Let us turn again to the Word
of God, to that chapter that we read a part of in the Gospel
as recorded by John in chapter 6 and especially verse
51. These words of the Lord Jesus
in John's Gospel, chapter 6, verse 51. I am the living bread
which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John
chapter 6 verse 51, I am the living bread which came down
from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world. These words are really part of
this conversation that Jesus is having with the Jews. And
as I said before, we read the part of the chapter. It really
all goes back to that miracle that Jesus has performed in the
feeding of the 5,000. That well-known miracle. Here is this little lad with
his five loaves and two small fishes. And Jesus miraculously
multiplies the fish and the bread and feeds with it those 5,000
that were then assembled around him. And as the people follow
him across the sea and find him on the other side, he says to
them that they really are seeking him not because they believe
that he is the Messiah, not because they have really been impressed
with his power, but because they have eaten of the bread and were
filled. And so he says in verse 27, doesn't
he, labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. And they ask him, don't they,
that amazing question really in verse 30. having just seen
him feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two small fishes,
it's almost incredible, isn't it, that they can say to him
in verse 30, what sign showest thou then that we may see and
believe thee? What dost thou work? But it's
typical of the Jews, isn't it, and typical of us all, really,
if we're honest, that often we find ourselves saying, well,
just one more miracle, just one more sign, just one more word,
and then I'll know." But Jesus says to them that there's no
need for any more signs because the reality is here. They want
something like the manna, don't they? They say, what signs showest
thou then that we may see and believe thee? What does thou
work? And they say, well, can you do
anything like this? Our fathers ate manna in the
wilderness. He gave them bread from heaven
to eat. And Jesus says to them, well, I'm not going to do that
but I've got something better. I am something better. I am the
true bread from heaven. Of course that manna that fell
back there in the desert, it was a wonderful picture of the
Lord Jesus. It was an amazing provision for
those thousands and hundreds of thousands of people that came
out of Egypt with Moses. and you remember how that manor
sustained them all through their 40 years journey didn't it? They
didn't just have it one day or one week or one year or one decade
but for 40 years they found that manor on six of the seven days
of the week scattered around their tents and of course in
that consistency and that continuance there is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ in his faithfulness remember he is the one who is
the same yesterday, today and forever. You think about that
manna, the wonderful sufficiency of it. They didn't have to fight
over it, did they? They didn't have to divide it
up and make sure that everyone had their fair share but those
who gathered much had nothing over and those that gathered
little had no lack and there was even enough that they could
leave of it until the next day. A wonderful picture of the sufficiency
of Christ. And so Jesus taking up the theme
of bread, having fed the 5,000 with those five loaves, and having
spoken about the manna that has fallen, that fell from heaven
in the days of the Exodus, he speaks to them of living bread,
of living bread. I am the bread of life, he says,
and I'm sure pastor has said to you as he's often said to
us at Hedge End that this chapter is a chapter of diminishings
and divisions there's a great company following
the Lord Jesus at the beginning of the chapter a great multitude
following him because they saw his miracles and they crossed
the sea to find him but by the end of the chapter what do you
find? You find it's almost as if Jesus is just left with his
12 disciples. From that time, it says in verse
66, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with
him. And Jesus says unto the 12, as
if they're the only ones who have stayed behind, will ye also
go away? And you remember Simon Peter's
memorable answer, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life. and we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." What was
it that drove them away? What was it that made them turn
back and follow him no more? Well they were offended at his
teaching weren't they? It was his teaching really that made
them turn away from him. What was it about his teaching?
Well two things, they were offended at what he was saying about himself
Notice what they say in verse 42. Jesus says in verse 41, I
am the bread which came down from heaven and the Jews murmur
at him. And they say in effect, well
this man is claiming to be something special. But he's just like one
of us. This is just Jesus, the son of
Joseph, whose father and mother we know. How is it then that
he saith I came down from heaven? They were offended that he seemed
to be exalting himself and the Jews often often are offended
at that but they're not only offended at what he says about
himself but surely they are offended at what he says about them and
what he implies about them for what he says in verse 53
and remember he's talking to the Jews to those people who
were so often so confident in their pedigree and in their family
tree. Those who in a later chapter,
in chapter 8, they are so quick to say that Abraham is our father.
