I don't know if some of you folks can appreciate what some of us preachers go through at a time of conference. I came to the conference quite confident that I had gotten myself up a little message for you. I guess that was the trouble with it. I got it up instead of getting it down. But it disappeared. And while my brother was enjoying his restful night, I lay awake part of the night wondering just how the Lord would have us to look at today. But when God takes one message away from us, I hope He gives us another one in the place of it, and you can judge that better than I. However, we would like to look this afternoon to the book of Acts chapter four. Acts chapter four My thoughts are quite elementary this afternoon. I make no pretensions for bringing us anything new, different, or unusual at all. But I would like to talk something along what you can call, well, you call it whatever you want to. Some people call it the assembly line, the assembly line of things. You know, the man was met at the door by an elder of a certain assembly when he was coming in, and the man was unacquainted with our principles of gathering and the way that we meet and all such. The elder asked the man who was coming in if he was acquainted with the assembly line. He said, oh, yes, sir, I've worked for the Ford Motor Company for ten years. Well, I'm not going to talk about that assembly line, but we have another little assembly line we'd like to talk about. I'm very thankful that I can give you a little bit of my own testimony, first of all, that I was born and raised in a Christian home. And in this Christian home, I not only learned to know the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior, but in this Christian home, I learned something about the principles of gathering according to the Word of God, the principles by which God would direct us concerning our public fellowship, the way in which we meet, the things that the Scripture would have us to know. I'm sure that I'm speaking to many people this afternoon who know a lot more about this than I do because I've been brought up in it and many things that have been handed to me on the teaspoon I haven't really perhaps appropriated to myself and haven't gained a lot of experience like many of you have. There are some of you who could speak with a great deal more appreciation of having found the path of truth than perhaps I could because I was brought up in it. But I would like to say a little something this afternoon about this past, about the way we meet, because there are a number of young people here today, and I fear that perhaps your experience is somewhat like mine. You're just being brought up in this. You're just taking this for granted because dad and mom said, well, this is it. This is the scriptural way to meet. There isn't any other. We do this because the Word of God says so. We do the other thing because we have chapter and verse for us. And so this is it. Now you just be satisfied. Dad and mom are right. We know what we're talking about. And so we sort of grow up with this. Some of us young folks who are raised under this circumstance, as wonderful as it is, sometimes don't have perhaps as good a foundation for thinking as we do, even as much as we might think we have. Perhaps when it really came down to the test of the Word of God, someone says, well, now, why do you do what you do? Well, maybe we would be stumped. Maybe we wouldn't be able to point out to the Word of God why we do as we do. So I'd like to speak a little word for the younger Christians here today. I'm thinking of some of you who are going to find yourself perhaps away from mom and dad one of these days. You're going to find yourself off in some strange city or village in college. Some of you fellows are going to end up in various parts of the country and the world in the armed forces. Poor fellows, we feel sorry for you, but this is a fact of life. And sometimes we find ourselves in bewildering circumstances. Now what will I do next? And then another thing I'm thinking about is some of you dear people who are here today, you've come at the invitation of someone else. You really have never been around us much. You've never been with us much. Maybe this is the first time that you've ever gotten bold enough and brave enough even to come to one of our meetings. I'm kind of thinking about you this afternoon, especially you people who live around in this neighborhood. Many of you have heard about the broadfooters. Well, I don't know who they are, but they must have good understanding. Broadfoot, so this must be all right. But perhaps you've heard some strange things about them. Perhaps you have come because of curiosity. Well, I'd like to find out who these people are. If they are as strange as I've heard that they are. Because, you know, strange things are said sometimes. Well, I hope now. I really hope that as you have come this afternoon, perhaps you were here yesterday. Maybe you were here this morning and observed this unusual type of meeting, unusual to you. Perhaps you're saying, well, now these people aren't nearly as far off as I thought they were. These people really aren't as queer as I suppose them to be. You know, they have something. We hope that's what you're thinking. We really do. We hope that's what you're saying right now is, well, those people have something. It's indeed different. It's unusual, but there's something solid about it. There is something real about it. There is something genuine about it. You know, I