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In this message we shall begin to consider the meetings of the church.
The meetings of the church are very important. The church should meet continually, for meetings enable the believers to be supplied, established, and perfected that God’s goal may be accomplished.
Attending the meetings of the church is God’s ordination for the believers. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Here the assembling refers to the church meetings. God has ordained a way in which every living thing in the universe should exist. If a living thing obeys the law that governs its existence, that thing will survive and be blessed. The principle is the same with the believers. God’s ordination for us, which becomes our law of existence and blessing, is the church meetings. As fish must live in water and birds must exist in the air, so we must maintain our spiritual existence and living by the church meetings.
The meetings of the church are also a requirement of our spiritual life. Every kind of life has its own characteristic and usually many characteristics. The spiritual life we have received, being the life of God in us, also possesses many characteristics. One of these characteristics is that of flocking together, of meeting together. John 10:3 and 16 reveal that since we are saved and have the divine life, we are the Lord’s sheep. The characteristic of the sheep’s life is to flock together and to dislike isolation from other sheep. Hence, the Bible says that we are not only the Lord’s sheep but also His flock (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2). In order to be a sheep which shares in the blessing of the flock, we must meet together with the flock, the church. The characteristic of the spiritual “sheep life” within us requires that we attend the meetings of the church.
The basic principle of the meetings of the church is that the meetings are a gathering of the believers by the Lord into His name. A church meeting must be a gathering of the believers by the Lord. This is indicated by the Lord’s word in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” This verse does not say that two or three come together to meet or that they meet together but that they are gathered together. The verb is not in the active voice but in the passive voice. The two or three do not meet together; they are gathered together. They are gathered together by the Lord. If we say that the two or three meet together, this meeting is initiated by those who meet. For two or three to be gathered together, however, indicates that they are gathered by the Lord.
The fact that the verb in 18:20 is in the passive voice indicates that whenever we come together to meet we should not be the ones who take the initiative. Rather, it must be the Lord who initiates the meeting. He gathers us. Our meeting, therefore, is not initiated by anyone except the Lord Jesus. Every time we meet together it should be He who gathers us together. Apparently it is we who take the initiative to meet together. Actually it is the Lord who takes the initiative to gather us together. It is He who gathers us into His name, initiating every meeting. Any meeting initiated by us may not be genuine, and the motive may not be pure or singly for the Lord. For this reason, every gathering of the church must be initiated by the Lord as the gathering One.
In gathering us together in His name, the Lord rescues us from all kinds of worldly and earthly distractions and occupations. This means that if we are not gathered by the Lord, we may remain in many other things. We may be occupied, detained, kept, and to some extent imprisoned by many things. Apart from the Lord’s gathering us together, not many of us would come regularly to the church meetings. Therefore, we need a powerful One to rescue us from all occupations and distractions and to bring us out of them. We especially need to be brought out of the self. We cannot be gathered into the Lord’s name if we stay in the self. For every church meeting we need the Lord to bring us out of everything other than Himself and to gather us together into His name. This is a basic principle of meeting for any kind of gathering — for prayer, for the Lord’s table, for the reading of the Word, for building up. Whatever kind of meeting — small meetings in homes or large meetings in the halls — the principle is first that we are gathered out of all kinds of occupations into the Lord Himself.
According to the original language, Matthew 18:20 says that the Lord Jesus gathers us not in His name but into His name. In the principle of the New Testament, the name denotes the person. The name is the person. Hence, to be gathered into the Lord’s name is to be gathered into the Lord Himself. Furthermore, the name of the Lord Jesus is very much linked to the Holy Spirit. Actually, the Spirit is the reality of the Lord’s name. The Lord’s name denotes His person, and the reality of the Lord’s person is the Spirit. This means that to be gathered into the name of the Lord, that is, into the Lord Himself, is to be gathered into the Spirit.
When we are gathered by the Lord into His name, we enjoy His presence. In 18:20 the Lord especially promises that where two or three are gathered together into His name, He will be “in their midst.” This indicates that we enjoy His presence in a special way. His presence surely brings us enlightenment, grace, supply, and all kinds of blessing. How precious this is!
According to the New Testament, there are different categories of the gathering. These categories include the gathering for the Lord’s table, the gathering for prayer, the gathering for edification by exercising the spiritual gifts, the gathering for reading the Word of God, the gathering for listening to messages, the gathering for preaching the gospel, and the gathering for fellowship regarding God’s move.
