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Bramhall, John WFeeding On Christ 05 ~ 1 Corinthians 15;23-24

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Beloved, friends, greetings in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a warm welcome to our closing meditation from the Gospel of John, chapter six, verses fifty-three and fifty-four. We read the words that pertain to that blessed theme feeding upon Christ, when the Saviour's words that are still just as authoritative today as when he spoke them on the earth long ago, and said verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, And drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood have eternal life, And I will raise him up at the last day. We have declared from this scripture three divine truths revealed. First, the great doctrine of the incarnation of Christ. Second, the great doctrine of the crucifixion of Christ. And third, we come now to the last, the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ. This is food for the soul. This is food for the eternal blessing of all, who will eat and drink in these blessed truths, in simple trusting faith, and their soul receive eternal life. Christ, the Son of God, became flesh, to be the bread sent down from heaven above the bread of life. Not for the physical body. but for the eternal soul of man. He was crucified as sacrificial victim, the Lamb of God, to provide cleansing from sin by the shedding of his precious blood. Now we touch upon the final exposition, the glory of his resurrection. Sound referred to in his closing words of verse fifty-four, I will raise him up at the last day. Any and every careful reader of these words will clearly realize They refer to the doctrine of the resurrection. This is an important fact for the soul to feed upon. Resurrection from among the dead. First let me state from First Corinthians chapter fifteen verses twenty three and twenty four that God by the Spirit records the order of the resurrection of the human race. Let me quote the words. We read them saying every man writes the apostles. Every man in his own order, not all at one time, every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits. Afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. Then, the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father and shall put down all rule, authority and power. Now here is the threefold order of the resurrection of all. First, the one who heads the resurrection is Christ. He is first in resurrection order. Second, then come the saints, both Old Testament and New Testament saints, which follow, and yet, still yet to come. And then last of all, third, the resurrection of the unsaved dead, which is implied by verse twenty-four that at the end of time, and you can find the details revealed in Revelation twenty, verse eleven through fifteen, where it is called the Great White Throne Judgment. Let me repeat. Christ the first fruit. Second, they which are his that is coming, his saints that is redeemed. Third, all the unsaved dead from the beginning of time to the end of time will be the last to be raised. But let us raise the question, who is in charge of the resurrection? Who will accomplish this stupendous work of raising all the dead of human history? for millions and millions, unnumbered, are to be brought out of their graves, no matter where they have been buried, at sea or on the earth. This should be an immense amount of food for a soul to ponder. My beloved friend, listen. Do you believe in the resurrection? Have you ever thought of it when you're buried, your body's going to be raised out of the grave again? Many years ago, a skeptical man challenged me about the dead being brought back to life. I looked at him and said, Did you ever have a garden? Oh, yes, he said. Then I asked him, Did you ever plant potatoes? Yes, he answered, I have. Then I asked another question. When you harvested those potatoes, did you get that old potato back? Or did it die? And did you not get new ones? He looked amazed at me when I said, there's a lesson on resurrection, my friend. The dead potato had to die before you got the new potatoes. And may I say, my beloved friend, I don't care what you eat, whether it's vegetables, whether it's meat. You never got that food until it first went through death. And out of death came life. Ah, beloved, that's resurrection. Now listen to the words of Jesus. We quote them from John five, twenty-eight through twenty-nine. Marvel not at this. Don't be surprised. For the hour is coming into which all, not some, all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life. They that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation or judgment. Now please note there's two kinds of resurrection. One group has their part. in what is called the resurrection unto life. That is what the Lord refers to in John six, verse fifty three and fifty four. The soul that eats and drinks of Christ in that blessed day of resurrection will be raised in body to enjoy eternal life, spirit, soul and body. I will raise him up at the last day. For whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. Now my friend, let me ask a question. Will this be true for you? Remember, each one of us must eat and drink spiritually, a personal thing. In other words, I cannot believe on Christ or in Christ for you. You've got to do it yourself. The Savior's words in John six are absolutely synonymous. with other words that he has spoken elsewhere, such as John three sixteen, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Likewise, John three thirty-six, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son of God, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now, my beloved friend, if you believe in your heart, that Jesus Christ came from heaven and died for you on Congress cross to save your soul by shedding his precious blood to pave the death for your sins. That believing is eating his flesh, drinking his blood. It is the soul doing it. And my friend, I'm saved. This is what you need to do. It's not eating and drinking through your mouth, but deeper still. eating and drinking in and with your soul. Now if you fail to do this, in the day of resurrection your part will be not in the resurrection of life but unto damnation. The ultimate place of eternal banishment called in the book of the Revelation chapter twenty and verse fourteen the lake of fire which is called the second death. Eternal separation from God. Ah, but let us go back to our blessed theme. We've been trying to touch upon the theme, feeding upon Christ. My beloved friend, has your soul ever taken Christ as the bread of life? Has your soul ever put your trust in its precious blood for its redemption? Poor silver and gold cannot buy my redemption. Peter is properly written. Ye know that ye are not redeemed with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a land without blemish and without spot. It must be done, my friend, personally. Your mother cannot believe for you. Your father cannot believe for you. Your wife cannot believe for you. Your husband cannot believe for you. Your son and daughter, your sister or brother. No person can believe for you. You've got to believe yourself. I cannot take Christ for you. You must do it yourself. I'll say, friend, my prayer in earnest plea is, why don't you do it now? Look. Your soul is in danger of perishing. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus. What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world? Yet lose his own soul. For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Let me quote the words we quoted in one of the messages. To lose your wealth is much. To lose your health is more. But to lose your soul is such a lot. that nothing can restore. There's no salvation in hell, my friend. Salvation is to be obtained in life down here on the earth. Now I beg of you, stop thinking of your body. Stop catering to your selfish desires on the earth. Stop thinking about your soul. Where will I spend eternity? Take in the truth. God's Son came from heaven to save you. He died for you. His blood will cleanse your guilty soul and wash your sins away. Now if you will do this personally and willingly, take him as your Savior, then you begin feeding upon Christ. And then may I say, my beloved friend, if you do that, will you keep feeding on Christ? And you that are saved, I beg of you as well as my known heart, there is so much to feed upon. in feeding upon Christ in and through the precious Word of God continually, we can never stop. And seek to do it completely. Please remember that in the words of an old hymn, you can keep feeding upon Christ all the way from earth to heaven. Let me quote the words of the dear old hymn that I cherish. Nothing but Christ, as on we tread, the gift on Christ, God's living bread. with staff in hand, and feet well shone, nothing but Christ, the Christ of God. And may I add in my closing moments, when we who are saved get to heavenly glory, and in eternal splendor, throughout endless ages, do you know what we'll be doing? We shall be forever feeding upon Christ. My beloved, I suggest and propose to you that here is a blessed person above all in the universe of God, upon whom your soul can feed. If never you have begun to do it, please do it now. Repent of your sins and come to him who waits to forgive and wash those stains away through his precious blood and begin a path that leads you to feeding upon Christ from earth the glory. Father, bless the truth of thy word and sanctify it for our Savior's honor in his worthy name. Amen.