really believe that the world today, the religious world I'm thinking of, is crying out today, sirs, we would say Jesus. If there's anything that we would like to have you remember about our conference, if there's anything that we would like to impress you with, while you're here amongst us, young folks, older folks, whoever you may be, we would like to impress you with a person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'd like for you to know something about him as we seek to reflect his ways in our life down here. Now, I believe that the subject of the Church of God In its local capacity, the assembly of God is something that we need not make apology for, even though we have heard much about it some of us. I don't think we need to make apology for speaking about it again, because I do believe that the church of God on earth is the nearest thing to the heart of God that he has in the world today. Do you know why? Because I read in Acts chapter twenty of that he shed his blood, purchased her, with the price of his blood. And if God has purchased something at such extreme price, then I'm sure God must place great value upon us. And if there's anything that I appreciate in the world today, once again I say, without apology, it's the truth that has come home to my soul, the truth concerning the gathering of the Lord's people, and the church which God has placed here upon earth, this church which we read about in the beginning in the book of Acts. Now turn to Acts chapter four. We notice first of all in verse twenty three, and being let go they went to their own company. Now I only want this little expression for the moment. Being let go they went to their own company. I wonder if you know a company on earth that you could call your own. You know there are some people who don't seem to recognize the company of people upon earth that they could recognize as their own. It goes without saying that this was a spiritual company of people for the setting of this expression. It's concerning a prayer meeting. The disciples have been persecuted, Peter and John. This follows the healing of the lame man in Acts chapter three. Because of the healing here and because of the opposition of it, Peter and John have suffered some persecutions. And finally, they are let go. They're told that they should not preach in this name. anymore. In verse eighteen it says, they commanded them that they should not speak or teach at all in the name of the Lord Jesus. So they let them go. Now here's a couple of disciples who might be filled with fear and frustration at the circumstances that have happened. Now they're let go and perhaps they're asking the question, well, where should we go? After all, we've been separated from the other disciples for some little time now. Now where shall we go? Peter looks at John. He says, where do you think we ought to go now, John? John looks at Peter and he says, well, you know, I think I know where we ought to go. There's a little group of people that I know about and they're having a meeting over there and we'll go to our own company. I don't think there was even a moment's hesitation about this. It says they went to their own company. And now if the time ever came that you and I should suffer some persecution in this country, As I so often say, I don't think we ought to sit by too complacently and say, well, it couldn't happen to us. Because I want to tell you, the movement of things in the world today are giving us plenty of indication that there's trouble ahead if the Lord Jesus doesn't come soon. I wouldn't want this to sound like a note of despair at all, because I do believe that the Lord Jesus is going to come, and he's going to come very soon. And the last prayer of the Bible is, Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Two of us this afternoon who recognizes anything of the times in which we live, and David's men were men who had understanding of the times when you recognize the times in which we are living, two of us as a child of God wouldn't say, Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. I believe every heart of God's people would respond like that today, especially if we are aware of what's happening in the world today. We're living in days of frustration and days of confusion, and there's no confusion that is worse and greater than the religious confusion in the world today. And you know what's happening in the world today. Men's hearts are crying out for unity, and they're throwing down their differences of ideas, and they're all laying aside the differences of opinion, and they're all joining together in one great amalgamation. And of course, we're all on the road. They're all on the road back to Rome. The very thing that our forefathers paid the price to come out of is the thing that our people are going back to today. And let this thing get a foothold. Let it get a strong enough hold. And even we here in America may someday find ourselves having been divested of our Bibles, and we may be suffering a little bit of what some of the other Christians have had to suffer in a bygone day were no better than they are, are we? Maybe this would be the best thing that could happen to us. But you see these here disciples have suffered some persecution. And then when they're let go, they went to their own company. I'm surely glad that I have found some people on earth that I can call my own company. And you know, these are the people that you appreciate the most when you get into trouble, aren't