We are the special people, they say. But Jesus says to them in
verse 53, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you. And in those words, he puts them
on the same level as everyone else, doesn't he? They wouldn't
have minded if Jesus had gone with that kind of message to
the Gentiles, or to the publicans, or to the sinners. But when Jesus
comes to them with that kind of message, they don't like it.
They say, well, you're making us as bad as they are. How can
you say that we have no life in us? We are the descendants
of Abraham, the chosen people. And so they turn back from him.
This is a hard saying, they say. In verse 60, this is a hard saying.
Who can hear it? And so they turn back from following
him. Well it's really in fulfilment
of what Jesus has already said in verse 44, And it seems the
majority of the people here Whilst they had heard the same
words as Peter and the rest of the disciples, they had not learned of the Father. And when Peter says that Jesus
has the words of eternal life, they say that these are the words
of one that has a devil, of a Samaritan. You remember that's how they
answer him, don't they? In chapter 8, when Jesus speaks
to them, in such a searching way ye are of your father the
devil they say Jesus says to them and they say say we not
well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil far from receiving
his words as the word of life they turn away from him and they
go back from following him I am the living bread which came
down from heaven I'm what that manner is pointing to says the
Lord Jesus. That manna that fell from heaven
in such abundance. You remember the way in which
it's described in Exodus chapter 16 when the Lord promises to
send the manna from heaven. He doesn't just say I'll give
you bread from heaven but he says I'll rain it. I'm going
to rain it down. a great abundance of bread a
great sufficiency of bread well in that abundance, in that sufficiency
there is a picture of the fullness and the sufficiency that there
is in the Gospel and with the Lord's help I'll come back to
that in a moment but the big question Given what Jesus says
here in this verse and in the surrounding verses, if Jesus
is right, and he certainly is right, then nothing is more important
than that you eat of this bread. There's no life without eating
this bread, is there? This is what makes the difference
between eternal life and eternal death. I am the living bread, there's
no other. Just as there was no manna, no
other manna for the Israelites, was there? There was no other
food for them to eat. It was either manna or nothing. It was
either manna or death. Well, even so, with the Lord
Jesus Christ, he says, doesn't he accept ye eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood? Ye have no life in you.
He's talking about believing, isn't he? What is it? To eat
his flesh, to drink his blood. He's not talking about anything
literal. were not to make the same mistake
as the Jews, in verse 52, who were always so ready to interpret
his words literally, that was all they ever knew, wasn't it?
Just like Nicodemus, when Jesus talks about the new birth, and
straight away Nicodemus is thinking of it in a physical sense. How
can a man be born when he is old? Well, it's the same here,
isn't it? How can this man give us his
flesh to eat? He's not talking about that kind
of physical eating. It's believing, isn't it? To
eat his flesh, to drink his blood is to enjoy the benefits of his
flesh. To enjoy the benefits of his blood. To rest upon his
sacrifice. To rest upon his sacrifice. I
am the living bread. Well, we come to this verse 51. There were three things. Three
ways in which this bread is described. And the first one is this is
living bread. This is living bread. It's not like the manna
that fell from heaven and it's not like the bread that we eat
every day for our natural bodies. It's this living bread. That
natural bread that we eat and that manna that fell from heaven
the best that it could do really was to sustain life. Natural bread sustains our natural
life but bread is no use to a dead person. You find a dead person
and you want to try and revive them well it's no point just
trying to give them bread is it? they can't eat it because
they're dead that natural bread can sustain life but it can't
give life but this bread gives life it does more than sustain life
it gives life because what Jesus says in verse 33 the bread of
God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life and giveth
life unto the world and it's living bread, it's eternal bread
and it gives eternal life. I am the bread of life, Jesus
says in verse 35. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. This is
eternal life. I am the living bread, it's living
bread. And the power is in the bread. The power is in the bread. It's not in the person eating
the bread. That's why Jesus is able to use this wonderful expression
here in the middle of verse 51. Notice what he says here. He
says, if any man eat of this bread. If any man eat of this
bread. He doesn't say if any good man,
or any religious man, or any righteous man, or any holy man,
or any Jew, or any wise man, or any rich man. It's just this. If any man. Why
is he able to say any man? Because of the power that there
is in the bread. The manna is one picture of Christ,
but we have another picture of Christ Later on in the Exodus
account, when we come into the book of Numbers, we have the
account of the brazen serpent, don't we? It's in Numbers chapter
21. And I'm sure you're somewhat
familiar with the account. The people murmur. Well, what
do they murmur about? They murmur about the bread,
don't they? That bread that had kept them alive for 40 years.
