in this day in which we live
where so much is going on, especially this time of year, so much extra
activity, religiously speaking, that it's good just to draw away
to a refuge, the house of the Lord, and to worship the Lord. What a blessing God has given
to us here to have the gospel. and to believe the gospel and
to preach the gospel of God's grace now John chapter 6 is our
message today and I'm entitling the message eating and drinking
of the Lord Jesus Christ eating and drinking of the Lord Jesus
Christ look at verse 53 our Lord said unto them except you do
this Except you eat the flesh of the God-man Mediator, the
Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Salvation is the work of God
in you. Christ in you is a hope of glory. We're going to go back to verse
47, 48 in just a minute and work our way down through these verses.
But what does this mean? Eating his flesh and drinking
his blood. What does it mean? Are we to
become cannibal-like or cannibals literally and physically eating
on his body, drinking his blood like a pack of wild animals?
Well, no. No, absolutely not. Well then,
tell me, what does it mean? The Lord said it's imperative,
it's necessary, absolutely necessary that you do this. He says, except
you do this, you have no life. Except you do this, you have
no salvation. Except you do this, you have
no forgiveness of sin. Now this verse has absolutely
no reference to believers observing what we call the Lord's Table.
There are some religious beliefs among what I call pagan Christianity,
there are some religious beliefs that teach the elements of the
Lord's Table actually become His body and His blood and to
receive salvation you must partake of their table. They call it
Mass. And others have different names
for it. They have a big theological term
for it. But some actually believe when
the priest or man does hocus pocus over the elements that
you walk up and when he gives you the wafer dipped in wine
that you're actually taking literally his body into yours. Is that so? Absolutely not. That's nothing but superstition
and a lie of Satan. Don't be duped. Now let's ask
the Lord to teach us what this really means. I want to know.
I want you to know. What does this really mean that
the Lord says, except you do this, you have no salvation. It's imperative. It's necessary
that we do this. over, continuously, over, and
over, and over again. Now look at verse 47. We'll start
at verse 47. Barely, barely. Barely, barely. Now whenever you see that in
scripture, just really pay attention. Not that we put one scripture
against another, but the Lord here is telling us something
that's absolutely true. And we can put a verily, verily,
verily on Genesis 1, 1, clear all the way through Revelation
22, verse 22. Verily, verily, truly, truly,
I say unto you, he that believeth on me has life. Has life. The Lord again uses
a double positive. And if you look the word up,
verily, in the original, it says amen. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the Amen. The Amen of certainty. Of truth. Surely this is the
case. Those who are blessed of God
to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation do so because
they've been made new creatures in Christ Jesus. They've been
born again by the Spirit of God. Remember our Lord said in John
3.3, Except a man be born again he cannot see, He cannot perceive,
He cannot understand, and certainly He cannot truly believe unless
you're born begotten again of God, born from above. Turn back to John chapter 5 verse
24. We believe because we've been
born of God. We don't believe to be born,
We believe because we have been begotten of God. Look what it
says in John 5, 24. Verily, verily, there it is again.
Amen, amen. I send you, he that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, has everlasting life. You truly believe the gospel
because God made you a new creature in Christ. And shall not come
into condemnation, but is passed from death, death and Adam, to
life. in the Lord Jesus Christ whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God we believe because
we've been given life by his power and by his grace verse
48 back in our text the Lord said I am I am that bread of
life I am Now this is the same I am that spoke out of the bush
that burned and would not consume when Moses asked the Lord, whom
shall I say sent me unto the Israelites to be delivered from
Egyptian bondage? Remember what the voice said? You tell them I am that I am
hath sent you. Same one. God Almighty, I am
that I am. I am that bread of life." The
Lord Jesus Christ declares that in salvation, like bread or food
to our daily diet, He is absolutely necessary. There is no salvation
apart from Him who is God. In the Lord Jesus Christ dwells
all the fullness of God. Our Lord said, you've seen me,
you've seen the Father. I and the Father are one. This is clearly teaching us again
that the Lord Jesus Christ is God our Savior. Turn over here
to John chapter 18. I am. I am that bread. I am that Savior. I am that righteousness. I am
the way, the truth, and the life. We're going to see that all through
the book of John. I am that I am. John 18. You remember when the
Lord was arrested, when they came to arrest Him, being led
by Judas? In John 18 verse 3, Judas then
having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests
and Pharisees cometh thither with lanterns and torches and
weapons. Jesus therefore knowing that all things that should come
upon him went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They
answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said unto them, I am." Cross out the two words, H-E.