they? And when the persecution and when the difficulties arise, even the type of persecution and difficulties that you and I may experience, even in a little way now, These are the people that we seek out. Now, you just ask yourself the question, when you feel the pressure is great, and when you feel that you're standing in some special need of help, what is the company of people that you think about first? To whom do you resort? You won't find your company of people out on the golf course. That's not your company of people. You don't go to them when you're in trouble and when persecutions have arised. have arisen and you feel that you're standing in some special need of help. You don't go look up your golfing buddies. You don't go look up your socialite friends that you keep company with at other times and call your friends. These are not the people that you find your own company. You don't find your own company in this world. There may be a measure in which you feel the need for recreation and you mingle with the ungodly in your recreational activities and this is This is between you and God. I'm not infringing on this at all. And of course you have your business matters to take care of, and you mingle with the ungodly. But the world doesn't afford you your company, do they? Who is the company of the child of God? Every child of God ought to know a people, even in a local sense, whom they can call their own company, a people to whom they can go where they can enjoy what these early disciples enjoyed, the privilege of prayer. The privilege of fellowship, the privilege of the Apostle's doctrine, and the privilege of the breaking of bread. You notice this is from Acts chapter two, Nelson, a familiar verse that we have read so often, and they continued steadfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. And I think this is a wonderful and a beautiful simplicity of continuance. You know, as I read the book of Acts, Incidentally, I do believe that the thing that you and I need to do today is to acquaint ourselves with the teachings that we find in the book of Acts, the historical account of the early church, divine history, however, and then acquaint ourselves with the teaching of the apostles as the apostle Paul and others also unfolded to us. Wonderful church truth in the epistles. I think we need to saturate ourselves with these things. so that we know how to discern between the right hand and between the left in days of confusion like this. And the thing that I find when I look at the book of Acts is that, well, it's just a beautiful simplicity that the early church went on with. There's a simplicity about all of this. Nothing complicated. Nothing difficult to understand. Nothing you have to go through catechism together. Nothing that you have to be schooled. You don't even have to go to Emmaus Bible school to get this. You can get this right from your Bible yourself. You can get it right from the Word of God. Just read your Bible for yourself. Look at the Book of Acts and see how the early church began. See what the early church did. Or perhaps I should say see what God did with her. And then see how the early church met. And see the tremendous impact the early church left. in the world. And you'll be amazed how much good you will get out, just of a simple reading of the book of Acts, and then take alongside with it the epistles of the Apostle's doctrine and find out what God would have to teach us from his word and lay aside all the preconceived thoughts that you have ever had. Now that seems so confusing today. They continued steadfastly in the Apostle's doctrine, fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. We'd like to take just the very, we look at them this afternoon for a little while as they're outlined before us in the book of Acts, the fellowship. Well, we read that they continued in verse forty-six, daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, and did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, fellowship. I haven't time to stop here very long to speak about fellowship because there was a number of things said about it yesterday, but I surely do think that there is a great benefit in a conference like this if we're not at a reason it's full of fellowship. You know, it's just wonderful to see all of you dear sisters and you come from various parts of the country around here and you come from various stations and walks and lights and you're all standing side by side there and you're ministering out to us that good food as we pass along the table. There's something to me that it's a fellowship. We've worked together. There's a thought of fellowship here, and then it's just one great panel reunion, isn't it? We come from the various stations in life, and we don't get to see each other very often, and here we come, and we greet one another, and, my, it's wonderful to be able to enjoy. An oasis in the desert like this, when we come together with God's people, and we eat our meat in gladness and singleness of heart. Now, that's fellowship, and there's a lot of things that could be said about fellowship. This is a series of sermons in itself. They continued in fellowship. Then it says they continued in the Apostle's doctrine. They continued in prayers. We might look at them perhaps in the order that we have them in the book of Acts. We turn to chapter four again. In chapter four we find a group of people and they're continuing in prayer. Isn't it wonderful also as you read through the book of Acts not