Will you please turn to Acts, chapter 2, verse 42?
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Turn also to 1 Corinthians 10, verse 16.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?
Seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread.
Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar?
What say I then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons.
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
Then 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23.
For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, This is My body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of Me.
In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another.
Shall we pray?
Our Father, we do praise and thank Thee that we are truly a privileged people, that Thou hast called us and enabled us to come to worship Thee, to remember Thee, and to serve Thee.
Our Father, it is our desire that we may worship Thee as Thou art, that we may serve Thee as Thou art worthy. So, Lord, enable us as we hear Thy Word together. Speak to our hearts, and by Thy grace, through Thy Holy Spirit, bring us to that which will satisfy Thee. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We have been considering together these days this matter of worship. We are created as worshippers, and we are redeemed to be true worshippers—those who worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
The coming of our Lord Jesus and the work which He has accomplished on Calvary’s cross are to make us worshippers.
We do not just worship a God who is transcendent and distant from us, but we worship a God who is our Father, who is near us, who is in us, and we are in Him.
Worship is our spontaneous, free response—the response of a loving heart towards our God, our Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Worship is not just an act; it is a life. It is not merely external posture. It is with our heart, and it involves our total being, that our whole being may go out to Him to worship, to appreciate, to adore, and to love Him.
We mentioned that there is private, personal worship and corporate worship. In nature they are the same, because both are worship; but in practice there is some difference.
In corporate worship, another dimension is added. It is not only the vertical relationship between us and God our Father, but also the horizontal relationship between us and our brothers and sisters.
Therefore, corporate worship requires more: more understanding, more self-control, more of the working of the cross, and more cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
Now this morning we would like to enter into some particulars. What we considered previously was worship in a general sense, but we would like to see worship in relation to the breaking of bread.
In Acts 2:42, we are told that in the early church the believers continued, persevered, in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
What is the teaching of the apostles? Of course, we know that the teaching of the apostles is none other than the teaching of Christ. They do not have their own teaching apart from Christ. What they teach us is what they have been taught and what has been revealed to them by Christ.
The fellowship of the apostles is none other than the fellowship of Christ. Again, we find that the apostles do not have a separate fellowship; it is the fellowship of Christ.
The teaching of the apostles gives us truth—objective truth. The fellowship of the apostles gives us experience—subjective experience.
The teaching of the apostles teaches us what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross: the finished work of Christ. The fellowship of the apostles shows us the work of the Holy Spirit in us, bringing us into fellowship.
So, brothers and sisters, the early believers continued and persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles—in both the objective truth and the subjective experience, in both the knowledge of the finished work of Christ and the experience of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.
This teaching and fellowship of the apostles is expressed practically in the breaking of bread and in prayers. The breaking of bread and prayer are the two basic corporate expressions of the teaching and fellowship of the apostles.
That is the reason why, in the early church, great emphasis was placed upon the breaking of bread and upon prayers.
Today, when we say that we go to worship, or when we see a sign saying, “Worship Service,” what does it mean to us? Probably, to most people, it means an hour set apart on a certain day, mostly on the Lord’s Day, where some songs are sung, some words are read, some prayers are offered, and most important of all, a message is given.
In other words, as God’s people come to worship, they really come to hear a sermon, a message. That is about all that people know of worship.
But, brothers and sisters, even though there is a place for the delivering of God’s Word—preaching, as we call it—we find that the breaking of bread is actually the centre of corporate worship.
That is the reason why, in the book of Acts, in the early days they gathered daily with one accord in the temple, and they broke bread from house to house as they ate their meals with gladness.
I wonder what they did when they gathered in the temple area. They had so many people, because on the day of Pentecost three thousand were added, and then the Lord added to them daily. There must have been a tremendous number of believers in Jerusalem in those days. There was no house large enough to contain all of them, and that is why they gathered in the temple area, probably in Solomon’s Porch.
No doubt, they listened to the apostles relating Christ and what Christ had done for them. But I wonder whether, when they gathered together in the temple area, that was the time when they really gave themselves to prayer.
Prayer was the life of the church in the early days, and it was their expression of worshipping God. On the other hand, they broke bread from house to house. Breaking bread was their expression of corporate worship.