And now they say, well, it's like bread. We don't want it
anymore. We are tired of it. Our soul loatheth this light
bread. And fiery serpents are sent to
bite the people, and much people of Israel died. And when they
come to Moses and Moses prays for them, Moses is told to raise
up a fiery serpent, a serpent of brass, and he sets it upon
a pole. And what is the promise of God
that is attached to that serpent? Well, it's very similar, isn't
it, to the words of the Lord Jesus here in John chapter 6.
The Lord says to Moses, make thee a fiery serpent and set
it upon a pole and it shall come to pass that everyone that is
bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made
a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole and it came to pass
just as God had promised. If a serpent had bitten any man,
when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Didn't matter
what kind of man he had been, what kind of life he had lived,
how many times he'd been bitten, how long ago the bite was. Whoever
the man, whatever his situation, when he beheld the serpent of
brass, he lived. Well, there's something very
wonderful I say about the words of the Lord Jesus here. If any
man eat of this bread, if any man eat of this bread, we are
so quick to cut ourselves out of the promises of God, aren't
we? When we come to these places where Jesus speaks about the
blessings of his gospel, we're so ready to say, well, of course,
that's all very well for some people, but not for me. Perhaps
we say, well, I'm too much of a sinner. I've committed too
many sins, or I've been going on in sin for too long now. And we say, well, maybe five
years ago, it would have been all right. or maybe five years
from now when maybe I've made some improvement or maybe after
I've got over this sin or delivered myself from this temptation or
overcome this difficulty or got through this trouble then we
say well then there might be hope but not now and we cut ourselves
out of God's promises but Jesus says any man if any man eat of this bread
he shall live forever And the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. For the
life of the world. Why does he say for the life
of the world? We wouldn't have been surprised if he had said
for the life of my church, or for the life of my people, or
for the life of the sheep, or for the life of the elect, or
for the life of those who have been given to me by the Father.
But he doesn't say that. I would give for the life of
the world. Why does he use that expression?
Well, if he'd used any other expression. We know what we would
have done when we'd come to that verse. If he'd said, for the
life of the elect, we would have said, well, I'm not sure if I'm
one of them. Or if he'd said, for the life of the church, we
would have said, well, I'm not sure if I'm one of them. Or for the
life of my people, we might have said, I'm not sure if I'm one
of them. But it's as if he opens the door
here, not just to the Jews, not just to one nation, but for the
life of the world. It's a bit like a man going as
a doctor to a town where there's no other doctor. He would be
able to say, wouldn't he, I'm the doctor of the town. There's
no other doctor to go to. If you want a doctor, you'll
have to come to this one. And this living bread, It's the
only living bread. The living bread of the world.
There's no other. If you want living bread, this is it. There's nowhere
else to find it. It's living bread. Living bread.
We sometimes sing those words of John Newton, and we might
quibble at them sometimes. In hymn 193, John Newton says,
and he's putting these words, if you like, into the mouth of
the Lord Jesus. He says, by faith in me, The soul receives new
life, though dead before. And we might say, well, what
do you mean, John Newton? Doesn't faith come as a result
of life? Are you saying that the dead
sinner believes and then is brought to life? No, that's not what he means.
This living bread is a bread that gives life. But
do you know where this bread is eaten? Life must be there. It's a bread that increases life.
