The Bread of Life part 2 Partaking in the Bread of Life

Thanks, Brother Keith. I like that song. I'll tell you if that last song does it. It doesn't say something to you. If it doesn't enable you and cause you to worship, then you might not be quite right with God like you should and you might not be converted because those of us who have been converted who know the Lord Jesus, we give glory to His name because we know what we were and we know that everything that we are and can be and will be is because of Him. Thank you, Brother Keith. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that worship from our children. Thank you, children. I look forward to more types of worship services where we involve our young people.

It's a blessing and I'm thankful for that. Well, take your Bible this morning. Turn with me to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. We're back in our series this morning, Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live. We took a break last week dealing with our Easter message, the reality of the resurrection. And I hope and pray that that spoke to you. If you missed that, I can get you those message notes. We can get you an audio copy of that message. I know that spoke to me and ministered to me and I trust that it spoke to you and ministered to you as well. But this morning we will be in verses 51 on down to verse 58 in our service this morning.

Now our verses this morning are part of a continued message from Christ Jesus and one that has had an overarching theme and that is Jesus is the bread which came down from heaven. Now you should know that by now. Jesus is and I place that emphasis on is because he is the bread which came down from heaven. Now within these verses, Jesus claimed to be the bread from heaven. Now notice six times, let me give you these references, verse 33, verse 35, verse 48, verse 50, verse 51 and verse 58. We will touch back on verse 51 this morning and we will see in verse 58.

He says six times, he claims six times to be that bread, that true bread, that living bread that came down from heaven. There's that overarching thing I'm talking about. Now we have studied two messages so far in this one message from Jesus. Now let me clarify that. This is one big message from Jesus. We just had to divide it up because of time. But we had two messages so far. We have the bread of life part one, the bread from heaven and we split that into two different messages. First message dealt with verses 30 through 40 and the second message dealt with verses 41 through 51.

Now this morning we will move into the second part of this message, but we will see that Jesus adds a very important element to this teaching and that is how one might partake or appropriate this bread from heaven. No doubt these Jews thought that they had the true bread from heaven. We know that. We've seen this continuous discourse between Jesus and the Jews, have we not? We know that they did not have this true bread from heaven. They thought that they were right with God because of who they were. They were Jews. They were descendants of Abraham. They were part of God's chosen people.

So they thought that they were right with God because of being who they were and also because they worked so hard at keeping the law of God in an external manner. Now I want to ask you a question. How many people on the face of the earth pursue eternal life in their own way? Countless millions. A countless multitude of people try to attain eternal life, try to become right with God in their own way and that's exactly what the Jews were doing here. They had invented their own way because they ignored the promised Messiah. They rejected Christ.

And if we look around us, if we look at the different religions around the world, we are a little more familiar with the Indian culture because of our mission's presence there through Brother Luke and also Patrick Lee whom we're praying for. They come into those false gods. They come in contact with those false gods, those many Hindu gods, that polytheistic culture really because they worship so many different gods. I'm reminded of that even in our own community.

As an individual in our community in a particular business and he is from India and I've struck up a conversation, a relationship with him and my desire is to be able to witness to him. I've shared with him that I'm a Christian. He shared with me that he's Hindu. I've developed that relationship and I haven't seen him in a while. My wife saw him the other day and he asked where I was, how I was doing and my desire is to be able to be a witness to the one true God and he thinks that he's attaining eternal life through his false religion. That's exactly what the Jews were doing here. They had their own way.

They thought they were right with God but yet they were terribly, terribly wrong. Here we will see that Jesus is teaching these Jews how they might truly partake in this bread that has come down from heaven. Now I will give you the title of the message. We will see the title of the message is the bread of life part two, partaking in the bread of life. Part one we know was from verses 30 on down to verse 51, a lengthy message that we divided up and this morning we're going to look at the bread of life part two, partaking in the bread of life.