As you read on in Acts, you come to Acts 20. Paul came to Troas and stayed there for seven days. While he was there, Acts 20:7 says that they gathered together on the Lord’s Day to break bread.
In other words, the reason for their coming together was to break bread. How different it is today. When people come together today, they come to hear a message, to hear a sermon. But in the early days, God’s people gathered together to break the bread.
Because worship is the life of the church.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is something for us to consider before the Lord. I think it is something in which we have to make our priorities straight.
As God’s people, when we gather together, we need to gather with a worshipping spirit, instead of coming together merely to hear God’s Word spoken. There is a place for it—an important place for it—because, on the one hand, it helps us to worship, and on the other hand, it is the result of worship.
But we must remember that to worship the Lord is the reason why we come together. One way to express our corporate worship in the church is the breaking of bread.
So I do hope that, from now on, as we come together on the Lord’s Day, we will not come with the mentality that we come to hear the Word preached. Yes, the Word must be preached; there is a need for it. But when we gather together, our mentality should be this: we come together to worship the Lord.
How do we worship the Lord? By breaking the bread. This should be the centre of the life of the church.
Now, concerning the breaking of bread, which is corporate worship, I think we need to know a little more about what the breaking of bread really is.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that the cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ, and the loaf which we break is the communion of the body of Christ. We, being many, are one loaf, one body, and we all partake of this one loaf.
In other words, in 1 Corinthians 10 we are told that the breaking of bread is the Lord’s Table. When a table is mentioned, we know immediately that it is communion; it is fellowship. We eat together, and as we eat and drink together, we fellowship together. The emphasis there is upon communion, or fellowship.
Then in 1 Corinthians 11 we are told that the breaking of bread is to remember the Lord. It is called the Lord’s Supper.
As the Lord’s Supper, we remember Him. We remember what He has done for us. We remember how His blood was shed for us. We remember how His body was broken for us. We remember Him.
So the breaking of bread has two aspects, or a twofold meaning. On one side, it is the Lord’s Table, and the emphasis is on communion. On the other side, it is the Lord’s Supper, and the emphasis is on remembrance.
We come together to remember the Lord.
You will find that in 1 Corinthians 11 it is the bread first, and then the cup. The bread which we break is the body of Christ broken for us, and the Lord said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” After that, the cup is the cup of the new covenant, sealed by the blood of our Lord Jesus; and the Lord said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
In other words, as we come to break the bread, it is to remember Him. The loaf that we break stands for that body which our Lord Jesus took upon Himself in His incarnation.
In this body He did all the will of God. In this body He offered Himself as a spotless sacrifice by the eternal Spirit. In this body, broken for us, He gave His life to us and united us as one body unto God.
So, when we come together to break this loaf, we remember how this body was broken for us, that we may have life and that we may be united together to God our Father.
As we take this cup, we see how His blood was shed for the remission of our sins, that our sins may be cleansed and forgiven. More than that, this blood which cleanses our sins is the very blood which seals the new covenant.
The cup stands for the new covenant. God has made a new covenant with us through the blood—an unbroken covenant. We all know what that covenant is. It is described in Hebrews 8.
I will put My laws into their mind,
And on their heart also will I write them:
And I will be to them a God,
And they shall be to Me a people.
And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen,
And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:
For all shall know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And their sins will I remember no more.
This is the new covenant, and this new covenant is sealed by the blood of our Lord Jesus. In other words, it cannot be broken. This is our portion; this is our inheritance.
So, as we come to remember Him, we remember all that He is and all that He has done for us. When you remember all that He is and all that He has done for us, you cannot help but worship Him.
The breaking of bread in remembrance is worship. We are also told that, when we are remembering Him, we proclaim His death.
We see on the table the loaf and the cup. The blood is separated from the body, and this signifies death. Thus, we are exhibiting the death of our Lord Jesus.
It is a testimony of the church. We testify to the world—both the seen and unseen world—that Christ has died. Because He has died, He has accomplished all that God sent Him to accomplish. It is done.
This is a testimony which the church bears to the world and also to the unseen world, to the angels, both good and evil, announcing to them what Christ has done.
At the same time, we are looking forward to His return: until He comes. It is not merely looking back to remember what He has done for us, nor only exhibiting His death as a present testimony. It is also a hope, as we look forward to the day when He shall return and we shall eat and drink with Him in a new way.
