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HIS
SERVANTS' MINISTRY
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Physical??
Spiritual??
Taste
God! What does this mean?? I have taken several verses
and Passages from the Bible to try to explain
the difference between physical and spiritual
things. Many people have trouble understanding
the following Scriptures.
Psalm 34:8 O
taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is
the man that trusteth in him. (KJV) Do you
think that David is referring to physical "taste"
buds? Do you think he actually meant physically
eating God? God is a Spirit (John 4:24), how could
we literally "eat" a spirit?
When Jesus said: Matthew 4:4 . . . . It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (KJV) He didn’t mean God has an actual mouth,
since God is a Spirit. If we physically ate the
pages of the Bible, that could in no way bring
God’s Truth to our hearts. Both David and Jesus
were using material (physical) things to lead
us into spiritual reality. All we as humans know
is a world which we can see. As long as we remain
in our physical bodies, descriptions of common
physical things are the only thing available for
teaching us heavenly things.
Psalm 19:7-11 The
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple. [8] The statutes of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord
is pure, enlightening the eyes. [9] The fear of
the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
[10] More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold: sweeter also than
honey and the honeycomb. [11] Moreover by them
is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them
there is great reward. (KJV) What a beautiful Passage! The law
of the Lord is . . . sweeter also
than honey and the honeycomb! When people
think of the law, they usually think of something
that restricts us. But here, it’s the opposite!
God’s law revives us, makes us wise, gives joy
to the heart, gives light to the eyes, warns us,
and rewards us. God’s laws are guides and lights
for our path, not chains on our hands and feet.
And His law is sweeter than honey to our souls. How
wonderful this is!
Psalm 42:1-2 As
the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, O God. [2] My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God: when shall I come
and appear before God? (KJV) Just as the PHYSICAL life of a deer depends on water, so our SPIRITUAL lives depend on God. A thirsty
deer pants for physical water. Our thirsty spiritual
soul should pant for God. Our soul has no need
for physical water. We are to drink of God by
faith spiritually. When we seek Him and thirst
(Mat.5:6) to understand Him, we shall have never-ending
life in His Presence.
Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and
thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of
mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord
God of hosts. (KJV) God’s Words should sustain
believers. They should bring great joy to us.
They should be our heart’s delight, for we bear
His Name. But, sad to say, God’s Words, God’s
Holy Bible is far from the minds and hearts of
many "professing" Christians. Just as
our Lord stated, only a "few"
today really know what God’s true Word "tastes"
like! When we hunger spiritually and "eat
His Words" we are filled (Mat.5:6), and our
hearts rejoice giving us tremendous joy.
Ezekiel 3:1-3 Moreover
he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest;
eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of
Israel. [2] So I opened my mouth, and he caused
me to eat that roll. [3] And he said unto me,
Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy
bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did
I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for
sweetness. (KJV) In his vision, Ezekiel ate God’s message and found this spiritual food not
only good for him, but also sweet as honey (also
see Rev. 10:8-10). If you "digest" God’s
Word (spiritually), you will find that not only
does it make you stronger in your faith, but its
wisdom also sweetens your life. You
need to feed yourself spiritually as much or more,
as you do physically. This means doing
more than simply giving God’s message a casual
glance. Digest what you read, digest what you
study! You must make digesting God’s Word a regular
part of your life. The "roll" here s
NOT a bread roll, but the scroll of that day.
Ezekiel said that he ate it (spiritually), and
it was just like cake. That is what the Word of
God is to the believer.
In Proverbs 16:24 we are told: "Pleasant
words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul,
and health to the bones." In Psalm 119,
the psalm which glories the Word of God, we find:
"How sweet are thy words unto my taste!
yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth"
(Ps. 119:103). We do NOT actually eat the pages
of the Bible! We eat them spiritually! We hunger
for them!
John 4:13-14 Jesus
answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again: [14]
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst; but the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life. (KJV) The water that Christ offers us has nothing
to do with quenching our physical thirst, but, we are to drink it! "Drinking"
it shows us we have a responsibility, a choice
to make. Jesus abundantly supplies all the spiritual
water of life we will ever need, but, we must
be willing to reach out and take it and drink
it or our spiritual thirst will not be quenched.
He provides the water, we must drink it!
