if you please. My heart is burdened tonight and has been for some time over what we as a people of God. I speak now of the collective gathering of God's people as a local assembly or even as the church in the whole universal character of it in the world. May I say lovingly and earnestly, I don't know how you feel concerning the truth about the Church. But as I read God's Word, it is the most precious possession that God the Father has and that belongs to the Lord Jesus. far beyond, though we speak faithfully and lovingly, one to another, of the love that we sang about tonight, the love of the Lord Jesus for us individually, and thank God for that. But did you ever consider the depths of truth that Paul wrote when he said in Ephesians five, twenty-five, Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it. Meaning the whole body, the body of Christ comprising of all believers, all men and women who trust the Lord Jesus as their Savior. It is to be his eternal bride. May I go a little further also to remind you, which you may read in Ephesians chapter two. And I don't know whether you have ever conceived it as you should do. I haven't. But according to Ephesians chapter two and verse ten, it is God's masterpiece. The church in eternity will be the greatest exhibition of God's power and grace. Can I say that again? I do it humbly, for it is my grateful thanks to God that I live in this age of the church, which is to be and is the body of Christ and is to be the bride of Christ. It's true that we should be active for the Lord Jesus in relation to our responsibility to the world. But it is also true that we are responsible to the head of the church. Are we what he wants us to be? Are we doing what he wants us to do as a testimony? If you've ever read the epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, the first epistle, I'm sure that all of you who have, and if you will, You'll find that dear Apostle Paul had to correct as well as rebuke the local church in Corinth, which fortunately succeeded in blessing. And collectively they were doing many things wrong. But I would like to bring before your heart, as well as my known heart, in fact it's been on my heart for many years. almost ever since the Lord saved me. What is the chief meaning of the church? You may not agree with me, but that doesn't change my opinion and conviction. And the chief meaning of the church is not the gospel preaching. Not the sub-discourse. No one ever outreach. As will it now, please, not speaking of the unsaved, the church. And I hope you understand the meaning of the scriptures regarding what the church is. It's not an organization. It's not a local chapel, so to speak, as an organization. Or any affiliation. According to the scriptures, every believer in the Lord Jesus is a member, and the Word of God calls it the body of Christ. Now why is it called a body? Because it is an organism, not an organization. As a body, as your body is thus connected to you as the head that you have, so the body of Christ, the members upon the earth who have trusted him as Savior, they are united with him, the head. One body? You can't sever the body either. We're joined to Christ. May I go further to say, listen, the importance of the fact of what the church is, and I say lovingly and earnestly, as well as sadly, very few Christians know what the church really is in this world. But the joy that you and I can have and should be having to express that we know in His presence who we are and to whom we belong as his church. Now one of the great things that the Lord Jesus left before he went to the cross and before the church was founded, you well know what he did in the upper room with the disciple. He instituted the chief meeting of the church, the Lord's Supper. the Lord's Supper. Let me read in first Corinthians verse chapter eleven, please. I'd like to read part of it, please. Just part of it. Let me begin in verse twenty three briefly and go through verse twenty eight. Paul writing by the Holy Spirit, for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he break it, and said, Take ye, this is my body which is given, broken or given for you, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup. When he had stopped saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. this do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show or proclaim the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily or in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself. so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. Now may I say something very carefully? I'm glad to hear this Sunday morning some dear soul, some dear faithful one who has trusted the Lord Jesus will be baptized. It's one of the ordinances that you find in the Word of God. You find in the New Testament particularly Baptism in the Gospel. You'll find it practiced in the Book of the Acts. And you'll find it taught in the Epistle. But there's another ordinance. Now baptism is only for one time. You don't need to be baptized twice. And it's the first time you weren't even saved when you were baptized. That didn't count. But if you're baptized as a believer, once is enough. When it's genuine and real. But the Lord's Supper has we read in our accounts here. It's not something to be done once. It's to be done often. I'm sure as one of our dear brethren pray tonight, we wish every brother and sister who was capable was hearing the prayer meeting. It's one of the meetings of the church. But if you read First Corinthians chapter eleven, And go all the way down through chapter fourteen. You find that the dear Apostle speaks of the saints in