This is the Lord’s Supper. This is the aspect of remembrance.
At the same time, there is communion, represented by the Lord’s Table. In communion, the cup comes first and the loaf follows. In 1 Corinthians 10, we read, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?” Then Paul mentions the loaf.
Why? Because, when you come to actual experience, without the blood, how can we share His life? Blood must be shed, and our sins must be redeemed and forgiven. Then we can receive His life in us.
So, when you come to communion, the cup comes first and the loaf follows. It is communion, fellowship, with the blood of the Lord and with the life of the Lord.
This is not transubstantiation, nor is it merely representation. This is a spiritual experience.
When we drink the cup and eat the bread, the fruit of the vine in the cup does not transform into the physical blood of our Lord Jesus. Nor does the loaf transform into the physical body of our Lord that was crucified on Calvary’s cross. It does not.
The fruit of the vine remains the fruit of the vine, and the loaf remains the loaf. Yet, in our spirit, as we partake of the cup and of the loaf, we are in actual communion with the blood of our Lord Jesus and with the life of our Lord Jesus.
As we drink this cup, in our spirit we are once again experiencing the cleansing power of the blood of our Lord Jesus. The blood that was shed two thousand years ago becomes a present experience through the Holy Spirit.
Once again, we are in touch; we are in contact; we are experiencing the power of the blood of our Lord Jesus in spiritual reality. So it is more than representation, more than symbol.
One group of Christians believes in transubstantiation, and another group believes in symbolism. But this is neither transubstantiation nor symbolism; it is a spiritual reality.
The same is true when we break the bread. Even though it is bread that we take in, yet in our spirit we are in touch with the life of our Lord Jesus.
The grain of wheat has fallen into the ground and died, and it has borne much fruit. This life is released through the cross, and the life of our Lord Jesus is in us. Once again, we experience the resurrection life, the power of His resurrection in our lives, which gives us strength for the week that is ahead of us.
So, brothers and sisters, this is a very real communion. It is not a ritual; it is real fellowship. It is real communion with the blood and the life of our Lord Jesus.
After we have drunk the cup and taken the loaf, brothers and sisters go out as a new people, renewed in our spirits by the life of our Lord Jesus. This is the only way that we can live on this way.
But communion has another aspect. Even though we are many, we are one loaf, one body. In other words, communion is not only communion with Christ, but we commune with those who are Christ’s, because this loaf represents the whole body of Christ.
This loaf includes all God’s people—not only those meeting together in this room, not only believers in Richmond, but believers throughout the whole world. It includes every brother and sister in the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we are in communion with the whole body. We are not merely in communion with a few members; we are in communion with the whole body.
That enlarges our vision and enlarges our heart. It increases our love for the brothers. This communion is very, very real.
After we have partaken of the loaf, we cannot go out and be exclusive or narrow in our feelings. We must love all brothers, because this is the loaf.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when we come together to commune in such a way, no doubt it draws out worship. How can we commune with Christ and not see His worthiness, and not be stirred into worship? It is natural; we have to worship.
How can we see that He has not only saved us, but saved so many brothers and sisters? We have such a large family. We belong to each other. When we see this, we cannot help but praise and thank Him for what He has done.
This is, in brief, the meaning of the breaking of bread. Again, I will say: the breaking of bread is not a ritual. It is not something that we merely do as a habit. The breaking of bread is very real. It is worship, remembrance, and communion.
Now the question is this: if this is so, we must partake in a worthy manner. When we come to break bread, when we come to worship as a corporate body, we must come in a worthy manner.
It is true that, in one sense, we are never worthy. Who is worthy? No one is worthy. Only the Lord is worthy. We are not worthy in ourselves, but He has made us worthy. He has saved us, and He has opened a new and living way for us.
That is the reason why we can come. But even so, we must come in a worthy manner.
First of all, before we come to break the bread, before we come to worship, what should be our attitude?
You remember the parables in Matthew 22 and Luke 14. A king prepared a marriage feast for his son, and he invited many people to come.
When the marriage feast was ready, he sent his servants to tell the people whom he had invited to come, because the time had come. But the invited people made light of it. They despised it; they were careless about it.