only to see the simplicity of by which the early church gathered and the way they went on to gather in happy fellowship. But it's also wonderful to see the power and the impact they left upon the earth. Doesn't your spirit just thrill as you read that at the day of Pentecost, three thousand souls were saved? Doesn't it just through your heart when you read a little bit further and you find that the company was five thousand? Doesn't it through your heart as you read a little bit further? And it says, and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith. Doesn't it do your heart some good when you read a little bit further? And it says, and there were multitudes of men and women added to the Lord. Doesn't that do your heart good? This is what characterizes the first half, at least of the book of Acts. the tremendous impact that the early church made upon the community and the Christians left an impact upon the people's minds and hearts in the areas where they live. And it says they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. I say again, I believe the world is crying out today. Show us, sirs, we would see Jesus. And you know, it's too bad when we try to substitute our own inventions for the Lord Jesus. Oh, you know, we can organize our committees we can have our platform committees and we can have our music committees and we can have our organizations and we can plant a piano or an organ in every corner of the room and we can build beautiful buildings and well we can do lots of things can't we but I'm afraid dear child of God that these are not the substitute for what we have in the book of Acts the world isn't wanting to see our choir and our robe clergymen. This is not what they're wanting. They're wanting to see Jesus. And here are some people who had the fragrance of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ about them. They took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And the conference closed yesterday with a precious note. Our brothers said that we're going to have a meeting tomorrow morning and the Lord Jesus is going to be here. Was you here this morning at this worship meeting? Well, I was here and I sensed the presence of the Lord Jesus while I was here. It was a precious meeting because of the Lord Jesus being here. And you know when we've been in the presence of the Lord Jesus, we're going to take on something of his likeness and the fragrance of his presence is certainly going to characterize us. People will take notice of us that we have been with Jesus. Well, the early church, of course, did not leave an impact upon the world because of their numerical numbers. There was only a hundred and twenty of them when it began on the day of Pentecost, a hundred and twenty of them in the open air, if you please. They didn't have any large buildings to show up. And then the early church was not characterized by their money for Peter said, silver and gold have we not. Now this is the way Laodicea boasts about herself. She says, we have it and we need nothing. They had everything of a material nature but didn't have the presence and power of the Holy Spirit of God or the presence of the Lord Jesus among them. And then the early church was not characterized by smart and learned and intelligent men for they were ignorant fishermen but they took knowledge of them that had been with Jesus. This I believe is what the world would like to see in your life and in my life today as Christians and they would like to see this even from our assembly gatherings they would like to see something of the person of the Lord Jesus, we would see Jesus. We're not going to try and impress you folks today with our elephants. We're not going to try and impress anyone today with our intellectual attainments. We couldn't do it if we tried. We're not impressing you today with the material things that we have. We would like to have you see our Lord Jesus. And I believe in the ministry of this conference, our Lord Jesus has been brought before us in a very precious and a wonderful way and we hope that every one of us will go away from this conference with something in appreciation of the Lord Jesus. And now then we find the early church here not only enjoying fellowship together and sharing the wonderful things of the Lord Jesus but we find them in prayer together. Prayer seems to characterize the first thirteen chapters. You look for prayer sometime when you read through the book of Acts and you'll notice at least in the first thirteen chapters only Except for one or two chapters, prayer is found in every chapter. Not great buildings, not intellectualism, not materialism, but the power of prayer. So when we come to Acts chapter four, it says, and great power, with great power they gave witness to the resurrection. And it says, great grace was upon them. And then in chapter five, it says, and great fear characterized the people. Those are great things. They're great in God's sight. Great power. Great grace and great fear. And I fear that these are some of the things that we've lost in the twentieth century today, or we've lost some of the great power, we've lost some of the great grace, and I'm certain that we've lost much of the fear of God. Our assemblies today are oftentimes not characterized by the fear of God. I think there is one precious verse of Scripture that I would like to see put into a platform and put on the walls of every gospel hall and chapel in the country. It's found in the book of Psalm, I believe it's Psalm