coming, gather together. Gather when you come together. When you come together. And I say very frankly and lovingly, the Lord's Supper is the time when all the saints who are capable, physically capable, who know the Lord should be, and the Lord suffer, I'm broadly going to say right. They should be there. He was instituted by the Lord Jesus in the upper room with his own disciples. It was practiced in the Book of the Acts. Here it is taught in the Epistle. And there's no question of doubt that the dear Apostle Paul had communicated orally that same privilege and responsibility to the saints at Corinth. But here they were refusing the Lord's sufferers, you may read from the context, and doing it in an unworthy manner, to which he had to correct and rebuke, and then to tell them what it meant, what it was, and oh, how we can realize. It's the gathering of the church together. It's got nothing. Now, please let me say, please, you may not... I don't mind if you don't agree with me. You disagree with the word of God. That's all I can say. But when it comes to the Lord's Supper, it's only the saved people that should be taking the supper. Participating. I'm sure we can recognize that and see. And it is the place and the time when the saint worshiped. This is a prayer meeting. Thank God for the prayer meeting. We need more of them without doubt. But may I say this, the greatest privilege is to gather together to worship. To worship. Did you ever notice something? I noticed it in the gospel. More than once. When a precious soul the Lord led to him, to insult, that soul began worshipping. Read it. Read chapter nine in the book of John. When the blind man was healed, when ultimately he came face to face with the Lord, though he did not know who he was, and that Jesus had to just now believe on the Son of God. For with him all that I might believe, he said, And he said, It's he that talks with me. And he looked at the Lord, and nobody said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. But my beloved, this prayer meeting is not a meeting for worship. The gospel meeting is not a we-meeting for worship. You may find some of the bulletin boards outside many of the church buildings advertising public worship. Please, the public can worship. No one in the public can worship unless they know the Lord Jesus. But when you know him, he wants worship. You go to John chapter four. When the Lord Jesus led that dear woman at the well to himself. Worship began. Remember the Lord said to her, Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, the water that I shall give him shall be a fountain of water springing up. unto everlasting life. And may I say this, you've sung maybe sung that chorus many times as I have. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Worship. And what a joy. And may I give you this thought, too, when we come to worship at the Lord's Supper? Don't forget where worship goes in what direction. It goes up. It extends to God. We're the orderly assignment thing. It's the adoration of the heart, not the merely expression of the lips. And it's the same stuff. Now may I make a distinction for you between worship and ministry. What I'm doing tonight, I'm ministering. Ministry comes down from the head of the church. Read Ephesians chapter three, chapter four rather. And you'll find it's the head of the church that gives all the gifts to men. Whether it be the evangelist, the shepherd, or the teacher. The gifts come down and ministry comes from it. It's not the word please. The Lord is seeking to speak through me to you. When you worship, the Spirit of God is speaking to God through you for worship and praise and worship to what they say now. and the Lord's Supper is a time of worship. Please let me give you some thoughts that we'd like to follow together. From the scriptures that we have read, seven particular features regarding that Lord's Supper, that you and I can learn what it should be and mean in its characteristics. Look with me in our chapter where we read, beginning at verse twenty-three again. For I have received of the Lord, right Paul? May I pause for just a moment, I want you to get the meaning of those words, he wrote. For I have received of the Lord. Now, let me please remind you, Paul wasn't at the institution of the Lord's Supper. He was labeled for much further time afterwards. But he got this directly from the Lord. The Apostle, the other Apostle, They saw it instituted. And you find in chapter two, when people were saying they fellowship together in the breaking of bread, which is the Lord's Supper. But Paul was commanded by the Lord to teach this. He got it directly from the Lord. And it's just in corroboration. We want the other apostles' practice too. But please note, he goes on to say, For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. I told you about it before. That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he break it and so on. Please know, first of all, may I point out something? The first thing Paul says, the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed when it was instituted my beloved we find a lovely hymn tonight and I'm sure those hymns we do think so often cherish the thoughts that for us individually he died on Calvary and here the Lord's Supper was instituted on the night of his betrayal, when he knew Judas had left the gathering to betray him to the chief priests and elders in Christ. But on that same night, he instituted the supper. Let me just quote one verse about that same night in John thirteen, when we read that when Jesus knew that the Passover would come and that he was going to leave the world, depart