They've been supplied. Judas also which betrayed him
stood with them. As soon then as he said unto
them, I am, they went backward and they fell to the ground.
When he declared his name, I am that I am." There is power in
His Word. No man ever spake like that man. There's authority in His Word. They fell to the ground in the
presence of the Word of God. What does that teach us? He is
the mighty God. He's the Alpha, the Omega, the
beginning, the end. He's the everlasting Almighty
God. He is God our Savior, the only just God and Savior. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the only nourishment and substance of
salvation. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. He is that bread. It says over
here in verse 35 of John 6, He said, I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. And then
it says here, I am that bread of life. Sent of God, provided
of God, given of God. I like what Peter said, thou
art that Christ, the son of the living God. How did the Lord
Jesus come among us, among men? Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. In the fullness of time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
He was sent of God. Verse 33, For the bread of God
is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life, giveth
salvation unto His people in this world. Now look at verse
49. John 6, 49. Your fathers did eat manna. They
ate that manna in the wilderness for 40 years God provided for
that multitude. They ate that physical bread
in the wilderness and you know what? He says they're all dead. They're all dead. Turn to verse
58. This is that 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. Those who only ate the manna
perished in the wilderness." What does that teach us? There
is no spiritual or eternal life in natural things, in the things
of the world, nor in the ceremonies of religious men. Salvation is
in a person. He said, I'm the true bread that
came down from heaven. The man eat thereof and never
die. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God does not have life. Your fathers
did eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead. Look at verse
50 now. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and
not die. And not, wait a minute, He said,
if you eat of this bread, the bread that comes from heaven,
the bread that comes from God, if you eat of this bread, you'll
never die. What? Never die? Those who are blessed to receive
the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, and that's what it means to eat
His flesh, eat His body, shall never die. Because He gives us
eternal life. Now turn to John chapter 11,
look at this. John chapter 11. Remember Lazarus had died, Martha
and Mary were grieved, and the Lord said to her, verse 23 of
John 11, your brother shall rise again. And Martha said, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day,
verse 25. And the Lord said to her, I am
the resurrection and the life. I am the bread. I am the resurrection. I am the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Now watch this,
verse 26. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Never die. He gives his people
eternal life and they shall never perish. Now how is eating and
believing similar? How is eating and believing similar? Well, eating is necessary to
sustain life. If you just stop eating, you
won't be around long. But listen to this, eating does
not give life. You eat because you have life.
Eating is necessary to sustain life. Looking at food, and I
like to look at food, smelling food, And I enjoy doing that. Admiring the food will not nourish
our body. You can smell fresh bread all
day long. You gotta take it, put it in
your mouth, and that bread becomes part of you. That's what the hand of faith
does. It reaches out and takes the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Secondly, eating is responding
to need. What drives you to the dinner
table? What drives you to eat? You know what it is. That feeling
you get down here. Hunger. You know, that's a strong
passion, a strong desire. Eating is responding to need.
Hunger. What drives a sinner to the Lord
Jesus Christ? Hunger. Need. You need Him. you see that he's altogether
lovely. Something else about eating,
how it's similar to faith, eating is a personal act. Fred, you
can't eat for me, and I can't eat for you. Eating is a personal thing, a
personal act. Someone else can't eat for you.
Watching others eat will not nourish you, will it? No one
can believe for you. I can't believe for my wife.
I can't believe for my children. No one can believe for you. You
must personally receive, bow and submit and believe the Lord
Jesus Christ yourself. Eating this bread. Eating this
bread. Now look at verse 51. Those who
eat this bread shall not die. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I'm the living. I'm not only the bread, that
bread, I'm the living bread, the true bread. I like all those
adjectives. The living bread, the true bread.