Some said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go and prove them.” Another said, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and see it.” Another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” They all made excuses and would not come. In other words, they despised it.
Before we come to break the bread, we must not make light of it. We must not be careless. We should not simply come in a careless way because it is our habit to meet together on the Lord’s Day and break bread.
There should be preparation beforehand. Some people despise it and make light of it. Whether they are around the table or not, it really does not matter to them.
Some think the breaking of bread is such a small thing that they do not care whether they are present or not. Many have excused themselves from the table. They come only once in a great while. Whenever they feel like it, they come; when they do not feel like it, they do not come.
Brothers and sisters, that is making light of it. Think of God, who invites us to this table. Can we just despise it?
If we really know what the breaking of bread is, can we absent ourselves from it? Dear brothers and sisters, you may be absent from other meetings, but certainly not from this.
Of course, if possible, attend all meetings. But if you cannot do it, this is the one time that you must be present. Why? Because the King has invited you to His own table for His Son. How can we despise it?
How sad it is today that we find God’s people so careless about the Lord’s Table. We need to see this, dear brothers and sisters. This is the one time that everyone must be present.
Not only must we be present, but we must be prepared for it. If you were invited by the President of the United States to a dinner, would you not prepare yourself? Certainly you would.
You would prepare yourself in every way—not only in the suit or dress you should wear, fitting for that occasion, but you would try to know the etiquette and everything connected with it. You would try to know what you could do and what you could not do. You would prepare yourself for that occasion.
Now, brothers and sisters, can we come to the Lord’s Table, invited by the King of kings and Lord of lords, and not be prepared?
That parable has a significant note. When those who were invited refused to come, the king said, “Go out into the highways and byways, and bring people in, that the house may be filled.” The house was filled.
Then the king came in and noticed that one of them did not have on a wedding garment. He asked why, and the man was cast out.
The background was this: in early days, when a king, a nobleman, or a rich man invited guests to his table, he prepared robes. Everyone who came in would put on the robe that he had prepared.
You did not come in your own robe. You came and put on the robe that your host had prepared for you. But this man evidently thought that his own robe was good enough—perhaps even better. So he refused the robe that the host had prepared, and consequently he was cast out.
There is an important truth involved concerning the kingdom, but we will not go into that. What I would say, dear brothers and sisters, is that we need to be prepared beforehand.
In what way must we be prepared? Number one: we are coming to drink and to eat of the Lord. Because of this, we have to come in a worthy manner—a manner worthy of the Lord.
If there is any sin in our life unconfessed and not dealt with; if there is any controversy or disobedience to the Lord in our life unsettled; if there is any unforgiving spirit toward our brother or sister—brothers and sisters, this would be coming in an unworthy manner, because it is unworthy of the Lord.
Therefore, before we come to partake of the Lord’s Table, in our home we must come before the Lord and ask Him to show us whether there is any unconfessed sin, any controversy between us and God, or anything between us and our brothers and sisters.
If there is, confess it. Claim the blood of our Lord Jesus, and be cleansed and purified. Thus we can come in a worthy manner.
Otherwise, as Scripture says, we will be eating judgment to ourselves. This is a serious matter. It is important, brothers and sisters, that before we come to the breaking of bread there needs to be preparation.
If there is no opportunity for corporate preparation, then at least privately and personally we need to prepare for it.
Number two: our preparation must not only be negative; it must also be positive. Before we come to the Lord’s Table, let us prepare to bring something to the Lord.
We do not come to the Lord’s Table empty-handed. Suppose someone invites you. Is it not customary that you bring a little thing to express your appreciation for being invited? Perhaps flowers, candy, or something else. You bring something; you do not come empty-handed.
The Lord invites us to His Table. Can we come empty-handed? Is it not right for us to bring something to Him, to show our appreciation? Certainly, this is what we should do.
In Old Testament times, the children of Israel never came to the temple empty-handed. They always brought something with them. What was that something? Something with which the Lord had blessed them, something for which they had worked hard.
They were in the promised land. The blessing of the Lord was upon that land; rain would fall upon the land in season. Yet they still had to work hard.
By the combination of the blessing of God and their hard labour, they produced. They took what God had given them—the firstfruits, the best of everything—and brought it with them to the temple when they came to worship God.