eighty-nine, that God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints and to be had in reverence of those that are about him. God is greatly to be feared. You know why I say this is because sometimes I seem to sense a lack of reverence and fear and respect for God and for his august dignity and holiness that want I seem to know as a younger person. Not very long ago I was sitting in a meeting and the strangest thing happened. This was a worship meeting. It was a meeting where God's people came together for the breaking of bread and someone gave a tremendous shout right in the middle of a meeting and I don't know if I am right but I think they fell asleep and frightened awake. This is something of that really shook me. Here's a person who has gone completely off. He's gone so asleep, or she maybe it was, and they suddenly wakened up with a start and gave the awfulest shout right in the midst of quietness you ever heard. This doesn't seem to me to be too conducive to the fear of God, does it? Then not very long ago I was sitting in a worship meeting and I heard something slipping all the time and somebody was cutting their fingernails. And it was the most annoying thing you ever heard of in your life. Someone was sitting there, clipping their fingernails, while everything was quiet and our thoughts and our meditations were supposed to be on the Lord's feet. And then you see people sometimes in the meeting, and oh, what an undignified position they're sitting there. They're almost sitting down on the floor, and everything with their legs up on the few ahead of them, my oh my. This is something that seems to be lacking. In our assemblies today with many of us, it's a reverence and a fear for the presence of God. This is what the early church had. They had a real dignity about them when they were in the presence of the Lord. We want to hurry along. In Acts chapter twelve, in Acts chapter twelve, we have a man who is in real trouble. Remember now the early church met together for fellowship. They met together for the apostles' teaching and they met together for the breaking of bread. Now, I don't want to infringe on my brethren's time this afternoon because I feel that the good wine is really coming. So I'm going to try and be as brief as possible. I'll remember the five B's for the preacher. Be brief, brother. Be brief. In Acts chapter twelve, we find a man who is in deep trouble. And if you were to read this little story, I think it would interest you to find out what deep trouble he's in. And if you could just put yourself into his position, you would see why a man might spend a sleepless night. Now here's Peter, don't you see? You see, it says that Peter was kept in prison. Now Herod, the king, stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, and he killed James, the brother of John, with a sword. So let's say this. Herod means business. He's already killed one man with a sword. So this is proof of the fact that he's not bluffing his way through this. He's already taken one with a sword. Peter was kept in prison. Furthermore, it says in verse three that He saw it pleased the Jews. So he had the public opinion with him. He saw that this was favorable to the Jews and the real politics, you know, public opinion. And then he proceeded to take Peter also. Now they apprehended Peter and they put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him intending after Esher to bring him forth to the people. Now I want you to get a little picture of Peter right at this moment. Peter is kept in prison and he's put into the inner prison we find out. This means that at least two iron gates have swung between him and freedom. And then we find that he's guarded by four quaternions of soldiers. And I believe a quaternion would be four. This would make sixteen. Here's sixteen soldiers at least who are guarding the outside of the cell. And then we find him bound between two soldiers. He's chained to two soldiers. And now here's Peter with sixteen soldiers guarding the prison. Two iron gates having swung shut between him and freedom, bound with two soldiers on either side. Herod determined to take his life and already proved his threat. And then seeing it pleased the Jews, let me ask you, how much would you give for Peter's life? I wouldn't give a nickel for it. The chance of for Peter getting out of jail for this night is absolutely nil. Because there's not a hope in the world that a man could ever expect. to escape out of circumstances like this. But I want you to notice something. While Peter was kept in prison, it says that he was sleeping. Peter was sleeping. You know, I just wonder how many of us would have slept if we had had a night like that. I couldn't even sleep last night because I was thinking about a conference. And here's a man who was sleeping when his head had come off the next day or at least be killed with a sword some way. And all the determination of the Herod behind him and his chances for escape? None. And yet he was sleeping. I think it's beautiful to see Peter sleeping under such circumstances at perfect rest, knowing that everything was in the hands of God. But there was something that must have contributed to it. You know what it was? It was praying Christians and ministering angels. There were Christians praying in verse five. Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Prayer was made without ceasing. He knew his own company. There was a company of people that Peter recognized who were praying for him. And I believe this is the reason that Peter could sleep. Must have meant a lot to Peter. Say, let me ask you something. What does it mean to you when you're sick? Or when there is sickness invaded your home? Or you're facing some great crisis of life. What does it mean to you to know that there are some Christians praying? I wish we could call the McCullough family down in Guthrie, Oklahoma to testify right now and ask them, while they are watching the slow recovery, we hope. of their doctor who has just suffered this operation with a brain tumor. And they recognize the fact that here we are gathered as a conference. And Mr. McCullough knows most of you people and most of you know him. And you know he has the consolation that we're praying for them. I'm sorry that we haven't prayed more than we have. I'm a little bit sorry that the McCullough name hasn't been mentioned more than it has because they need our prayers. And they sent special requests for our prayers. But if you remember to do it when you go home, will you? This will mean so much to them because you know praying Christians mean an awfully lot to us when we get into circumstances. Oh, I've told you before, but let me tell you again, when our little girl was so sick and, oh, you just will never know what it meant to us to have people write in and say, Milo and Gladys were praying for you. We're praying for you. You'll never know what it meant. Praying Christians. I'm glad we had a company that we could recognize as our companies. on earth who could even call special prayer meetings because of the dire circumstances in which we were in. Prayer was made. Then of course there was the ministering angels and we see the results of this. Peter was soon delivered outside of the prison. Now where did he go? We have a long to linger here but I want you to notice where Peter went. Peter had to sort of shake himself awake in verse eleven and then in verse twelve it says when he considered the things he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark. So we stop there. It's too wonderful to stop here where many were gathered together pray. Say, how much do you think of the assembly prayer meetings? How much do you think of the assembly prayer meetings? I tell you it's a pathetic thing sometimes to drop in on an assembly prayer meeting and find the few that are gathered together pray. There were many who were gathered together pray. But we would have to translate it. In our cases, all too often, there were a few gathered together prays. Do you attend the assembly prayer meeting? Let me ask you now, do you really have respect and love and appreciation in your heart for the assembly prayer meeting? Or you might have all kinds of excuses and reasons to offer for not getting there on Wednesday night, Tuesday night, or whatever night it might be. But I want to tell you something, and I believe that I can say this from experience. or experience is certainly the best teacher, that when the trouble comes and the calamity comes into your life and you find yourself up against the brick wall, you know what you're going to do? You're going to go to the assembly prayer meeting. That's where you're going to go. You're not going to go look for your friends now that you go bowling with. You're not going to go look for your friends that you've done other things with during the week. You're going to look up the Christians who are gathered together on a Wednesday night or a Tuesday night and you're going to join your presence with theirs in the prayer meeting. And now, oh, it's so easy to stay away from the prayer meeting when everything is going well in life. But, oh, when the calamities come, then this is where we head out for, isn't it? Now, this is how selfish we are. We are so selfish that when other people are in trouble, some places far removed from us, and we don't know them, but we pray for all the household of faith nevertheless. And when things are just going along perfectly well in our life and we're prospering and we're busy and we're occupied, then it's so easy just to put the prayer meeting to one side. Satisfy ourselves that we go to the assembly at least once a week to remember the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread and then this is it. No. Let's please don't be that selfish. Let's give some real respect and love and appreciation to the assembly prayer meeting for it's a time when... You're going to need the fellowship of God's people in prayer sooner or later. And I want to tell you, when the people began to write to us and said, Milo and Gladys were praying for you, you know, I say this hesitantly and yet, I hope it doesn't sound boastingly, but we were glad that we always went to the pyramid. I remember saying it to my wife. Aren't you glad that when we were well, we went to the pyramid? aren't you glad that when the sun was shining in favor upon us that we didn't neglect the prayer meeting because we've always made it a habit. It was my habit when I was at home as a boy. It has been our habit all the seventeen years of our married life to attend the prayer meeting and since I've been in the Lord's work oftentimes it's two and three a week. And I'm not sorry for the times that I've spent with God's people in prayer because who knows when we're going to be the special objects of the need of prayer again. And it's just nice to know that there are praying Christians, and it's nice to blend ourselves with them as we pray for others, and we all stand, certainly in the need of prayer. Here's