You see the truths that we're going to look at this morning out of these verses and I encourage you to take notes. I challenge you to take notes. I really enjoy hearing how some of you will tell me you go back and study. You go back and listen. As a matter of fact, one of the men of the church told me this week he was going back and listening to some of the messages in the book of James. That blessed me because that individual is saying that he desires to learn and to grow and to get all that God would have us to give. That should be our heart to get all that God wants us to get as we are in this journey through the gospel of John.

And then else other places in the word of God. Let's go to the text together and let's read these verses starting in verse 51. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. Verse 52, the Jews therefore begin to argue with one another saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, truly, truly I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I am in him. The living Father, as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the Father's ate and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever. Now you see the truths, how we're going to break down these verses so that we can understand what the Lord is teaching.

So let's look at truth number one, the great provision. Truth number one, the great provision. Now all of the translations read this verse, have this verse listed in the same way. Now some of you will notice that this verse, verse 51 is a carry over from the previous message. This verse really serves two purposes in this big message from Christ. First this verse concludes the previous teaching which was from verse 30 on down to verse 50. So it's a wrap up of what Jesus has already taught. Second this verse acts as an introduction to the next portion, the last portion of Jesus' message which is what we will look at this morning.

And we will notice in this verse a change in Jesus' approach and in his teaching as we continue. So I want to give us some truth this morning out of this verse that we did not look at two weeks ago. Notice first the continued teaching that Jesus is the bread from heaven. Go back to the verse, "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven." This is a continued teaching on this subject. This is the fifth time Jesus claims to be living bread from heaven. Verse 33, verse 35, verse 48, verse 50 and now again in verse 51. This is the fifth time.

And of course we know that Jesus is talking about his incarnation, the fact that he was the Word that became flesh. We learned that earlier in John chapter 1 verse 14. What does it say? The Word, Jesus Christ, deity, God. He became flesh. He came and dwelt among men. He put on flesh. So Jesus is this bread that came down out of heaven. Then second, notice a different teaching introduced, eating of this bread. Notice a different teaching is introduced and that is eating of this bread. I am the living bread that came down from out of heaven. We've already seen that. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever.

Now this is, this of course is Christ referring to a spiritual acceptance of Christ, not physically eating flesh. Let me reiterate that. This is spiritual. This is an analogy. This is a teaching tool. Jesus is teaching of a spiritual acceptance of Christ. And Jesus will expound on this teaching because he is introducing this teaching here in verses 53 on down to verse 58. And this is why many Bible scholars call this an introductory verse because it introduces the next subject all the way down to verse 58. And then third, notice who this is for. Who this is for. And it says the world. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. Here we see that Christ's sacrifice was not just for the Jews. See that was difficult for the Jews to understand. The Jews could not understand that the work of God was for Jew and Gentile alike. And we see that Christ's sacrifice is not just for the Jews, but it is for Jew and Gentile alike and even for the entire world. Let me take you to another book that the Apostle John authored. And that is 1 John chapter 2 verse 2. And notice what John says.

He talking about Christ is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. What do we see here? Two times John gives us this teaching that his sacrifice was for the world. Now this verse, verse 51 is what I call a loaded verse. It is packed through and through with teaching and very important teaching. It is loaded with so much. Let me summarize. Let me briefly summarize. First, who Christ is. Verse 51 at the beginning says, he is the bread that came down from heaven. Second, how one can be saved.

The second portion of the verse says that those who are saved are those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. That is a spiritual impartation. Then third, the depth of this salvation. What does it say? That they shall live forever. This isn't temporary. And fourth, who this salvation is for. Jesus says it is for the world. Now let me ask you a question. Very important question. Does this verse teach that all men will be saved? No. That's not what this verse teaches. This teaches that Christ's death is sufficient for the salvation of all men, but efficient only for those who believe and trust in him. Let me repeat that.

This verse teaches that Christ's death is sufficient for the salvation of all men, but efficient only for those who believe and trust in him. But let me add to that. But the only way man might believe and be saved is for God to draw men to Christ. Did not we learn that in verse 44? I mean go all the way back to verse 44. The word says that no man can come to Christ unless God the Father draws them. And you must understand this truth. And go back to those verses. Chapter 6 verse 51, 1 John 2, 22. What do we see?