It's a bread that develops life. It's a bread that brings out
life, if you like. Jesus says in verse 53, except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have
no life in you. It's an evidence of life. It's a proof of life. But it's also a source of life,
this bread, isn't it? It's living bread. Living bread. Well, secondly, it's bread that
comes down from heaven. Just like the manna. What a wonderful
thing it must have been for those Israelites. Or what a wonderful
thing it should have been to those Israelites. Moses didn't
give them the bread. Moses didn't go into his tent
and come out with a load of bread for them to eat. If that had
been the case, where would their hope have been? They would have
said, well it's all very well while Moses is here. But what
about when Moses is gone? Where are we going to get it
then? They didn't have to labour for the bread, did they? The
manor that just... The manor that they found, it
was just there. They made no contribution to
it, did they? They just went out of their tents in the morning. And they lay upon the face of
the wilderness. This manor. This food. This is the bread,
says Moses, which the Lord hath given you to eat. You didn't
make it. You didn't contribute to it.
You didn't pay for it. You didn't have to buy it. You didn't have
to give anything in exchange for it. It's not man-made. It's
God's bread. Well, it's the same with the
Lord Jesus. Look at what he says in verse 32. My Father, giveth you the true bread from
heaven. My father gives it. Have you eaten of this bread? Have you come to this Christ?
Well, if you have, there's a wonderful hope in those words, isn't there?
You didn't pay to come to him the first time? You didn't give
anything in exchange for him? Just as those Israelites came
out of their tent and the manna was already there, so Jesus Christ
is a saviour that is already provided. And just as that manna was so
constantly given, so faithfully given, all at God's initiative,
so this living bread, it comes down from heaven. It comes down
from heaven, it's not bought, it's not paid for, but it comes
so freely. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. It's a terrible thing to think
of God as a stern and reluctant judge who begrudgingly forgives
those who are worthy. It's a terrible thing to think
of the Father as one who has to be persuaded. to love sinners
by the Lord Jesus. That is sometimes the impression
that people give, don't they? They speak as if God was so angry
with his people that the Lord Jesus had, as it were, to intercede
for them, to put his hand up and to say, well, and to persuade
the father to love them. But Jesus says to his disciples
in chapter 16, I say not unto you that I will pray the Father
for you, for the Father himself loveth you. The Father himself
loveth you. This bread that has come down
from heaven, there's no greater proof of the love of God than
that. There's no greater proof. And
John picks this up, doesn't he, in his first epistle. In this
was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent
his only begotten Son into the world. that we might live through
him. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins, the bread of life which came down from heaven.
He comes, he comes so freely. He comes, and he comes to a nation which
is going to reject him. He came unto his own, his own
received him not, but he still came. and he comes today in his gospel
to sinners like you and me even though he's continually rejected,
isn't he? despised, rejected of man a man
of sorrows, acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces
from him says Isaiah and yet he still comes and his gospel
is still preached this bread of life I am the bread of life
which came down from heaven oh yes, God hates sin But he has
himself provided a remedy. A remedy. It's the bread of God,
isn't it? The bread of God. It's he which
cometh down from heaven. It's God's bread. God's provision.