The first category of the gathering is the gathering for the Lord’s table. Acts 20:7 says, “On the first day of the week, when we gathered together to break bread.” To break bread is to eat the Lord’s supper, to participate in the Lord’s table, remembering the Lord who died for us (1 Cor. 11:20, 23-25). This should be the first kind of regular meeting for us who have been redeemed by the Lord’s death.
The first day of the week was the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). On the first day of the week the believers gathered together to break bread in remembrance of the Lord. This indicates that at that time the apostle and the church considered the first day of the week a day to meet together for the Lord, gathering for the Lord’s table. The first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, is the day of the Lord’s resurrection and the beginning of a new week, signifying that the old things have passed away and that a new life has begun. Therefore, it is most appropriate to break bread to remember the Lord on this day.
In 1 Corinthians 10:21 Paul uses the term “the table of the Lord,” and in 11:20 he uses the term “the Lord’s supper.” There is an important difference between the Lord’s table and the Lord’s supper. The Lord’s table refers to the enjoyment of the Lord in fellowship. Hence, the significance of the Lord’s table is enjoyment for participation, enjoyment for fellowship. When we say that we take the Lord’s table, we mean that we enjoy the Lord in the fellowship of Him. This is for our enjoyment and satisfaction. The Lord’s supper, however, is for His satisfaction. It is for the remembrance of Him.
Regarding the Lord’s table and the Lord’s supper, there is mutuality. The Lord’s table is for our enjoyment, but the Lord’s supper is for His enjoyment. Sometimes we may say, “Lord, we come to Your table and partake of it.” This indicates that we are enjoying the Lord. At other times we may say, “Lord, we thank You that we can have Your supper.” This indicates that we are remembering the Lord for His enjoyment and satisfaction.
The gathering for the Lord’s table is first to remember the Lord. Luke 22:19 says, “Having taken a loaf, when He had given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this unto the remembrance of Me.” First Corinthians 11:25 tells us, “Similarly also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, unto the remembrance of Me.” The gathering for the Lord’s table is not for anything other than remembering the Lord, with the remembrance of the Lord as its center for the Lord’s enjoyment. Everything in this meeting, whether hymn singing, prayer, Bible reading, or words of inspiration, should take the Lord as the center, speaking either concerning His person and work, His love and virtues, His living or suffering on earth, or His honor and glory in heaven, that others may consider these things in order to remember the Lord Himself. In such a meeting we should think of the Lord in our hearts and behold the Lord in our spirit that we may be inspired concerning Him. Then we shall express our inspiration through songs, prayers, reading of the Bible, or words, so that the feeling of the meeting will be directed to the Lord and that all will remember Him.
At the Lord’s table we remember the Lord by eating the bread, which signifies His body given for His believers (1 Cor. 11:24), and by drinking the cup, which signifies His blood shed for their sins (Matt. 26:28). The bread denotes life (John 6:35), the life of God, the eternal life, and the cup denotes blessing (1 Cor. 10:16), which is God Himself as our portion. As sinners, our portion should have been the cup of God’s wrath (Rev. 14:10). But the Lord Jesus drank that cup for us (John 18:11), and His salvation has become our portion, the cup of salvation (Psa. 116:13) that runs over (Psa. 23:5), the content of which is God as our all-inclusive blessing. Such bread and such a cup are the constituents of the Lord’s supper, which is a table, a feast, set up by Him so that we may remember Him by enjoying Him as such a feast. Thus we testify of His rich and marvelous salvation to the entire universe and display His redeeming and life-imparting death (1 Cor. 11:26).
By attending the Lord’s table we receive proper nourishment for our growth in life. Yes, we come to the Lord’s table to remember the Lord. Nevertheless, we need to realize that participating in the Lord’s table is the best way for us to be spiritually nourished. In no other meeting do we emphasize eating and drinking as we do in the Lord’s table meeting. At the Lord’s table we eat and drink. Nourishment comes into us through this eating and drinking. When we eat the Lord’s body and drink His blood, we not only receive nourishment but also enjoy the Lord Himself and all that He has accomplished for us by giving His body and shedding His blood. To receive and enjoy the Lord in this way is to remember Him. It is when we eat, drink, and enjoy the Lord that we truly remember Him.