Peter, and he associates himself with those who were praying. John, our Acts chapter twenty. Perhaps you're saying, well, now, you haven't really helped us too much in finding this group well I don't I don't think if you read the book of Acts and if you know what the scripture teaches that you'll have too much trouble finding this group I'll give you a little clue perhaps right here before I forget I think in Revelation chapter three and verse eight we have a beautiful little mark two little marks of an assembly of God's people who God can recognize as his own upon earth in appreciation and a group of people that you and I can recognize as well. In the book of Revelation chapter three, we read about the church of Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love. These are the two things that I like of what it says in verse eight. It says, thou hast kept my word and not denied my name. You know, you young Christians find yourself in a position where you're going to look for fellowship. You're going to look for a people with whom you can pray. You're going to look for a people with whom you can cast your life. These are the two things to look for. people who have kept his word, who have not denied his name. And a lot could be said on that, but we must hurry along into chapter twenty of Acts. We find Paul traveling back toward Jerusalem on his missionary journey, and it says, When they came to Troas, verse five, These going before tarried for us at Troas, and we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days, where we abode seven days. Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples were come together, to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. And now I want you to look at this company of people here at Troas. Here's a group of people who are believers in Troas, and it's the first day of the week. And on the first day of the week, Paul is in the city. He's been here for five. No, he's been here for seven days, hasn't he? So Paul is in the city on the first day of the week. Can't you almost hear the Christians in Troas as he began to communicate with one another and say, you know, the Apostle Paul is in town and we don't get to hear him preach very often. Don't you think we ought to forego all other activity and turn the whole day over to Paul? Let him have the whole night and let's just have a real good conference with one single preacher, the Apostle Paul. Now, that would be a real temptation, wouldn't it? Because who wouldn't like to listen to Paul preach? But I like what the Spirit of God has made clear here. It says that when the disciples came together on the first day of the week, they came together not to hear Paul preach, they came together to break bread. And then Paul preached. Where's the emphasis in this? They came together to break bread. I'm certainly thankful for this time of a conference session when we have come together, yes, to hear the Word of God, and surely we'll hear the Word of God, but isn't it wonderful that that time has been set aside such as we used this morning to break bread. Now, did you witness the meeting this morning and did you understand? We came together this morning for exactly the same purpose that these disciples came together. We came together to break bread. Why did we do it? Because the Lord Jesus has commanded us to do it. He said, this do in remembrance of me. When did they do it? They did it on the first day of the week. We do it on the first day of the week. I was visiting with a lady down in Kansas some years ago and she at one time had found her fellowship in among God's people and then I believe she had moved away an unadvisable thing to do isn't it she'd moved away from the assembly and so she was going to seek her fellowship elsewhere but that's beside the point for the moment I was visiting with her and she was telling me about where she was going to cast in her loft and and I'm not going to tell you where she said and so in the course of our conversation I asked her various questions about what she would be doing here and and Among the questions, I says, and how often are these people going to remember the Lord Jesus and his death or break bread? Well, she says, I don't know. She says, maybe my information here will give us. So she went and got her paper that they had given them, and I looked through it, and it stayed at the time, I think, once a quarter or so. And I asked her, I says, what are you going to do the other Sunday? You know, the Bible tells me that on the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread. Now, I don't know how often the first day of the week comes around for you, but it comes around for me fifty-two times a year. That's how often it comes around for me. And on the first day of the week, the disciples came together for what? To break bread. This is the thing that I have been doing. Thank God for all of you who have enjoyed this through your many years of history now. You've come together on the first day of the week to break bread. Isn't it a precious meaning? You've come together to break bread. And in doing so, to remember the Lord Jesus Christ in his death. That's why we came together this morning. Here was a definite time, a definite class of people, for they were disciples, and for a definite purpose, they came together to break bread. And it says, there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together. I think this is a precious expression in verse eight. This is where they were gathered