God's remedy for sin. The living bread which came down
from heaven. What an encouragement there is here. I love those words in the parable
of the prodigal son. You remember the parable back
there in Luke's Gospel. Chapter 15, here he is taking
the portion of goods that his father has given to him and turning
his back upon his father off he goes into the far country
until his money runs out and now he's desperate to fill his
belly with the husks that the swine did eat and no man gave
unto him. And then he comes to himself
and he looks back to his father's house and what does he say about
the house of his father? How many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough and to spare? Bread enough and to
spare. Have you ever seen that in the
Lord Jesus? Have you ever seen that in the
Gospel? When you look at the Lord Jesus do you still think
of him as a just enough kind of saviour? As a just enough
kind of Gospel? No bread enough and to spare. Bread enough and to spare. Why
is there bread enough and to spare? Well, because of this. This is the third thing that
is said about this bread here in this verse. The bread that
I will give is my flesh. My flesh. The bread that I will
give is my flesh. Myself. My body. Me. I am the bread of life. Why is there bread enough and
to spare in the house of the Father? Why is there bread enough
and to spare in this Gospel? Because it's His flesh, His body,
His offering. It's sufficient. It is sufficient. That's how Jesus is able to say,
any man, if any man eat of this bread. That's why when the apostles
are there preaching the gospel. When they come to Philippi, you
remember the incidents in Philippi when Paul and Silas are there
in the prison and beaten and at midnight they're praying and
singing praises unto God and here is this great earthquake
and here comes the keeper of the prison. springing in and
falling down, trembling before Paul and Silas. And he says,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul and Silas don't have
to hesitate. They don't have to say, well, I'm not sure if
there's enough salvation here for you. I'm not sure if there's
enough bread in the Father's house for you. But they say, resting upon the
same truths that the Lord Jesus sets before us here if any man
eat of this bread he shall live forever and they said believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house
there is a sufficiency in his offering we talk about a limited
atonement, don't we? you remember the third of those
five points of Calvinism that came up at the time of the Reformation
a limited atonement and we believe in a limited atonement but why
is the atonement limited? is it because Jesus is not a
big enough saviour? it's a heretical suggestion is it because he didn't
suffer enough? it's a heretical suggestion I
remember hearing a preacher and I don't know if he said it in
the pulpit or outside but he said that he believed that Jesus
had one stripe laid on his back for every sin that his people
committed. He said, I believe that Jesus
has had one stripe laid on his back for every sin that I committed.
Well, that man is confused, isn't he? Because sins are not forgiven
by stripes. Sins are not forgiven by beatings. What's the wages of sin? It's
death. It's death. If Jesus' sacrifice worked in
that kind of way, we would have to say, I believe he died one
death for every one of my sins, but he didn't have to die one
death for every sin. Why did he not have to die one
death for every sin? Because he is an infinite person. Because he is the son of God.
Because he is God manifest in the flesh. He is not like those
priests of the Old Testament that says, Paul, when he writes
to the Hebrews, who had to offer those sacrifices every day, year
by year. Why didn't they just have to
do it once? Because those offerings were
not sufficient. Those sacrifices which they offered
year by year, they could never make the comers there unto perfect.
If they had, they would have stopped offering them, because
the worshippers once cleansed, once purged, should have had
no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year. But this man
is not like those priests which have to stand daily ministering
and offering often times the same sacrifices which can never
take away sins. This man after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever. One sacrifice for sins forever.
It's a sufficient sacrifice because he's the son of God. He didn't
have to shed one life for every sin. that he sheds one life for
many sins, one life for many sinners. The bread that I will give is
my flesh, my flesh, the flesh of the Son of God, the life of
the Son of God. And there is something unmeasurable
about it. When we talk about a limited atonement, don't make
the mistake of thinking that Jesus is a limited person, that
his offerings had a limited value, that his atonement has a limited
worth, that his blood only has so much value and no more. It's
the blood of God. It's the blood of God. It's an
amazing statement, isn't it, that Paul makes when he's bidding
farewell to the Ephesian church on his way to Rome. Here in Acts
chapter 20, He calls for the elders of the
Ephesian church and they come to him and he warns them that
there are going to be false teachers entering in among them and men
of their own selves arising and speaking perverse things. So
he says, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the
flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers
to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own
blood. You may be tempted sometimes,
and the thought may come to you, well, you can read of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus, but the devil may say to you, well, it's not
enough for someone like you. It's not big enough for someone