The gathering for the Lord’s table is not only to remember the Lord but also to worship the Father (Matt. 26:26-30; Heb. 2:12). The gathering for the Lord’s table is a meeting for the believers’ worship. According to the procedure in God’s salvation, we first receive the Lord and then draw near to the Father. Thus, in this meeting for worship, we should first remember the Lord and then worship the Father. The center of the section of the meeting on remembering the Lord is the remembrance of the Lord, and the center of the section on worshipping the Father is the worship of the Father. In this section all the prayers, hymns, and words should be directed toward the Father.
Matthew 26:30 says, “Having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” This hymn was a praise to the Father by the Lord with the disciples after the Lord’s table. A principle is implied and established here, that is, after we have broken bread to remember the Lord, we ought to be led by Him to worship the Father together. Therefore, it is based upon this verse that we sing praises to the Father at the end of the Lord’s table.
Another verse related to the worship of the Father is Hebrews 2:12. “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise unto You.” This verse reveals that the resurrected Christ sings hymns of praise to the Father in the midst of the church. Although the Lord Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, through death and resurrection He regenerated us who believe in Him (1 Pet. 1:3) that we might become the many sons of God. He then became the firstborn Son of God (Rom, 8:29), leading us, who are the many sons, with Him to the Father. After He was resurrected, He came among the disciples (John 20:19-29) and declared the Father’s name to His brothers. Then in His status as the firstborn Son of God, He led His many brothers, who are God’s many sons, to sing praises to the Father together, that is, to worship the Father together. According to this fact, after we have broken bread in remembrance of the Lord, we should be led by the Lord to worship the Father.
As we worship the Father, singing praises to Him, Christ, the firstborn Son, sings in our singing. Throughout the centuries the firstborn Son has been singing hymns of praise unto the Father in the church. He does this in all of His brothers. Because He is in us, He sings praises unto the Father in our singing. His singing is in our singing. When we sing, He sings, because He is within our singing. In this way, at the Lord’s table the firstborn Son, who dwells in His many brothers who compose the church, sings praise to the Father from within them.
When we gather together for the Lord’s table, we should remember to worship the Father. We should never neglect to have a time at the end of the meeting devoted to the worship of the Father. The Father surely is worthy of our worship, for He has made His Son one with us, and He has made us sons with His Son. Now the Son is taking the lead among the many brothers to worship the Father.
The second category of gathering is the gathering for prayer. The Lord Jesus speaks of such a gathering in Matthew 18:19 and 20. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask, it shall come to them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” Here the Lord is speaking concerning the prayer of a meeting. This kind of prayer is more powerful than the prayer of an individual because it is able to bind on earth what has been bound in heaven and to loose on earth what has been loosed in heaven (v. 18).
Acts 1:14 says, “These all were persevering with one accord in prayer, together with the women.” The prayer mentioned here is also the prayer of a meeting. It was this prayer that brought in the blessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Acts 1:14 speaks of praying with one accord. The Greek word translated “one accord” is homothumadon, from homo, same, and thumos, mind, will, purpose (soul, heart). In Matthew 18:19 the Lord spoke concerning two or three agreeing in prayer. The word “agree” in that verse is not as strong as the expression “one accord” in Acts 1:14. The Greek word for one accord is strong and all-inclusive. In the book of Acts the one hundred and twenty prayed together in one mind, in the same mind, in the same will with the same purpose around and within the soul and the heart. Whenever we pray, we should surely exercise our spirit, but we should also be in the same mind and the same will with the same purpose around and within our soul and heart.
Another verse that speaks of a gathering for prayer is Acts 4:31. “As they were beseeching, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness.” In those days the disciples were under persecution, but they met together to pray with one accord. That kind of prayer caused them to be filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit and to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 12:5 and 12 also speak of a gathering for prayer. Verse 5 says, “Prayer was being made fervently by the church to God concerning him.” Verse 12 tells us that in the house of Mary “a considerable number were assembled together praying.” On the day when Peter was imprisoned, the church prayed fervently for him, and a considerable number were assembled together in a sister’s house, praying for him specifically. That prayer caused God to perform a great miracle, delivering Peter out of prison.
The fact that the church prayed for Peter indicates that behind the scene there was a battle between spiritual forces, a battle between God and Satan. Apparently the conflict was between Herod and Peter; actually it was between God and Satan. Therefore, the church fought the battle with God against Satan, the evil one. This battle was fought not by the flesh but by prayer. This prayer was offered in the house of Mary. This indicates that the prayer concerning Peter was offered mainly in the home of a sister. From this we see that in the church life the sisters should take the lead in the matter of prayer. This was the situation in Peter’s case. After he was released from prison, he went to Mary’s house, where many of the saints were still praying.