If this was true with the children of Israel physically, it ought to be true with the church spiritually today. We have to come with our hands filled.
What has the Lord given us through the week? In our reading of the Word, in our prayer life, in our life with the Lord, in His dealings with us and our dealings with Him, in our trials and in all the circumstances of life through which we have gone—whatever the Lord has enabled us to learn and to produce through all kinds of environments and circumstances.
Brothers and sisters, it may be a song, it may be a revelation, or whatever it may be. We prepare it, put it in a basket, and bring it to the time when we come to break the bread.
Oftentimes we all come empty-handed. We have not brought anything, and because we have not brought anything, when we come to break the bread there is very little expression of our worship to Him.
We do hope that, before we come to this time, every brother and sister will bring something. This is not the time when you come to receive anything; this is the time when you come to bring something and lay it at the feet of our Lord Jesus.
Every one of us, young and old, should bring something. Do not think that because you are young you are not expected to bring anything. You are expected to bring something.
This is the preparation that we need before we come to the Lord’s Table.
Now, secondly, at the table: when we have come to the Lord’s Table, what should we do?
As we come to the Lord’s Table, and as we each bring something with us to this time, let us lay what we have brought at the feet of our Lord and say, “Lord, this is something that I have brought to show my appreciation. I place it at Your feet. Use it as You see fit.”
Because this is corporate worship, we must remember that at the Lord’s Table the Holy Spirit is present. The presence of the Lord Himself is represented by the Holy Spirit. He is in charge of the feast and of the breaking of bread.
We should not have certain brothers in charge of the time. The Lord Himself is the Host. The Holy Spirit is present, and He is in charge of this time.
Because He is in charge, everyone who comes must come with an open spirit. Do not come with a closed spirit.
Do not come and say, “I am not going to open my mouth.” Nor should you come and say, “I must do something.” No. We all come with an open spirit and an open heart.
“Lord, we come here to worship You, and we come here expecting Your Holy Spirit to guide and lead us in worship.” Brothers and sisters, we do not know how to worship corporately, but the Holy Spirit is responsible for corporate worship.
Therefore, every one of us must come with an open spirit. We must be so open to the Holy Spirit that whenever He wants to use any one of us, He can use us; and when He thinks it is not the time for us, He can leave us.
Sometimes we cannot be left, and at other times we cannot be used. It is all ourselves; it is not the Holy Spirit. We have to be so open that He can use us as He wishes.
Why is this so? There are two reasons. One reason is that, when God’s people come together and everyone has their hands filled, there is such abundance that it would take eternity to express all these things. Thank God for eternity, but we are still living in time.
Therefore, when we come together and bring what the Lord has given us as our appreciation, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to choose, at the moment, what pleases Him.
The other reason is that, when the Holy Spirit is in charge, He is leading the body. It is not merely that the Holy Spirit leads individuals. There is the leading of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives, but when God’s people come together to break bread, the leading of the Holy Spirit is corporate in nature. He is leading the whole body.
As He leads the whole body, there is a symphony; there is harmony. He chooses the things that we have brought with us and orders them in such a way that they come forth as a beautiful symphony, all in harmony.
There is no discord and no jarring note. Whether it is praise, prayer, words, or singing, everything will follow as the Holy Spirit leads. As He comes upon this one and that one, taking up this and that, they all come together as one great symphony.
All will come together, and it will build up, build up in worship. When the peak is reached, that is the time to break the bread.
So, brothers and sisters, at the breaking of bread there is a need not only for an open spirit, but also for the exercise of understanding and self-control.
We mentioned this last time, so I will not go into detail today. When the Holy Spirit leads, there is a divine order. When the wind blows, there is a direction, and we will all follow in that direction. Then you will find how God will be pleased with our worship.
Thirdly, after worship.
When we come together to break the bread, the centre of our attention is on the table: the loaf and the cup. In other words, when we come together, it is the Lord Himself whom we come to remember, worship, and praise.
This is not the time when we come to ask for something. This is the time when we come to give back to Him what He has given us. This is not the time when we think of ourselves; this is the time when we think of Him.
Sometimes, when we come together, some will begin to pray for this or pray for that, asking for this and asking for that. At other times, we merely think of ourselves: how unworthy we are, how sinful we are, and all these things—without thinking more of the Lord.