Jesus says, "My sacrifice is for the world." And it is sufficient for the world, but efficient for only those who are saved, who trust and believe. And the only way that a man can ever trust and believe in Christ is if God the Father draws them. Now in application, what does this say to us? It should show us that there was enough blood spilled on the cross of Calvary for any and all to be saved. Let me repeat that. It should show us that there was enough blood spilled on the cross of Calvary for any and all to be saved. I mean anybody and everybody. It does not matter how religious they might be or how wretched they may be.

It does not matter if they're upper class, low class, no class, middle class. There is enough blood that was spilled on Calvary for all to be saved. How do I know that Jesus says it? You know what he said? And the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. Now another question in application, what effect should this have on us today? Listen, the effect that it should have is first we must pray. Listen, church, we must pray. Why? Because we need God to draw people. Do you understand that? Our lost loved ones will never ever ever have the opportunity to trust and believe in Christ unless God the Father draws them.

So our first response is it must motivate us to our knees. Second, we must tell others. We must tell others. Why? Because we see that Christ died for them. Jesus says it in two places in the scripture. And then third, we must wait for God to do his work. And I emphasize his work. We must wait for God to do this work. Listen, it should motivate us. It should work in us. It should move us and it should change us. And it should cause us to be, listen, caught up in this work. So what do we see? What do we learn? What do we sing out of this one verse? This great provision.

Let's move on and I want us to see truth number two, the pattern of rejection, the pattern of rejection in verse 52. The Jews therefore began to argue with one another saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Here we see a continued pattern with the Jews. Do we not? In verse 30 and 34, they asked for more bread. They just wanted their bellies full. They wanted another miracle. We remember that. That is that superficial heart that they add. Then things escalate. And in verse 41, we see their grumbling spirit. The King James says that they were murmuring. So earlier in verse 41, they're grumbling, they're murmuring.

But now it's this continued escalating pattern of rejection. Two things I want us to see out of this verse. First, notice they're arguing. Notice they're arguing. The New American standard reads argue. Now some of you have the English standard version. It reads dispute. The King James reads the word. It uses the word strove. Now this word is used in other places in the New Testament. This word is used in Acts chapter seven, verse 26 to refer to armed combat. This word is used in 2 Timothy 2, verse 24 to describe a war of words. This tells us that they were in a very heated argument among themselves. The Jews were arguing among themselves.

They were murmuring and now they're arguing this war of words about who Jesus was and what Jesus was proclaiming. Second, notice their blindness. Let me go back to the verse. The Jews therefore began to argue with one another saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? They just didn't get it. They were blind. Here they're revealing this blindness to spiritual truth, which they have been taught and the evidence of Christ's deity, which had been demonstrated. Notice their rejection. They rejected the works that demonstrated his deity and they're rejecting the spiritual truth that was taught to them.

And even greater than that, they are revealing their unbelieving hearts. So they're revealing their blindness. We see their blindness and it must be seen that these Jews were revealed for who they were by two means. I want you to get this. They revealed who they were by two means. First, Christ's work in teaching revealed who they were. The more they rejected Jesus' miracles in teaching, the more they revealed their true condition. You realize that? Every minute and every second they were with Jesus, seeing his miracles and hearing his teaching, they were revealing their true condition because it was rejection after rejection after rejection.

And second, their own rejection to Jesus. Let me explain what I mean because it might sound like I'm redundant. Christ's teaching and Christ's miracles revealed their true condition and their reaction to Jesus, that reveals their true condition because their reactions revealed who they were and who they wanted to be. You hear that? Their reactions revealed who they were and who they wanted to be. I'm going to give you an example to try to help flesh this out. What I mean by flesh this out, to try to help make application. I always want you to get application, but sometimes an example will help. Let me give you an example.

