In addition to having a focus and coordinating and cooperating together, we need to move toward a climax in every meeting. This enables the meeting to climb higher and higher. Once a meeting reaches the climax, the bread and the cup should be blessed and passed. We should not make the meeting a ritual, thinking that at a particular time the bread and the cup should be blessed and passed, regardless of whether a climax has been reached. Such a meeting does not have much spiritual inspiration and cannot give its participants a feeling of satisfaction. Every bread-breaking meeting should reach a climax when everyone truly touches the Lord with their spirit. This gives the participants a deep sense of satisfaction.
There should be prayers only of thanksgiving and of praise, not prayers of supplication, in the bread-breaking meeting. Prayers of supplication should be left for the prayer meeting. In the bread-breaking meeting we should remember only the Lord, giving thanks and praise to Him. Prayers of supplication drag the meeting down and ruin the atmosphere of the meeting.
The second section of the bread-breaking meeting is entirely for the worship of the Father, taking the Father as the center. There are five points for us to consider in this section.
First, let us consider the basis in the truth for the worship of the Father. The salvation we have received consists of two sections. In the first section we met the Lord, received Him as our Savior, and received all that He accomplished for us. After receiving the Lord in this way, we immediately came to the Father’s house, and the Father accepted us. This is the second section. Hence, in the process of our salvation first we received the Lord, and then the Father accepted us. First we are forgiven by the Lord, and then we are accepted by the Father.
This is clearly portrayed in the three parables in Luke 15. The first parable presents the Lord as the good Shepherd, who left the Father’s house to seek us, the lost sheep. He found us, carried us on His shoulder, and brought us back to the Father’s house. In the third parable we see that the lost sheep was the lost son, the prodigal son. The Lord brought us back to the Father’s house, and God the Father accepted us. From our experience of salvation we see that the One who came to seek us is the Son, and the One who accepted us into the house is the Father. When we were in the position of sinners, we met the Son. After we received Him as our Savior, He brought us to the Father’s house, and there we met the Father who accepted us.
Therefore, it is very clear from our salvation that there are two kinds of receiving. One is our receiving the Lord, and the other is the Father’s receiving us. Having only one kind of receiving is not a full salvation. If we merely receive the Lord without the Father receiving us, we would not have a full salvation. One side of our salvation is our receiving the Lord, and the other side is the Father receiving us. Therefore, we are not only saved, but we have also returned home. We not only have the Lord, but we have the Father also. The Lord is the Son. First John 2:23 says, “He who confesses the Son has the Father also”; we first have the Son, and then we have the Father. Since our receiving the Son makes us sons, the Father accepted us into His house.
Since there are two sections in our salvation, there should also be two sections in a meeting where proper worship is rendered. In the first section we remember the Lord. This is related to our receiving the Lord. In the second section we worship the Father. This is related to the Father’s receiving us. In the first section we remember our Lord, who saved us. In the second section we worship the Father, who accepted us as His sons.
Second, we know that the Lord Jesus was the only Begotten from the Father (John 1:14). However, when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the life within Him was released and imparted into all those who believe in Him. When the life of the Son enters into us, we are made sons of God as well. This is the one grain of wheat falling into the ground to die and bearing much fruit (12:24). Now the only begotten Son becomes the Firstborn of many brothers (Rom. 8:29). Formerly, God had only one Son, but now He has many sons. Before His death, the Lord Jesus was the only begotten Son, but after His resurrection from the dead, He became the Firstborn among many brothers.
Therefore, in the morning of the Lord’s resurrection, He appeared to Mary and said to her, “Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father” (John 20:17). Before the Lord’s death and resurrection, He never called His disciples brothers; at the most He called them friends. But once the Lord was resurrected from the dead, His life was released into the disciples to make them the many sons of God; thus, the disciples became His brothers. Therefore, Hebrews 2:11 says, “He is not ashamed to call them brothers,” because they have His life, and they “are all of One.” Just as He is the Son of God, having the life of God, all those who believe into Him and receive Him as life also become sons of God. He now is the Firstborn among many brothers.
Third, Hebrews 2:10 speaks of the Firstborn “leading many sons.” Quoting Psalm 22:22, Hebrews 2:12 says, “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise to You.” This is the Lord leading us to praise the Father in the church. The One for whom are all things and through whom are all things is leading many sons into glory. To accomplish this the firstborn Son leads the many sons to praise and worship the Father in the church of the firstborn, which is also the church of the many sons (12:23). This is what we do in the second section of the bread-breaking meeting. Our worship of the Father is based upon the history of our salvation. No other meeting is more suitable than the bread-breaking meeting to render this kind of worship.
Among Christians today, the fellowship of the Body of Christ is a much neglected aspect, and the Son’s leading many sons to worship the Father is almost a non-existent aspect. We should not neglect these two points. Instead, we must care for them solemnly so that the Father can gain worship from His many sons with His Son.
Fourth, in this section our singing, prayer, and fellowship should be directed toward the Father, taking the Father as the center. There is no need for contemplation in this section.
Fifth, in this section the spirit of the meeting should climb to the highest peak, higher than in any other meeting. Therefore, there are two peaks in the bread-breaking meeting: one in the section of our remembrance of the Lord and the other in the section of our worship to the Father. If the bread-breaking meeting has these two peaks, the Lord’s presence will be prevailing, the moving of the Spirit will be apparent, and the spirit of the saints will be greatly satisfied.