together. Not where they gathered, but where they were gathered. You know, there's a lot of difference in people just gathering together or people being gathered together. This suggests that there was something that drew these people together that brought these people together. It's the same thing in Matthew chapter eighteen where he says where two or three are gathered together. Not where two or three gathered together. Who is the one that gathers us together? It's the Lord Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit that gathers us together. We don't just gather together by our own will. We are gathered by the Spirit of God. Under the direction of the Word of God, we come together. And this is what a local assembly really is, an assembly of God's people. I want to sum up my few remarks with this. An assembly of God's people is a group of God's people, Christians, in a given locality, who meet together, who are gathered together by the Spirit of God. For the various functions, such as I have outlined for us in the New Testament church, they come together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, owning no other name. You have not denied my name. They come together with nothing but the Word of God in their hands. You can look in vain, but you'll never find another book around them. a book of creed, doctrines, bylaws, or anything else, we only have one book. It's the Word of God. We gather by what we find in this book. And then we gather in the name of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ to carry out these assembly functions, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers. The Apostles' doctrine on it and didn't get time to speak on that. But here's the early church meeting together for us. these functions, these purposes. And I tell you, it's a real privilege to be a part of a company of people like that. And I've learned in my life where my own company is. And I'm satisfied to stay with God's people who meet in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, owning no other name on earth, and seek by the grace of God to keep His word. Oh, you say, but have you found a group of people on earth that keep His word perfectly? I've never found a group of people on earth that keep His Word just exactly the way I would like it. And if I did, I'd probably spoil it by my being there. But I have found a group of people on earth who are trying to abide by the Word of God, putting forth an honest effort. And if there's any improvements that I can help with, if there's anything that I can add to it, I'm glad to do it. I'm glad to give my little bit of service, a little bit that I can give to the Lord for the help of God's people. small or large, refer the small, and thus minister in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as His humble servant to the benefit and the blessing of God's people who are meeting in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my company. I have found my company. Have you found your company? I think one of the most beautiful things that was ever said to me was said very recently by a lady in our own area, went to see her just a couple of days ago, and she's been coming to our meetings in our local assembly. She comes to the prayer meeting and the ministry which follows. She comes to the gospel meeting and I'm hardly ever there for the gospel meeting. And you know, she told me something that I really appreciate. She says, you know, I just love that prayer meeting. She says, it's so wonderful to hear the various men get up and pray. Different ones get up and pray and express themselves to God. She says, you never hear that in our church. Never. Never hear different ones pray. The preacher is being paid for this, you know. And then she says, another thing that I have appreciated so much is the way you handle the Word of God. She says, you know, in our church, our preacher sometimes gets up and he never opens the Bible. Never opens the Bible. And when he does, he doesn't preach from it. She says, you folks seem to stay so close to the Word of God. Wasn't that a compliment? And then she says, another thing I have enjoyed so much. She says, I've enjoyed coming to the gospel meeting or your Sunday night services, as she would call it. And she says, and various one, young men, some farmers, some something else. And she says, various of the younger folks get up and preach the gospel and speak forth the word of God. She says, you never see that in our church. Never. And she says, and you know, she says, I appreciate what you people teach about baptism, about the Lord's Supper. Because she says, our church is completely wrong about that. They teach false doctrine concerning some of these important things from the scripture. She says, I appreciate coming to your meetings. So much so that even as an older person now, well along in years, now she's thinking about making a change. That's beside the point, too, isn't it? But here's an assembly of God's people who are seeking to function by the word of God and own the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. and I'm glad that I can own them as my company, and God bless all the company in the world today of such a character. And we need to go back, not to the days of Darby. We don't need to go back to the days of our forefathers. We need to go back to the days of the Book of Acts and the Apostles' Doctrine to find God's pattern and God's path for us in days of confusion. When you found it, stay with us. God bless you.