I remember years ago in a church where I was serving, there was a particular family who was in attendance and they happened to have students in our ministry, teenagers in our youth ministry, and they had children as well. And I never forget some of those teenagers, some of their children began to be under conviction about their spiritual condition. They began to come to talk to mom and to dad and they began to talk about things that were preached and taught. And rather than being schooled and rather than being wise with that situation, their parents begin to lead them astray and they begin to reject the preaching and the teaching.

Preaching and teaching which you hear each Sunday. And so what we see is that particular family, that particular mom, that particular dad rejected what was preached and rejected what was taught. And their reaction revealed who they were and who they wanted to be. Because they had a belief and conversion that was very much like what we've learned about in our study of the seven churches at Revelation. You remember that church who had this belief that you could live any old way and still be right with God.

You see, as evangelistic preaching was brought about and their sons began to question about their spiritual condition, mom and dad began to squelch that teaching. Mom and dad began to lead them astray. And listen, their reaction to what was preached and their reaction and the way they expressed that revealed who they were and what they wanted to be. They rejected the word taught and their reaction proved who they were. And you know what they did? They went the other way. They held on to a gospel that didn't say. And let me tell you what happened to their sons. Their sons went off into the world. Their sons went off into alcoholism.

Their sons went off into drugs. Their sons went off into doing all the different things that everybody did in the life in the world. But the funny thing about it is they kept one foot in the church because they moved to a church that would accept it. You see what I mean? Those Jews did that. They rejected what Jesus taught and their rejection revealed who they were. And this is a pattern of unbelief. Now I want you to see something in application. We must see that the Jews, they had a great stumbling block before them. The great stumbling block for the Jews was a suffering Messiah. What I want you to see is they wanted a physical king.

They wanted a physical king for Israel. They wanted a deliverer from Roman oppression. And when the suffering Messiah came along and began to preach and begin to teach and begin to teach like he did, they rejected that teaching because they had a Messiah of their own making and they revealed who they were and what they wanted. And there is this pattern of rejection. And so the stumbling block for them was the suffering Messiah. Let me show you how this was played out today. In our Southern Baptist world and in our South Mississippi Baptist life, the greatest stumbling block out there today is the profession of faith.

Countless multitudes in our communities have made the profession of faith. But see, the problem with that profession of faith is first of all, it's not found in the scripture. Those who are truly born again and right with God, they do not have a profession of faith. They possess a faith and they are in Christ and Christ is in them. And that's why you can find somebody at your job, in your family, in our community who will tell you that they profess Christ, but they do not love God. They don't love the Word of God. They don't love the church. They don't love holy living. They don't love the Bible.

They don't want to raise their children in the life of the church. They don't want to come to church. They have a profession of faith, but they don't know Christ. That is a great stumbling block because listen, it is an invented Messiah. And when you come along and preach the true gospel, listen, they will stumble all over that profession of faith. And if they are not converted, it will become a pattern of rejection. Let's move on. Let's look at truth number three, appropriating this spiritual life. See, you're beginning to see, we're beginning to see this change in Jesus' teaching.

He's taking the gospel onto their hearts, appropriating this spiritual life. Verse 53, let's look at the verse. "Jesus therefore said to them," this is his response, "truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Now again, we see Jesus underscore what he is about to teach. Every time Jesus says truly, truly, he is emphasizing what he is about to teach.

Now get this, everything Jesus said was true and important, but every now and then Jesus says truly, truly, and he really raises the bar. It's almost like he says, you really better listen because this is really true. But what's so important here? Christ uses these words, eat and drink. Go back to the text. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood." Christ is using an analogy, a teaching tool. Now what is the meaning here? This is speaking of spiritually partaking in Christ, believing in Christ. It is very interesting to note the construction of these two verbs and what they teach.

These two verbs teach that this would be a one-time partaking in Christ. Let me go back to the text. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat," that's an action word, a verb, "unless you eat one time of the flesh of the Son of Man and unless you drink," that's an action word, a verb, "drink one time of his blood, you have no life in yourselves." This speaks of one's time of conversion and time of salvation. One is converted just once. It is not a process. It is not a multiple choice of events in one's lives. Let me explain that.

Jesus is teaching that for those Jews to be right with God, they had to at one time partake of Christ, receive Christ, trust in Christ, using the analogy, receive and eat his flesh, using the analogy, receive and drink his blood. This speaks of the one-time event of conversion. You've heard me say this before and you need to remember it. Conversion is a historical event, one time. Sanctification which is growing in Christ is a process and many people get this confused. I give you an example.

I heard just recently of a minister noted for his theology, noted for some of his writing, and I heard from a trusted source, therefore I will not give the name, I heard of this minister giving his testimony multiple times in a setting in a group of people and each time he gave different accounts of when he was converted. Now I'm not saying that everyone has to communicate their conversion like I do, but what I am saying is conversion isn't multiple choice. You do not have different events in your life and then you look back and pick and choose. Conversion is a one-time event. You might not remember the date.

You might not remember the specific time, but you will remember this. You were once lost and then you were saved. You were once an enemy of God and then you were brought to a right relationship with God. You were once out of step and out of joint with God, but because God drew you and brought you to that place, you were made right with God. And listen, I do not care how straight this man's theology is. I do not care how renowned he is or how many books he writes. If he cannot articulate a time of conversion, I have to question whether he is converted.

There was another individual that I have followed and I'll never forget that he had on his church's website that he could not tell you when he was converted. And he said it's really not important to know the time of conversion. What really matters is this that if you produce fruit, I have a problem with that as well. Now, fruit is important, but if someone tells me they can't tell me when they were converted, I have a problem with that. The Apostle Paul stood before King Agrippa and when he gave his testimony, he did not talk about multiple choice.

He did not talk about, "Well, I really do not know." He said about noonday O king on the road to Damascus. What did he say? "I partook of Christ." That's exactly what we see here, appropriating this spiritual life. And listen, just these words in the construction of the original language, it debunks multiple choice conversion and those who do it, de-emphasize the need for a time of conversion. And I don't care if you're 9 or 19 or 29 or 49 or 99, if you were converted, you will be able to open your mouth and say, "I was once lost, but now I'm found. Glory be to God." Now, quickly three things out of this verse.

Notice life comes from protecting in Christ. Verse 53, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves." Notice that this is a negative. All of the translations that we study read the same here. Christ is saying that those who are outside of him are lifeless, while those who are in Christ have abundant life. Second, notice eternal life comes from partaking in Christ. Look at verse 54. Verse 54, "He who eats of the flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Notice eternal life comes from partaking in Christ.

What do we see? Christ is saying here that those who are in him have abundant life, which is eternal life. And this is never ending life. So those who are in Christ, they have life, abundant life, they have eternal life. And then third, notice resurrection comes from partaking in Christ. Look at verse 54, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Christ is saying here that those who are in him will be raised up from the grave on the last day. And that is referring to the judgment seat of Christ when we will be rewarded for the deeds that are done in the body.

There is hope for the afterlife. You see? So much in these verses. And it is important to see here what it means to appropriate or take in Christ. This is not a mere profession of faith. This is ingesting Christ, taking Christ in his totality. And when one comes to that place in Christ, he makes wonderful promises. Let me repeat that. When one individual comes to that place in Christ, he makes these wonderful promises. He says if you're in me, you have abundant life, you have eternal life, and you have hope for the resurrection. Isn't that good? So an application, I just want to ask you a question. Have you appropriated Christ?

Have you taken in Christ? Has this happened to you? Listen, if this has not happened to you based on what we've looked at just in two or three verses, you're not a Bible Christian, and you might have a profession of faith. But if you don't have what the Word says we've looked at this morning, listen, you might have that greatest obstacle, a profession of faith. You know, I was blessed this week. We're not the only ones who have struggled with this great obstacle of the profession of faith. I was talking with Brother Keith yesterday and sharing with him. I try to develop good resources and have good resources.

But I ran across a certain book, and I bought it, and it came in this week. It's called An Alarm to the Unconverted. It's by an old Puritan named Joseph Adeline. Joseph Adeline was born in 1634, and he died in 1668. There's a lot that can be read about his life. He had a very short life. He suffered greatly. Go back and study his life. But he's writing this book, he's writing this treatise, warning people who are unconverted. And in chapter one, this is what he says, "mistakes about conversion." And so what he does is he takes individuals and he whittles them down.

He whittles all the props that are up under them that prop them up in their false conversion. Let me read you a little introductory statement or two. He says, "The devil has made many counterfeits of conversion." He cheats one with this and another with that. He talking about the devil, "has such craft and artifice in his mystery of deceits that if it were possible, he would even deceive the very elect." In other words, he's explaining how cunning the devil is. Now notice what Joseph the Puritan says. The first mistake. Profession is not the taking upon us, the profession of Christianity. You know what that tells me?

That the Puritans struggle with this as well. A profession of faith is not enough people. We must have appropriated spiritual life. Let's move on. Let's look at truth number four. Let's notice abiding in spiritual life. Verse 55 down to verse 58, "For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I am in him. As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he shall also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the Father's aid and died.

He who eats this bread shall live forever." Now here in these verses, Jesus introduces another aspect to true spiritual life. Christ has been teaching that true spiritual life is only in himself and there are certain promises attached to this life and now he introduces even more to the hearers. First notice Christ is true spiritual life. We see that in verse 55. "The food which the Old Testament Jews ate in the desert, it was true food." Remember he goes back and forth contrasting himself between the manna.

"And this food that the Old Testament Jews ate in the desert was true food, but it was food that would not give them eternal life." Christ is true in that he is the only one who can give eternal life. Those Old Testament Jews ate manna in the wilderness, but yet they died. Those who eat of Christ live forever. So Christ is true spiritual life. Second, notice there is an abiding spiritual life. Go back to the verse because this is the new concept. Verse 56, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me." Now the King James reads, "Dwelleth." What do we see here? This word "abide" is a word which John continues to use in his gospel.

This word communicates a continual spiritual fellowship between Christ and the believer. One of the Bible commentators that I read calls this a continuous mystical fellowship between Christ and man. We see this taught later in the Gospel of John. John 15, verses 1 through 6. Verse 4 reads, "Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." So what do we see? There is an abiding spiritual life as we are in Christ. Then third, notice Christ is the bread from heaven. This is in verse 58. This is the bread which came down out of heaven.

That is, the Father's aid in God, "He who eats this bread shall live forever." This is the last time of the six times that Jesus cites himself as the bread from heaven. Notice that Jesus makes a strong connection to the manna which the Old Testament Jews received when they were wandering in the wilderness. They were wandering in the wilderness. This tells us that that was a picture of what was to come. Christ Jesus is the true manna which came down from heaven. Now it is important for us to see this abiding which Christ has introduced in this message here.

These other truths have been present in His teaching throughout this message, but this abiding is a new aspect to the life of Christ or in Christ. For application, you and me, for us, we must see that Christ is an abiding Christ. You hear me? It's not a profession of faith. Our faith is an abiding faith. We abide in Christ and Christ abides in us. It is a continuous mystical fellowship between Christ Jesus our Lord and ourselves. A mere profession of faith will not do. Baptism will not do. Church membership will not do. Even church service as a minister of the gospel, it will not do. Only an abiding relationship with Christ is sufficient.

Man in Christ and Christ in man. Just like I asked earlier, do you have this abiding spiritual life? That's the question that you must ask today. Now as I conclude, I want to give you this wonderful application that I ran across in my study this week. Many of you know that I'll reference John MacArthur from time to time. There are many different resources that I use. I'll use five, six, seven resources in my study. Some are technical. Some really deal with application. Some deal with breaking down the original language. But this week I ran across how John MacArthur expounds on this analogy of eating. Isn't that what Jesus is doing?

