The content of the church is Christ, and the intrinsic reality of every single matter in the church is Christ Himself. If we do not touch Christ and gain Christ, then even our worship and service will be meaningless. Just as the reality of believing in the Lord is Christ’s coming into us, and the reality of baptism is our union with Christ, so also all the services in the church should be related to Christ.
After a person is saved, he encounters several things. The first is baptism, and the second is the breaking of bread.
What is the meaning of bread breaking? And what is the reality of bread breaking? Once we mention the breaking of bread, almost all Christians will say that breaking bread is for remembering the Lord. It is true that in the Bible even the Lord Himself told us that we have to break bread in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19). Thus, based on this word, many Christians conclude that the significance of bread breaking is the remembrance of the Lord. Although this word, this definition, is not wrong, the meaning of remembering the Lord is not simple.
The remembrance spoken of by the Lord is different from our thought concerning remembrance. When we talk about remembrance, we have our own concept. What is this concept? For example, after a father dies, his children remember him. We all understand this kind of remembrance, but is this remembrance the same as our remembrance of the Lord? I am afraid that many people would say that our remembrance of the Lord is simply our meditating on the Lord. This kind of concept, however, is very different from the thought of the Bible.
According to our natural concept, we think that when we break bread in remembrance of the Lord, we have to calm down and meditate on the Lord in a detailed way. We feel that we need to contemplate how God came down to the earth from the heavens; was born in a manger; lived in Nazareth for thirty years; trod through Galilee and the land of Judea; suffered man’s reproach and persecution; was betrayed, bound, and scourged for us; bore the cross to Golgotha; was crucified; endured unbearable pain; bore our sins; and was judged by God on our behalf. Moreover, we feel we need to contemplate His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, and His sending of the Holy Spirit. We also feel we need to contemplate the fact that He is now sitting in the heavens as our High Priest and that one day He will come again to take us to be with Him forever to enjoy His glory in eternity. We have all these scenes within us: from the throne in the heavens to the manger in Bethlehem, from Galilee to Judea, from the virgin Mary to Golgotha, and from the tomb to resurrection, ascension, the second coming, the rapture to be with the Lord, and the enjoyment of glory forever. However, this kind of remembrance is based upon a kind of religious concept that is void of any revelation or spiritual value.
All the terms and all the utterances in the Bible are different from our natural comprehension of things. The faith referred to in the Bible is different from our understanding of faith. The repentance mentioned in the Bible is different from our comprehension of repentance. And the remembrance spoken of in the Bible is definitely not according to our realization of remembrance. When the saints remember the Lord in the Lord’s table meeting every Lord’s Day, if they all concentrate in their mind to meditate on the Lord Jesus silently, does this mean that they all love the Lord, are spiritual, and have the Lord’s presence? This kind of remembrance by meditation is not the result of revelation but is a kind of religious worship. This is not service that is according to revelation but service that is according to our natural concept.
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