Many spiritual capacities are like
physical capacities. Just as our bodies hunger
and thirst, so do our souls deep within us. Our
bodies need physical food and water in order for
us to survive; and our souls need spiritual food
and water. The woman at the well was confused
with the two kinds of water; the physical water
that she drew each day from the well, and the
spiritual water which Jesus spoke to her about.
We would not think of depriving our bodies of
physical food and water when we hunger or thirst.
Why would we deprive our souls of spiritual food
and water? The living Word, Jesus Christ, and
the written Word, the Bible, can satisfy our hungry
and thirsty souls. The woman wrongly believed
that if she received the water Jesus offered,
she would not have to return to the well each
day. The woman did not understand right away what
Jesus was talking about. See: Spirit
and Truth.
John 6:47-51 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me
hath everlasting life. [48] I am that bread of
life. [49] Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness,
and are dead. [50] This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof,
and not die. [51] I am the living bread which
came down from heaven: if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that
I will give is my flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world. (KJV)
Believe here means "continue
believing." We do not believe just once and
that’s it; we keep
on believing in and trusting Jesus. Jesus
referred to the manna that Moses had given their
ancestors in the desert (Ex.16). This bread was
physical and temporary. The people ate it, and
it sustained them for the day. But they had to
get more bread the next day, and this bread could
not keep them from dying. Jesus, who is much greater
than Moses, offers Himself as the spiritual Bread
from Heaven that satisfies completely and leads
to eternal life. Most people today will not take
the time to "feed on Christ." It does
take time to read, study and meditate on God’s
Word. It does take time to communicate with God
in sincere prayer and "feed" upon the
"living bread." But the more time we
spend on our relationship with the Lord, the sweeter
He becomes to our taste.
John 6:52-58 The
Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying,
How can this man give us his flesh to eat? [53]
Then Jesus said unto them, 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. [54] Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will
raise him up at the last day. [55] For my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
[56] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. [57] As the
living Father hath sent me, and I live by the
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live
by me. [58] This is that bread which came down
from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna,
and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall
live for ever. (KJV) The Flesh
and Blood of the Son of Man, means Christ and
Him crucified, and the redemption that was worked
out by Him, which includes all the precious benefits
of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with
God, the way to the throne of grace, the promises
of the covenant and eternal life. These are called
the Flesh and Blood of Christ, because they were
purchased by the breaking of His Body and the
shedding of His Blood on the cross at Calvary,
for us. These precious benefits are meat and drink
to our souls. Eating
His Flesh and drinking His Blood means trusting and
believing in Christ. We partake
of Christ and His marvelous benefits by faith.
The thirsty soul finds peace, joy and comfort,
and encourages true holiness, in the Redeemer,
God manifest in the flesh. As we meditate on the
cross of Christ, it produces repentance, humility,
love, and gratitude within us. We live by Him,
just as our bodies live by our food. Except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you. These are harsh words He uttered in their ears.
It applied to the people in Jesus’ time, but my
friend, it applies to us today! Unless a person partakes of Christ spiritually,
eternal damnation awaits that eternal soul. Jesus
makes this crystal clear!
Jesus is preparing these men for
that Last Supper and the institution of the Lord’s
Supper. This certainly is something NOT to be
taken literally because He was right there before
them. He is NOT saying for them to start to eat
Him and to drink His Blood! He is saying that
He is going to give up His life. In the Upper
Room He made it very clear that the Blood is the
symbol of life. "For the life of the flesh
is in the blood … " (Lev. 17:11). God
had taught the Israelites that truth from the
very beginning when He called them out of the
land of Egypt. At Mount Sinai Moses gives them
this great self-evident truth, "the life
of the flesh is in the blood," which
is also medically (physically) true. The life
of the flesh IS in the blood. And Jesus is going
to give His life. His Blood will be shed upon
the cross and He will give His life.
Salvation (eternal life) is by accepting
and receiving Him in a most intimate way. This
is the basis for the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
There has been much disagreement among believers
in the churches down through the ages over the
interpretation of the Lord’s Supper. "This
is my body." When He gave them the bread
at the supper in the Upper Room, He said, "
… This is my body … " (Luke 22:19). There have been different
emphases put on that. Catholics puts the emphasis
upon this. This is My body. They
say that transubstantiation takes place, meaning
that the bread becomes the literal Flesh of Christ. I cannot agree with this
at all. Our
Lord did not teach cannibalism in any way, shape,
or form. It is my humble opinion that is a wrong
emphasis. Then there are those who have taken
the position of the Lutheran church, which is
consubstantiation. This means that by, with, in, through, and under the bread you get the Body of Christ. I think
that falls short of what our Lord really means.
