0302. THE LIVING BREAD.

THE LIVING BREAD.

"I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (Joh_6:51).

They said, "What sign showest Thou then that we may see and believe Thee" (Joh_6:30). Jesus did many mighty works, but He Himself was the greatest sign of all.

I. His Divine Origin. "I came down from Heaven." These words occur seven times in this chapter. His home was in Heaven, and His coming to earth was a coming down. So far down that it is not possible for us to measure the local or moral distance. Down from glory to poverty and shame and death.

II. His Wondrous Character. "Living Bread." As the living bread of God He is-

1. Life-giving. "I am come down that they might have life" (Joh_10:10). This bread makes the dead to live. Thus life from God was in the bread-His gift to a dying and dead world.

2. Life-satisfying. "He that eateth this bread shall never hunger." The world’s husks cannot satisfy a living soul. Why perish with hunger? Here is the bread of God for you. Christian, are you finding satisfaction daily in Him?

III. His Great Mission. "I will give My flesh for the life of the world." The-

1. World’s Need-"life." "The whole world lieth in the wicked one" (1Jn_5:19). Blinded by sin, and as indifferent to the things of God as the bones of the dead.

2. Saviour’s Gift. "I will give My flesh" (Joh_6:51). The body prepared for Him by the Father He willingly offers as a sacrifice on the Cross for the sins of the whole world (1Jn_2:2). An offering well pleasing unto God.

IV. His Assuring Promise. "Shall live for ever." The-

1. Nature of this Life. It is the life of God, because the life of the Son (Bread). He that hath the Son hath life. It is the life of one justified-delivered from condemnation. It is the life of union with the living Vine.

2. Assurance Given. "He shall live for ever." We have it on the authority of the Life-giving One. Surely He who gives life can continue it for ever. He ever lives. "Because I live, ye shall live also" (Joh_14:19).

V. His Universal Offer. "If any man eat." It-

1. Is Within the Reach of All. "Any man." Just as the manna fell in the camp, as God’s gift to every soul in the wilderness, so Jesus Christ as the Bread from Heaven is for whosoever will.

2. Must be Appropriated. Bread cannot save from death unless it is eaten. The Lord has not come to be talked about, but to be trusted. How true it is, in this sense, that many are sickly, and loathe this life bread. Others seem to have it sticking in their throats. "Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good" (Isa_55:2).

Autor: James Smith