I'm the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread which
I will give, he tells us, is my flesh, his body, which I will
give for, he gives his body for, salvation for his people in this
world. Now, three important things vital
to consider in verse 51. First of all, Christ is the living
bread. He's the true and living God. He's not an impotent idol. He's
not sweet little Jesus who wants to and can't. He is the living
almighty God. You remember when Paul talks
about the faith of God's elect, and when he describes it, he
said, you heard the word of God, not in word only, but also in
power. He said, you became followers
of us and of the Lord. You became an example unto all,
preaching and sending the gospel into all the world. And then
he says this, he said, you turned from your idols to the true and
living God. And that's what true faith does.
It turns it back on all idolatry and we are turned to the true
and living God to serve Him. The Lord is that living bread.
Now watch this. Secondly, the bread that He gives
for our salvation is His own body. His own body. Look what He says. I will give
my flesh. Now you think about this. Who
is this one that died? Who is this one that gives his
flesh? Who is this one that gives his
body? A body, he said, thou hast prepared
me. The body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, he was a real man. Born of a woman and made under
the law. But he is God Almighty manifest
in the flesh. This is just no ordinary man.
He's the God-man. I give my body as a sacrifice
for sin." And that's exactly what he did. He appeared once
in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Now here's the essence of the
gospel. It's just not that a Jewish man died. There's a lot of Jews
that were crucified. That's when the Romans came.
Millions of them. It's who this man is. that gives
glory and eternal power and value to what he did. God bought the
church with his own blood. Who is that one dying on Calvary's
cross? God. He's God Almighty. He's the everlasting God that
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And notice he says, I give
my body. No one took his life from him.
You remember Pilate said this, Don't you know that I have power
to release you? Or I have power to crucify you? And the Lord said, You don't
have any power over me. None at all. But that which my
Father gives you. And then he said in John 10,
No man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
from my Father. He gave Himself a sacrifice for
sin for us. He didn't bring the blood of
bulls and goats. He brought His own blood and
He obtained for us eternal redemption with His own blood. Now watch
this. Thirdly, He gave His life a sacrifice
for somebody. For somebody. Here we see substitution. He died the just for the unjust
that he might bring us unto God he died being the substitute
God laying on him the sin of God's covenant people I will
give my life for somebody now not all the sins of all men that's
not taught in the Word of God it says specifically in John
chapter 10 the Lord said I laid down my life for the sheep there's
nobody in hell for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died He says repeatedly
in this text, I'll raise every one of them again at the last
day. I will not lose one of them. The blood of Christ is so effective
and so effectual purging and cleansing and putting away all
sin that none can perish for whom the Lord died. None! He gives His people eternal life,
and they shall never, never perish. Now look at verse 52, there's
the good news. What did this religious crowd
say? The Jews therefore, that word
strove means they begin to argue among themselves. They begin
to fight and wrangle among themselves, saying, How? How can this be? With men, it's impossible. But
not with God. With God, all things are possible.
The religious lost man always asks this question, Why? How? Faith believes God. Faith takes God at His word and
believes it. How can this be? How can this
man give us his flesh to eat? The Jews started to dispute among
themselves and eventually they walked away. You remember in
verse 41 they murmured at him? And then in verse 60 they said,
this is a hard saying, who can hear it? Who will hear this message? Who will believe this message?
I tell you, the sheep will. He said, my sheep will hear my
voice, I know them and they will follow me. Now look at verse
53, verse 54. And here's this, barely, barely
again. Truly, truly, amen, amen, I say
unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, who
is the Son of God, who is a God-man mediator. Receive Him by faith,
live upon His obedient life, live upon His obedient death,
the shedding of His blood. You have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood has life, and I'll raise him up at the last day." Certainly
this is true. Except you personally, except
you willfully eat his flesh and drink his blood, you have no
life. If you do live upon Him, live
upon Him by faith, looking to His obedient life for all righteousness,
looking unto His bloody sacrifice for all atonement and all forgiveness. If you do look to His obedient
life, if you do look to His obedient death, it's because you do have
life. Do you see in Christ crucified
everything you need to stand before God? Do you really? If
you do, it's only because He's raised you from the dead. and
given you love for the Lord Jesus Christ." Saving faith looks to
Christ alone. His obedience is my righteousness.
