a meeting where we come to remember Him, and remember Him in His death. The Passover brought sins to remembrance, but now that we have “no more conscience of sins” (Heb. 10:22For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (Hebrews 10:2)), we can remember Him who took all those sins away. He knew how easily we would forget Him, becoming occupied with our blessings instead of the One who brought them to us. More than this, He knew how easily we would be taken up with His power manifested in us. During our Lord’s earthly ministry when the seventy returned from their mission, they came with joy, exclaiming, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name” (Luke 10:1717And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. (Luke 10:17)). While the Lord appreciated and shared in this joy, He gently reminds them that they should “rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:2020Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20)). Even to enjoy His power used through us is not as high a theme as the One who has brought us there. The remembrance of Himself focuses on what He has done, not on what we might have done, even in His power.
Let us always remember that when we come together to remember Him, it is to meet Him. The presence of our brethren, the joy of singing and praising together, the pleasure of enjoying “the odor of the ointment” — all may contribute to our appreciation of the occasion. But let us remember that it is He who is there in our midst, and that He is the One whom we come to meet!
In this connection, let us also remember that He desires and values the remembrance far more than we. On the night the remembrance was instituted, He could say, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:1515And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: (Luke 22:15)). Prophetically He could say concerning His sufferings, “My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me” (Lam. 3:2020My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. (Lamentations 3:20)). His appreciation and remembrance of His sufferings are always perfect, and far exceed ours. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He could say to His disciples, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me” (Matt. 26:3838Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. (Matthew 26:38)). As with the disciples, so we are often found asleep as to what He went through. He could say, “I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop” (Psa. 102:77I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. (Psalm 102:7)), but He has asked us to watch with Him.
We remember Him in death, for He is now alive. Had He not risen from the dead, not only could we not remember Him in death, but we would have no Saviour. But because we enjoy communion with a glorified Christ, we can remember His humiliation and death. It is because we are united to a risen Christ that we can look back to Calvary. Our remembrance of loved ones now dead is as they were in life, for as to this world, they are now dead. With our blessed Lord it is different, for since He is now alive, we can remember Him in His death.
“Ye Announce the Death of the Lord”
More than this, Paul says, “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until He come” (1 Cor. 11:26 JND). In remembering our Lord in death, we announce that death to the world and bear witness to the fact that He is risen. Then too, it is only until He comes, for in heaven we will not need the loaf and cup as emblems of His suffering and death. Rather, the marks in his body will remind us for all eternity that He suffered for us.
When we come together to answer to our Lord’s request, no preparation is needed, except preparation of heart, and this is perhaps the most difficult. Human energy, as we have said, can have no place, but rather true waiting on the Spirit of God to lead and guide. He will lead according to our appreciation of Christ, adapting that leading to the measure of spiritual maturity and understanding of those present. If any known sin on our conscience has been confessed, then God will meet us where we are, and worship will flow as a result. On the other hand, if our lives throughout the week have been characterized by worldliness and self, our state will show itself in a grieved Spirit and consequent lack of worship.
Praise and Worship
Finally, if we are in a right state before God, all that Christ is to God will come before us. What He is to us draws out our thanksgiving and praise, but what He is to God will bring us to true worship, where we are forgotten in the adoration of that One who, in perfect obedience and submission, not only satisfied, but glorified God in His pathway down here and His work on the cross.
May our hearts value the privilege of remembering our blessed Lord in His death, for it is a privilege we will not have in the same way in heaven! Up there, nothing will hinder the full outflow of praise and worship for all eternity. However, that which is rendered in this world where He was rejected, and thus rendered under adverse circumstances, has a special character that nothing can replace.
W. J. Prost