THE SON OF MAN

JESUS 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." -John 6:53 [KJV]

Ignorant persons, who sit under unenlightened teachers, are taught to apply these words to the sacrament. Hence they think, if they do but receive the sacrament, they surely eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ; their sins are pardoned; all is well; and they shall go to heaven at last. O, how horridly is that sacred ordinance prostituted! “The wicked, such as be void of lively faith, do carnally and visibly press with their teeth the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing,” says St. Austin. What doth our Lord here mean? 

(1st.) That naturally we have no spiritual life in us. We are dead, under the sentence of the law: as dead to all knowledge of, love to, and delight in God, as a beast. We have no more likeness to God, and the life of God in us, than a devil has. O! this is very cutting and humbling to our proud nature: flesh and blood rise with indignation against it. 

But, (2d.) what joyful news is here for us? Christ came, that we, sinners of the human race, (not fallen angels) might have life, a spiritual, holy, heavenly life: yea, and have it more abundantly too, (John 10:10.). O may the Spirit enlighten us to see this, and quicken us to go to Christ, that we may enjoy it: for, 

(3d.) This is by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Our Lord puts His strong oath to it, that in this way, and in no other, we can have it; and this fully confirms that, in this way, we are sure to enjoy it. 

(4th.) What is meant by eating Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood? Our Lord deals most familiarly with us. He sends us to our tables, to form proper ideas of what He is to us. Just what eating and drinking natural food is to the body, that Christ is to the soul: as that cannot live without eating and drinking, no more can our souls without the flesh and blood—the life and death of Christ, received into our hearts by faith. Thus, we enjoy the life of God in our souls. 

But, (5th.) here is a precious word. “The Son of man.” Faith must fasten upon that. It is feeding upon the humanity of Christ; that brings us to enjoy the divine life. We come to God, through the flesh of Christ. We feed on the flesh and blood of the Son of man, and so become one flesh with Him: “We are flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone” (Ephesians 5:30.) We are incorporated into Him; and, O joyful! are presented to the Father, without spot or wrinkle, IN HIM (Ephesians 5:27.) 

 

When at Thy table Lord, we meet, 

To feed on food divine, 

Thy body is the bread we eat, 

Thy precious blood the wine.

 

-preacher Wm. Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more