His death is the putting away of my sin and the satisfying
of God's law. Those who are regenerated by
the Spirit of the Lord, who have been given life in Christ Jesus,
they love to feed upon Him continuously, always. They have tasted. that the Lord is indeed gracious. We look to Him, Him alone, His
life, His death. You remember the old hymn writer
said, upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, another's
life, another's death. I rest my hope eternally on His
life, on His death, on His doing, His dying. You know, my daughter, some of
you, most of you know her, she's a dietician. And she tries to
help people eat right. And it's a good thing to eat
right. Because there's a saying those dieticians have, you are
what you eat. We've all heard that, haven't
we? You are what you eat. Well, that's true in the natural
realm, isn't it? If you eat junk food all the time, you will have
junky health. If you have a Twinkie diet, now
I know you can't get Twinkies anymore, but if you live on Twinkies
or trying to live on Twinkies, will that sustain you, give you
health? You cannot live on Twinkies. You have to have a proper diet,
a right diet. It's also true spiritually. If
you feed upon what I call a Twinkie gospel, and look to a twinkie Savior,
and a twinkie God, small g, and a twinkie junk food gospel, and
the lives of men, you will have no forgiveness of sin, no righteousness,
no life, and no salvation. The Apostle Paul in Galatians
chapter 1 said, Though we or an angel from heaven preach any
other gospel unto you, let him be damned. We don't need Twinkies. We need the true bread. And there's
a lot of Twinkie preaching going on in our days. We need the true
bread. We need the living bread. The
bread of God. The bread from heaven. Whoso
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, they have life. And I'll raise them up at the
last day. Verse 55, and I'll wind this up here. Verse 55,
For my flesh, my flesh, My body is meat, is bread, is life indeed,
or life truly. Truly is the word indeed. And
my blood, my blood. His blood was not shed in vain.
The blood of Jesus Christ God cleanses us from all sin. His
blood truly. How much so does His blood cleanse? How cleansing is the blood of
Christ? Think about this. God said, their sin and their
iniquity will I remember no more. That's pretty cleansing, isn't
it? That's pretty purging, isn't it? My flesh, my body is truly
sacrificed for sin. And my blood truly indeed puts
away sin. Verse 56, He that eateth Continually,
my body, my flesh, and drinks, my blood dwells in me. Dwells in me. Look at that. And I in Him. Those
who eat and feed upon Christ, they dwell in Him. They look
to Him. And He dwells in us. There's
that vital union of faith. Christ in you, the hope of glory,
God in us, and us in Him. Verse 57, As the Living Father
hath sent me, I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. The Lord Jesus Christ as a God-man
mediator was totally dependent upon His Father, God His Father,
to supply His every need. What does that teach us? How
much more are we totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ for
all salvation? In Him grows all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ Jesus we stand complete. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eats of this bread, He that eats of this bread, that
bread, the bread, the living bread, shall live forever. My friend, eat of Him. Eat of
Him. Have you tasted of the Lord,
that He is gracious? He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever." Look at verse 59, verse 60. These things,
said the Lord, as He taught publicly in Capernaum, in the synagogue,
many of His disciples, when they heard this, Those so-called disciples
that were following Him, when they heard this, they murmured
and they argued and said, this is hard. The way of faith is
hard. Well, it's impossible. This is
hard in the flesh. It's impossible. This is hard
saying, who can hear it? He spoke the truth and they said
it's too hard. It's like folks say today when
we preach sovereign grace, they say, well, that's not fair. You
mean God can't have mercy on whom he will? Well, that's not
fair. Well, the book says he'll have mercy on whom he will. That's
not right. That's what they say. But that's
not what the word teaches. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He will have compassion on whom
he will have compassion. Who can hear this message? The
religious crowd, they said, it's hard, it's harsh, it's mean,
it's cruel. And they got aggravated and they
walked away. Who can hear it? Who will hear
it? Who will feed upon Christ? Who
will receive Him? Who will bow and surrender to
the Lord? I'll tell you exactly who. Look
at verse 37. John 6, all that the Father giveth
to me, They shall come to me, and him that come to me I will
in no wise cast out." His people will bow. His people will be
made willing in the day of His power. His people will surrender
and submit to Him. His elect will receive Him as
all and in all, willingly, lovingly bowing to Him, feed upon Him,
and bless and praise His name for all of salvation. We say
with David, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within
me, bless His holy, holy name. You see what it is to feed upon
Him? His flesh, His blood, His obedient
life, His effectual death, putting away our sin. That's what it
is to feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give us grace
to continually, continually feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ.