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Sermon Notes of Rev.Dr.I.J.W.Oakley (4-8-1991 Cleland Baptist Church)
This is the first of seven ‘I am’s in John’s
Gospel. Christ directs our attention to Himself – who He is, how much we need
Him, and what He can do in our life. The person and work of Christ is at the
centre of every true Gospel ministry. Nothing gives more pleasure to the
congregation to hear about. Nothing gives more pleasure to the preacher to
preach about.
C.H.Spurgeon wrote, “The
pulpit is a throne and when I am in full swing with the Lord Jesus Christ as my
subject, I would not change places with the seraphim.”
Going to look at the picture of bread, then see how we may appropriate this bread. Finally consider the results of doing so, both here and hereafter.
No simpler picture, because it is such a familiar image,
the commonest item on the table. We partake of it daily. Everybody eats it,
whoever they are. The point being made – what bread is for the body and the
physical life, Christ is for the soul and the spiritual life. Just as all men
need bread, so all men need Christ.
He does not just give bread; He is the bread. We
do not just need Christ’s gifts; we need Christ Himself. We need Him, and we
need Him daily.
In the section John 6:30-59,
Jesus tells us more about Himself. He is He who comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world (John 6:33), living bread (6:51), the true
bread from heaven (6:32). He is qualified to meet our needs. He came from
God Himself, and died on the Cross to remove everything keeping us from God and
His blessing and His heaven. He is living – alive now, and giving new life,
and able to sustain and maintain that new life.
To have Him is to have something
of supreme value, a pearl of great price, the one thing really worth having. To
not have Him, no matter what else you have, is to have really missed out for
time and eternity. There are things in Christ which we get nowhere else. In Him
alone our empty feeble inadequate souls find their needs met and abundantly
supplied. He is life for the dead, and bread for the living. No matter who we
are, He is sufficient for us.
Jesus,
thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou
fount of life, thou light of men.
From
the best bliss that earth imparts
We
turn unfilled to thee again”
To refuse the bread of life is to refuse God, heaven, salvation, hope and life.
Bread is no use to us in the shop window or even on the
table. Has to be eaten. We must partake. We must make it ours. So it is with
Christ. Not enough to hear or to read or to think. Has to be appropriated. This
is something we must do for ourselves. No one can eat food for us, and no one
can appropriate Christ for us.
Several terms describing our
relationship to Him. o ercomenos (v.35)
translated “come”, there has to be movement towards Christ. This is
personal, has to be done on our part. o
pisteuwn translated “believe”, there has to be trust as we venture on
Christ, rely on Him, lean whole weight on Him, lay hold of Him, aware of our
need, helplessness, weakness and unworthiness.
Then another term, “eat” of
the bread, eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood (v.53).
Many people think this refers to the Lord’s Supper, and conclude that
partaking of the Sacrament will give them eternal life. This interpretation
opens the door to religion of outward forms and ceremonies and superstition. It
keeps out of heaven anyone who has never partaken of the Sacraments. This would
rule out the dying thief, the man on his deathbed, the Quakers and the Salvation
Army, and would open the door to thousands of godless and plainly unregenerate
immoral people. Man’s salvation does not depend on a bodily act. His
“flesh” and “blood” in these verses refers to His sacrifice offered, on
the Cross, for sinners. He was our substitute. “Eating” and “drinking”
is picture language for receiving His sacrifice, making it our own, accepting
that He died in our place, feeding on His sacrifice in the heart, the soul
feeding on Christ’s sacrifice by faith, just as a body feeds on bread.
So come, believe, eat and drink.
Receive Him, make Him your own. What does this involve?
Charles Wesley was dressing by an open window looking out to sea. There was a strong wind, boisterous seas, and heavy rain. A little bird flew in the window to escape the storm, and nestled in his bosom. He looked after it till the tempest was over – and then he wrote the hymn:
“Jesus,
lover of my soul,
Let
me to thy bosom fly”
Coming in weakness, frailty, and helplessness. As a
beggar looking for help. As a child seeking his parent’s support. Empty
handed. Nothing to bring. Everything to receive. Come as a consumer, not as a
producer.
The Greek words used for these
terms imply repeated, daily coming to Christ. Having been saved, we have to keep
coming to Him day by day. Need to have this lesson reinforced constantly. Keep
coming, keep relying, and keep receiving. From the fullness of His grace we
have all received one blessing after another (John 1:16). One lot of grace
followed by another, one experience of His grace after another in our lives.
There must be a constant going
to Christ. Not just to a doctrine or a ritual, but to Christ Himself. Failure to
do so is the cause of weakness and failure in so many Christian lives. We are
not just saved, and that’s the end of it. We have to keep on letting Him be
everything to us day by day. The weaker we are and the more unworthy we feel –
the more He can be to us. We partake of fresh bread every day – we don’t
want yesterday’s, it is stale. And just as we eat several times during the
day, so we should feed constantly on Christ. Not live on old experiences and
past blessings. Set times for meals and, spiritually, eating between meals can
do us no harm.
We need Christ to give us life.
Then keep on feeding on Him daily to maintain that life. Not a fleeting contact,
but the closest possible relationship. He dwells in us, and we in Him. He is to
be our home, and He is to become part of us. The simplicity of it all – come,
rely, receive daily.
Reread Dr. Andrew Bonar’s
diary recently. Valuable, not because he was a great preacher (he said himself
that he only “talked” in the pulpit), but because of his life. It always
brings conviction. He was constantly in touch with God. He prayed always and
everywhere. Lived every hour on Christ. Prayed while walking and going from
place to place. Never prepared a sermon till he had asked God about the subject,
doctrine, illustration, and application. “Unless I keep up short prayer every
day throughout the day, I lose the spirit of prayer”.
Come, rely, and receive. Once for all – then daily thereafter.
He gives us, first and foremost, life. God’s very life
enters our soul. Eternal life becomes ours, as a present possession. As we keep
coming and receiving that life, we are strengthened, nourished, and we grow and
are built up. The strength He gives is adequate for suffering, work, testimony
and service. Out of Christ’s fullness, our varied needs and wants can be
supplied. He gives us an eminently satisfying life. No longer mere existence,
but true life. He pledges His royal word that we will never again hunger or
thirst.
Christ means exactly what He
says. All our longings and emptiness are met in Christ. No key ever fitted a
lock so well as Christ fits the soul with its needs and longings.
But this life has important
future dimension. It does not waste with passing of the years. Indeed, the last
years may be the best days. Still bring forth fruit in old age. Remain fresh and
flourishing. Death will not bring life to an end. There will be a future and
more wonderful development – life after death. Everlasting life lasts as long
as God Himself. The believer will never die in sins, or face condemnation, being
cast off forever. Christ is the answer for the disturbed conscience, with a
sense of sin, fear of what comes after death, terror or hell.
Triumphant words about the believer: I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
“Once
born, twice to die;
Twice
born, once to die”
Splendid future and completely adequate Saviour is ours
if we want it. It is possible for someone to be the most ignorant, stained,
sinful creature, but untold riches within his grasp for the asking. Instead of
the husks the world offers, there is the Bread of the Father’s house, if only
he would come, depend and receive.
“My
God, I am thine,
What
a comfort divine.
What
a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine.
In
the heavenly Lamb
Thrice
happy I am
And
my heart it doth dance at the sound of His name.
True
pleasures abound
In
the rapturous sound,
And
whoever hath found it hath paradise found.
My
Jesus to know,
And
feel His blood flow,
Tis
life everlasting, tis heaven below.
Yet
onward I haste
To
the heavenly feast,
That,
that is the fullness, but this is the taste.
And
this I shall prove
Till
with joy I remove
To
the heaven of heaven in Jesus’ love”
The Bread of Life – a perfect picture of what Christ
can be to the soul. Giving life, sustaining, satisfying, and that for time and
eternity. But only for those who come, rely, and receive.
We are talking about a gift –
free, unmerited, gladly bestowed. Tradesmen may have problem getting people up
to their price; the preacher has problem getting people down to his. Christ as a
free gift, or not at all. No question of earning or deserving. Can have all for
nothing, and have it at once.
Spiritual hunger? Emptiness?
Sense of being in the wrong with God? Christ alone can relieve and supply.
Christ is God’s gift to the world. He is sufficient for all, and offered to
all. But there must be a personal dealing with Christ. No one can act for us. He
is not just a figure in a book, not just a doctrine, but a Living Saviour. Come,
believe, and receive. Christ unappropriated will not save.
Luther said about this invitation “Come and believe”: “These are indeed dear and precious words. It is not enough for us merely to know. We must turn them to account and say upon these words ‘I will go to sleep at night and get up in the morning. Lean on them while I sleep and wake, work or travel. Though all were to go to ruin; though my father and mother and everyone else forsook me, I have only Christ to look to. Yet He will help me, for His words are sure’.”