like you. It's not for a person who has committed as many sins
as you've committed. It's not for a person who's committed
the kinds of sins that you've committed. How do you answer
him? How can you answer him? How can
you fight with him? Well, there's only one weapon,
isn't there? The sword of the spirit, which is the word of
God. And when the devil says the sacrifice of Jesus is not
enough, what he's saying to you is that
Jesus was not the son of God. That he is not God manifest in
the flesh. That he's not the living bread
which came down from heaven. And a wonderful thing if we can
reply with these words of the Lord Jesus. And when we're tempted,
and when the suggestion comes it's not enough for you, well,
take up the words of the Lord Jesus here. He said any man. He didn't say some man. He said
any man. Because the bread that he gives is his own flesh, his
own life, his own body. The Son of God. There's a sufficiency
about it. There's a fullness in it. Bread
enough and to spare. Jesus is not teaching free will,
is he, with these words, any man? He's been very clear about
that. In verse 44, no man can come
to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. And again,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. There is a
people which are given to him, a people who are chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world. But Jesus says, if any man eat
of this bread, and you may have to come to this bread confessing
that you're not sure whether you're among the elect, that
you're not sure whether you're one of those who were given in
that covenant before the world was. You may even have to come saying,
I'm not sure if I'm being drawn. You may just have to come with
this. Lord, it says any man. It says any man. It says any
man. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. He shall live forever. It's a
terrible thing, isn't it? Sometimes people come to this
Gospel and they read these wonderful words of grace and they say,
well then, this is the first thing I need to do is to go away
and become sure of my own election. and they say, well if only I
knew that it would be easy to come if only I knew that then
I could have some confidence in coming it's never easy to come it's
never easy to come last Lord's Day morning we were
thinking about that woman, weren't we? and do you remember her labouring
faith? do you remember how she had to
press through the crowd? Well, she had some certainty,
didn't she? She knew that if she touched the hem of his garment,
she would be made whole. But she said, if I may, if I
may. You know, it would have been
nonsensical, wouldn't it? For that woman to stand on the
edge of that crowd and say, well, really, before I come, I need
to be sure that this is all going to work out in accordance with
God's decree. What I really need to be shown is that I am going
to touch the hem of his garment and I am going to be made whole
and I'm going to stay here on the edge of the crowd until I
know him. It's not how faith works, is
it? It's not how faith works today. To stand on the edge of the crowd
to look at the Lord Jesus, to say, well, it's a wonderful salvation,
a wonderful gospel, it's exactly the gospel that I need, but before
I come, I'm going to wait until I'm going
to be shown whether I'm going to come. Pour not on yourself too long,
says the hymn writer, lest it sink thee low. Look to Jesus, kind and strong,
pity joined with power. He is able. He is willing. Doubt
no more. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. What are these sinners invited
to do? Those labouring, heavy-laden, thirsty, hungering ones, well,
they're invited to eat and to drink. Just what they needed.
Taste and see, says the psalmist. It's not something physical,
is it? It's believing. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Everyone which seeth the sun
and believeth on him may have everlasting life. That's what
Jesus says in verse 40. And I will raise him up at the
last day. It's a coming empty-handed. Nothing in my hand I bring. Again,
the hymn writer, we often sing the words, don't we? And then
we go away and it's as if we forget that we have a son. And
we say, well, I need something in my hand to bring with me.
I need some knowledge of my own election. I need some experience.
I need a word. I need something to be given
to me. Then I'll come. The hymn writer's got past all that. Nothing
in my hand, he says. He doesn't say, I'll go away
and find out if I'm one of the elect. There's no way to find
that out. An empty-handed coming. If any
man eat of this bread, if any man come, he shall live forever.
And the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give
for the life of the world, the living bread. A bread that gives
life. a bread that is from heaven,
a bread that is the flesh of the son of God, sufficiency in
him. And Jesus promises, whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will
raise him up at the last day. And we see them, don't we? We
see them there in John's vision, there in Revelation chapter 7.
Here is this great multitude. which no man could number, all
nations, kindreds, people, tongues. Standing before the throne, before
the lamb, white robes, palms in their hands. And the angel
says to John, these are they which came out of great tribulation
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the lamb, in the blood of the lamb. And now there's no
hunger. Now there's no thirst. The lamb
which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. May
God grant that you and I come to eat of this bread, drink of
this blood, enjoy the benefits of his sacrifice, and know that
eternal life which is promised here. Whoso eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. This is the bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. Amen.