from the world, to go to the Father. Note these words at the end of that one verse. Having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them to the end. Please, may I point out something to you? At the Lord's Supper in that upper room where he instituted it? that which he instituted for them to keep was an expression of his love to make them clearly understand he loved them my beloved was a joy to know that the institution of the Lord's Supper and the keeping of it reminds the believer who comes to remember him Of the love of the Lord. But note first of all. What I want you to know. What took place as he goes on to write. In verse twenty four. At the end of verse twenty three. The Lord took bread. Now note. When he had given thanks. He break it. Now one of the first features of the Lord's Supper is this, and one of the chief features of the Lord's Supper. It's not a preaching service. It's a Thanksgiving service. I've often wondered and been amazed that the Lord Jesus, knowing he was to die, gave thanks. You remember what he said? He said, Take eat. This is my body, which is given for you. And here he's thanks. Gives thanks for his coming death. My beloved me, I say lovingly, I say it from the depth of my heart and the joy of my soul. The best place I know to give thanks to the Lord Jesus for what he's done for me is the Lord's Supper. Now you may not agree with me, but that doesn't matter to me. But it's the best place and the proper place when we come together. To give thanks. To give thanks. To praise. The brethren particularly to participate. And the sisters silently can do it. To give thanks. He gave thanks. It's a place of thanksgiving. And what a joy to realize that for Thanksgiving. You know, there's an old hymn we sometimes used to sing at what they called the harvest festival in the old country where I was born. In the fall of the year, sometimes they do it here. Oh, come ye thankful people come. And it's just a hymn that gives him thanks for the harvest of the field. But I want to tell you, my beloved brother and sister, can I say it again? I say it humbly, but I say it earnestly. The best place for you to give thanks and for me to give thanks to the Lord, the way he wants us to is for the Lord's Supper. Of course you can do it all the way too, but it's a special... When you come together, the whole assembly, coming for one purpose, to give the Lord thanks. I remember many years ago, a dear old brother that I knew very well, led a soul to Christ one Saturday night at the Gospel service in Treesat. That man was genuinely saved, and to prove that he was, believe it or not, the next morning was Sunday morning, and the first meeting was a worship meeting of the Lord's Supper. And he came to it. And as the man came to it, he didn't realize what was going on. He knew it was another service of some sort, and he wanted to be back because the Lord had saved him the last night before. But he knew nothing about the Lord's supper. But my good friend took him on one side and explained to him why we were coming this morning was not to preach. It was to worship and pray and give thanks. And when he explained it to this dear man, the man broke out saying, Oh, thank you, Lord, for saving me. Amen. And you know, my friend said the meeting began. Oh, my beloved, please can I say it lovingly? It is the responsibility of every brother in the assembly and sister who possibly can physically be at the meeting. It gives the Lord that. Not just one, but every one of us. Just coming for that purpose. But let's go further, please. And this is indeed what we want to see. Let's read on. And we read in verse twenty-four. Go right through it. When he had given thanks, he break it and said, Take it, this is my body, which is given or broken for you. And note, this do what for? In remembrance of me. Not in memorial now. Don't put that word in it. In remembrance. And the word means, call me to mind. My beloved, may I ask you, as well as my own heart, do I call him to mind when I come to the Lord? Bless your soul. That's what I'm supposed to be doing. We remember a person. We remember Let me go a little further now. Please distinguish the difference. It's not that we come to remember what He did for us. We come to remember Him. Him. The person of Christ. Not a preacher. Not a deacon or an elder. No any other brothers. A person. And that person. Remember who? Me. In commemoration of me. That blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And my, my, for instance, look, you and I have loved one, firstly loved one. They hold a place in our human affection. And we remember them. We call them the mind. We call them the mind. They fill our mind. Our hearts think of them. Now I want to tell you something. You've got the greatest person in the world to remember when you remember him. The person of Christ and the joy of knowing that it's an act of affection. And when we do, let me give you another thought. When do we, what day of the week do we do in our? The first day of the week. Why, the first day? What's the matter with the last day of the week? I hope you know the difference. He rose again the first day of the week. Amen. We remember a living Savior. Look, please. Yes, we cherish and recall and proclaim his death. But we remember him now. He's alive. He's alive. He's a person. For instance, Matthew eighteen and verse twenty, you often call it it, Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst. Remember the first resurrection day, when the disciples were shut in, locked in, locking themselves in because of the fear of the Jews. Came Jesus and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. And he showed them his hands and his thighs. And then were the disciples glad when they saw who? The Lord. Let me say something. That too many Christians go to the Lord's Supper and never see Jesus. It's certainly possible. We recall to mind a genuine person. Can I just, for just a moment before closing, or we'll continue on, God willing, next week, but may I just say that? Look, there isn't another person in the whole universe that's worth remembering like he is. Amen. It's not the President of the United States, nor the King of England, or the Queen of England, or any other ruler. It's the greatest person in the universe, the eternal Son of God. My beloved, look here. No, no, please. You and I who are saved, we've got the greatest privilege that the world can never have. Amen. To recall to our mind the great person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What an occupation. I would tell you, frankly, that's what you're going to have to be doing in heaven. This is life eternal, said the Lord Jesus, going on and on and on and on, knowing thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who thou is sent. My beloved three, let me say, more than a memorial, it's a commemoration. We call to, and the word remembrance means we call to our minds, just one push. And I want to tell you, I've allowed to trouble sometimes, and I'm sure you will too. The devil like to get other thoughts in your mind as the Lord suffers. But it's the time when only one person should fill our mind. Let me ask you a question simply. Do you think the Lord's big enough to fill your mind? Oh, I think of a dear old man. Oh, Christ. Do I love enough? the mind and the heart to fill, thy patient life to calm the soul, thy love is feared itself. Oh, fix our eyes so wholly more than thee, that with thy duty occupied, we elsewhere, none may speak. Please let me say this again. I say from the fullness of my heart, the depth of my heart, I praise the Lord, since he saved me. Back in nineteen fourteen, it's been my joy to take the Lord's Supper every opportunity. I've missed very seldom any opportunity to meet the person of Christ with the Lord's Supper. Recall into mind. Let me tell you something. If he's in your mind and mine more, you'll do more for him. You'll be better fitted to do it too. Better fitted to do it. Because it will motivate the affections that go out to him. Pouring out the love and the affection of the heart in worship. Will make you a better servant of God. Now here are just a few thoughts. Let me say again in closing. It's the chief meaning of the church. And if you don't believe it, go back in the Old Testament. What was the chief thing that they had to do in the Old Testament? The altar was first. Then the house, then the walls of the city were built. But they ought to be approached to God, to get into God's presence. The chief meaning of the church. And you've got, well, remember the Song of Solomon said that verse when the Song of Solomon wrote about the beloved, my beloved is white and ruddy, the cheapest among ten thousands. And let me close with just a little incident. Back in nineteen twenty six, a beloved brother, a doctor up in the city of Albany who I was visiting en route to New York City on that occasion. And who had been saved? Now listen, he was a brother who had been in the Presbyterian Church and a steward in that church, one of the most wealthiest churches in the city of Albany. And yet he had never been saved. But I don't remember now where he heard the gospel really got saved. And he knew there was nothing in that church where he was that would feed his soul. And he looked for people that knew the Lord and loved the Lord and the Word of God. And he found a little company, meaning in a store building in fact. Only a handful. And he joined himself to them as they found they were meeting in the name of the Lord. And they worshipped, as I've been suggesting, the Lord suffered. They studied the word of God. They had the prayer meeting. They preached the gospel every Sunday night. And then he told me he had a neighbor who was the steward in that church, too. And that old neighbor, when I left the church, he said, he derided me. He scolded me. He said, well, he said, I got so tired of listening to him until one day I came home from the church service, from the Lord's Supper. And my neighbor saw me, and he came over to the fence. He said, Doc, come over here. He said, I went over, and he said, Doc, smearingly. We had over four hundred at church. How many did you have here? And he said to me, you know, he said, I was fed up with him trying to make fun of me. He said, I looked at him and said, we beat you. He said, what? He said, we beat you. How do you make that out? You couldn't even get a hundred people in that little building you went to. Nevertheless, we beat you. How do you figure that? He said, no, we couldn't get a hundred bucks. We had one person there who was worth more than ten thousand. Amen. The Lord. Shall we pray? Oh, blessed Lord. We have to say, the Lord, altogether lovely. The cheapest among ten thousand, and we pray that the dear saints of our rich family, each one and thy servant do sleep, will have a deeper love and affection for thee to worship. and gather themselves together, as we're told, not to be forsaking ourselves, gathering ourselves together, as the manner of some. As we pray, as our brotherly, we wish all the saints who are at the prayer meeting tonight, and we pray also that they all be at the worship meeting. Bless thy word, Lord, and bless thyself to our hearts in thy precious and worthy name. Amen. Thank you for coming.