In other words, forget ourselves, but concentrate on the Lord. This is what we do when we come together. Whether it is hymns, choruses, songs, praise, prayers, or reading some words, let all be focused upon the Lord.
Let all be focused upon the Lord.
When the atmosphere or spirit of worship rises to the point at which we should break the bread and drink the cup, then we should do so.
As a matter of fact, Scripture does not specify or describe for us how we should conduct the meeting of the breaking of bread. The only thing prescribed is in 1 Corinthians 11: the Lord took the loaf, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” Afterwards He took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
That is the only portion specified. Aside from that, how the worship time is conducted is not described. Why? Because it is up to the Holy Spirit.
But there is one part that is prescribed: we break the bread and we drink the cup.
In a sense, we need to learn not to drag on. The first reason why we drag on is that we come without preparation, so we have to spend much time just preparing ourselves for the moment.
The second reason is that we do not really understand how the Holy Spirit works in a meeting. If we are all prepared, brothers and sisters, perhaps in five minutes we may be ready to break the bread.
But because we are not prepared, it may take us more than half an hour to get there. It is a spiritual thing. If you are not there, you are not there.
If we are all prepared, we can come together and perhaps in five minutes it is time to break the bread. If it is time to break the bread, break it.
Oftentimes, the prayer and praise may come to a peak, and people simply wait. Then it goes down again, picks up again, and goes down again. It may rise and fall two or three times, and by the time we break the bread everyone is exhausted.
Do not do that. When the Spirit is there, let us break the bread. Some brother can pray or speak, and we break the bread at the time when our spirit is ready for it.
This is not a rule, but a help. I do believe there is a divine order in the breaking of bread.
Before we break the bread, all our concentration is upon the Lord Himself: remembering Him, communing with Him, thinking of Him and what He has done for us.
But after we have broken the bread, oftentimes that is the end of the meeting. Why? Because we have dragged on so long that it is already time for the children to go. We miss something. We miss something.
The breaking of bread should be the peak of the meeting, the climax. After we break the bread, remember our Lord Jesus: after He had broken the bread, He led His disciples to the Father.
You have not only the record of His prayer in John 17, but also the record that after the supper they sang a hymn, and the Lord led them to Gethsemane. There our Lord presented Himself before the Father.
In Psalm 22:22, you find:
I will declare Thy name unto My brethren:
In the midst of the assembly will I praise Thee.
In other words, after the bread is broken, we know that God is not only His God but our God; not only His Father but our Father. So He leads His own, the body, to worship the Father, who is the source of everything.
The Lord said, “I will declare Thy name unto My brethren,” and, “In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.” There is a part that we have missed—not purposely, but probably because we do not understand it very well.
After we have broken the bread, after we have experienced what the Lord has done for us, no doubt He will lead us back to the Father.
If the breaking of bread is not prolonged, then we will have time to worship the Father, to tell the Father how much we appreciate Him.
For instance, this morning, when we see the grace of our Lord Jesus—grace is our Lord Jesus—but after we have experienced the grace of our Lord Jesus, should we not see the love of God?
It is the love of God that gave us such grace. Should we not come to God our Father and thank Him for such love in giving Christ to us? That will lead us back to God, lead us back to the Father, and bring us into that family relationship.
So, brothers and sisters, it would be good. It is not a rule; it is not a law. Sometimes, if we do not have time to do that, do not do it. If the Holy Spirit does not give us the burden to do that, simply omit it. That is all right.
Still, we need to understand that, in the breaking of bread, there are actually these two parts: before and afterwards. Before, it is centred upon the Lord; after, it is centred upon the Father. We come to the Father through the Son.
I do believe that if the Lord leads us in this way, then we will find our worship more complete.
Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, as we share together on this matter of worship and the breaking of bread, we ask Thee, O Lord, that on the one hand we may have understanding, and on the other hand we may be in the Spirit.
We pray that we may not be bound in any way, nor be disorderly. We pray that our worship may be such that it will be pleasing to Thyself and satisfy Thy heart.
Lord, we want to worship Thee the best that we can, because Thou art worthy. So we cast ourselves upon Thee and ask Thee to help us, to guide us, and to lead us into that worship which truly answers to Thy heart’s desire. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.