He's using the analogy of eating. Food. Taking in food. And he's teaching spiritual truths. Now John MacArthur calls this a list of parallels in appropriating spiritual truth. And I'm going to go through them. You won't have time to write them down. If you want them, I'll give them to you after the service. And I want you to listen because this really will wrap up the message. First, just as physical food is useless unless it is eaten, so also spiritual truth does no good if it is not internalized. Merely knowing the truth without acting on it, both prophets nothing and does not allow one even to remain neutral.

In fact, it will result in a more severe judgment according to Luke 12 and Hebrews 10. What do we see? Food is useless unless it is taken in. And spiritual food is useless unless it is received and taken in as well. And I want to tell you, I love how MacArthur pulls it out. It is impossible to remain neutral. The Jews could not remain neutral. And listen, if you sit under this truth and you reject it, you incur more judgment. If you reject what's taught today, you would have been better off not being here this morning. Food is useless unless it is taken in.

And I want to encourage you as your pastor, I want to encourage you to receive what was taught today. Second, eating is prompted by hunger, those who are full physical food are not interested in physical food. In the same way, sinners who are satisfied with their sin have no hunger for spiritual things. But when God awakens them to their lost condition, however, the hunger for forgiveness and deliverance and peace and love and hope and joy drives them to Christ, the bread of life. You see the progression? Eating, listen, is prompted by hunger. And if we're full, we don't want to eat.

And listen, if we are satisfied to stay in our sin, we have no spiritual hunger. But I want to tell you, there are some of you here today. God has awakened you. God has worked in you. God is drawing you and He is revealing to you your lost condition. And there is something in you that hungers for forgiveness and deliverance and peace and love and joy and hope. And I want to tell you to take that hunger to Jesus, that living bread. Third, the food people eat becomes a part of them through the operation of the body's digestive system. We're going to see that a little later. We're going to eat and we're going to digest that which we eat.

And it's going to come into our body to become a part of this operating system that we live in. And so it is spiritually. People may admire Christ. They may be impressed by His teaching and even bemoan Christ's death on the cross as a tragedy. But not until they appropriate Christ by faith do they become one with Him. It's not enough to bemoan the great tragedy of the cross. It's not enough to admire Christ. It's not enough to admire His teaching. We must partake in Him, just like we partake in physical food. And there are some of you here today. You need to partake in Christ. You need to appropriate Christ.

You need Christ in you, the only hope that you have. Fourth, eating physical food involves trust. No one knowingly eats tainted food or spoiled food. The very fact of eating implies faith that that food that they're eating is edible. Isn't that true? Thus, the metaphor of eating bread of life implies, now listen, believing in Christ. It implies trust. There are some of you, you need to trust Christ. Listen, you need to trust Christ. He is the only one that can save you and He is the only one that can give you the new heart and the new life that you desperately need. And fifth, eating is personal. No one can eat a meal for another.

There is no such thing as eating physically by proxy, nor is there salvation by proxy. What does that mean? You cannot be saved by your mom or your dad or your pastor. You cannot be saved by another. It's you and you alone. There is no such thing as a proxy for salvation. Listen to what Psalm 49 verse 7 says, "No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him." What is the Psalm saying? It's you and you alone. So the question for you this morning is, have you partaken in Christ the true bread that's come down from heaven? Not a profession of faith. Not a church membership, not baptism. Those are all good things.

They have their place. But the real question is, have you partaken in Christ? Have you appropriated Christ? As I close, you know why I sang that last song so joyfully? You don't know why I sang that song with joy in my heart and praise in my mind and motion in my body. Why? Because it calls glory to God, I have appropriated Christ. I can look down through the tunnel of time and my past and tell you how God the Father sought me. He worked in my life. God rearranged the circumstances of my life when I was blind and when I was dead and when I was hopeless and my life was in shambles.

It was a loving God who brought me to a man who would preach the gospel. They said come, come to Christ and only because God brought me to himself I partook in Christ. And listen, I have never ever ever been the same since. Not perfect, but abiding in Christ. For taking the true bread of life. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this message today. Thank you for this time today. Thank you for the truth today. Thank you for how it rings true in my mind and in my heart and my life today.