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32 Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you
the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from
heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they
unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said
unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you,
That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own
will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will
of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him,
may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then
murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. (John 6:32-41)
This
is one of the shortest hymns in the 1940 Hymnal (#212); however, like the
writings of the Gospel, Prophets, and Epistles, it says much in few words. It
is an excellent Communion hymn for any church season. The great
divide over the Real Presence, whether spiritual, physical or only memorial, is
not an issue in this hymn; but it plainly states the case of the Bread that
came down from Heaven, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This
is the best loved hymn of Josiah Conder written in 1824. The tune is Bread
of Heaven by William D. Maclagan.
Bread of Heaven, On Thee We Feed
Bread of heaven, on
thee we feed,
for thy Flesh is
meat indeed;
ever may our souls
be fed
with this true and
living Bread;
day by day with
strength supplied
through the life of
him who died.
Vine of
heaven, thy Blood supplies
this blest Cup of
sacrifice;
'tis thy wounds our
healing give,
to thy cross we look
and live:
Thou our life! oh
let me be
Bread
of heaven, on thee we feed, for thy Flesh is meat indeed; ever may our souls be
fedwith this true and living Bread; day by day with strength supplied through
the life of him who died. The love and esteem in which we hold
Christ is the most important issue we face this side of Jordan Banks. I dare
say that many will forego their hunger for more than a day without feeling the
deep and abiding pangs of the fast. Our physical world may loom
large when our physical needs are wanting. But the desire for physical
gratification is NOTHING compared to that of the soul that leans upon that
Everlasting Arm of the Almighty. We do feed daily upon the physical bread that
God has provided in nature; but it is far more important to feed upon the
Heavenly Bread that cost the Father such an enormous fortune in its purchase at
Calvary. It is far better to perish of physical hunger holding a treasure chest
of spiritual wealth than it is to perish of a spiritual death with the cupboard
full of nature’s bread.
Precisely
what IS the Bread of Heaven? Is it not the Word made flesh? And the Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Our Lord is the Bread that came down from Heaven in the flesh. He
has risen to the Father, as well, in the flesh. The living bread is not made
with grains of wheat baked together, but rather the spiritual nourishment that
we lay claim to by the assurance of His Presence among us, not only at His
imminent Presence at the Lord’s Table, but ALWAYS – even unto the end of the
world.
Our
Lord not only died in remission of our sins, but He also rose again to life
eternal. Through that act of Divine Power, He has granted title and deed to
each of us who are accounted the elect of God through faith and by grace. He is
our bread that gives life and health to the believer.
There
are two kinds of bread. One is the food of the saints; the other the bread of
disbelief and false doctrine. There is an abundant supply of this latter bread
in churches today. It is that bread to which Christ referred in the Gospel of
St. Matthew: 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matt 16:6) There is no disputing what this bread is for Jesus defines it in
the following verses to this. It is the great preponderance of spiritual poison
being served up in churches everywhere today: O ye of little faith, why reason ye among
yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet
understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and
how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do
not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye
should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? (Matt 16:8-11) The leaven of false doctrine is abundantly available from pulpit
to false Bible versions today.
Vine
of heaven, thy Blood supplies this blest Cup of sacrifice; 'tis thy wounds our
healing give,to thy cross we look and live: Thou our life! oh let me be
grafted, rooted, built in thee. We not only have physical bodies that
need nourishment, but souls, too, that need a lively spirit. Bread gives life,
and the spiritual wine of God gives spirit and understanding. That wine of the
Holy Communion is the blood of Christ symbolized in the Cup. As we consume the
bread, it represents the tangible Presence of Christ and His Word with us. He
truly is present under the emblems of Bread and Wine. But He was made flesh so
that we could know God, see God, touch God, and live on God. Had He only come
to live among us and then depart, we would have profited not an iota. But He
came, lived and walked among us, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind,
restored the leper, and raised the dead; and then He died as a propitiation for
our sins. That is the clincher!
We look to the Blood
of the Cross for spiritual healing in the same way as the Children in the
Wilderness looked to the Brazen Serpent for physical healing.
But
to know the Word well is not enough! We must know Him in Spirit AND in Truth!
Remember the words of our Lord to the Samaritan Woman at the Well: 22 Ye worship ye know not
what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. (John 4:22-24) There are some who
hold to the absolutes of truth, but deny mercy and grace, unjustly. There are
others who have an abundance of spirit (some spirit) but lack truth. Truth and
Spirit must be joined together in order to bear fruit. Today not only in
philosophy but in politics, government, and individual morality, our generation
sees solutions in terms of synthesis and not absolutes. When this happens,
truth, as people have always thought of truth, has died. ~
Francis Schaeffer (http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-truth-20-great-scripture-quotes/#ixzz4Y2xJLI00)
The
Wine of the Communion represents the Blood of Christ which delivers that
spiritual life to all of our being and senses. If we are affixed to
the Vine which is Christ, that is our Bread from Heaven; and the nourishment
that is delivered through that Vine (His Blood) gives us spiritual
understanding and life to act. We are not natural limbs of the Vine for we
cannot be Holy of our own right. We are grafted into the Vine so that we are as
adopted sons and daughters. What a high privilege!
Are
YOU?