Others take the position it is just a symbol,
just a religious ritual, and that is all. Probably
that is the interpretation that most of
Protestants give to it today. Again, my humble
opinion is that I feel that falls far short of
the interpretation of the Lord’s Supper.
The
bread is bread, and it always will be bread. It
cannot be changed. The wine is always just what
it is, and there is no miracle that takes place
there. You do NOT get the Body of Christ by going
through the ritual. The Lord’s Supper (Communion)
is much MORE than a ritual. I believe that the Lord’s Supper is bread in your
mouth, but Christ in your heart.
I truly believe that there is a great spiritual
blessing that comes in observing the Lord’s Supper.
I
think that our Lord Jesus ministers to you spiritually
through your obedience in observing the Lord’s
Supper. There is no hocus-pocus there, neither
is it just an idle ritual that we go through.
It is meaningful, and it has a wonderful spiritual
blessing for our heart and soul. I think that
is what our Lord is saying to them here. An
intimate, real, sincere relationship with Him
is the important thing. When the Israelites
ate manna in the wilderness it was only a temporary
thing. Jesus offers something that is eternal
. . . life which is eternal. We are told
at the beginning of this Gospel, "In him
was life; and the life was the light of men"
(John 1:4).
He told them they must not only "eat
His Flesh" but "drink
His Blood" which could only
suggest the idea of His death . . . implied in
the separation of one’s flesh from his blood.
"My flesh I will
give for the life of the world"
(John 6:51), it must have been pretty plain to sincere hearers that He meant
something far above the repulsive idea which the
physical terms expressed. And when He added that
they "had no life in them unless they thus
ate and drank," it was impossible they should
think He meant that the temporary life they were
then living was dependent on their eating and
drinking His Flesh and Blood. His whole statement
was certainly confusing, and doubtless was meant
to be so.
Jesus
told them: John 6:36 But
I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and
believe not. (KJV) The people had
seen Him, watched Him do miracles time and again,
yet they didn’t believe!
John
20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have
believed. (KJV) Today, we cannot
"see" Jesus (physically) as the people
did when He walked the Earth as Man. But, there
are ways we can definitely "see" Jesus! When we open the Bible
and read, He becomes very visible to our hearts
and souls! When we have a close relationship with
Him, walking in His Light, He becomes very visible
to our hearts and souls! Jesus tells us above
that those of us who have not seen Him (physically)
yet believe, we are truly blessed. Yes! Lord,
in so many ways!
Jesus
announces some profound truths in the above Passages. Regardless of the
disgust of the unteachable (unbelievers), the
Truth really conveyed here is that He Himself,
in the virtue of His sacrificial death, is the
spiritual and eternal life of ALL mankind; and
unless people voluntarily and willingly accept
His death, and its sacrificial virtue, letting
it become the very life and nourishment of their
inner man, they have NO spiritual, NO eternal
life at all. All they have will be eternal separation
from God (2 Thes.1:8-9), eternal agony in an everlasting
Hell. His death is of tremendous value to us sinners.
Jesus is Food and Drink
to our soul!
Rev.
10:9-10 And I went unto the angel,
and said unto him, Give me the little book. And
he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it
shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in
thy mouth sweet as honey. [10] And I took the
little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it
up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and
as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
(KJV) Eating the little book means to receive
the Word of God with faith. This is the teaching
of the Word of God, for in Jeremiah 15:16 we read: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing
of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O
Lord God of hosts." Ezekiel does the
same thing: "Moreover he said unto me,
Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll,
and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened
my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And
he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to
eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I
give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my
mouth as honey for sweetness" (Ezek.
3:1–3). The part of the Word of God taken by John
was judgment. It was sweet because the future
of believers is sweet. In Genesis 18:17 we read, "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from
Abraham that thing which I do …?" God
was telling Abraham, "We are friends, and
I would like to tell you what I am going to do."
It
is sweet to
know what God is going to do, but when you find
out that judgment is coming, it is bitter.
John eagerly received the Word of God, but when
he saw that more judgment was to follow, it brought
travail of soul and sorrow of heart. It was sweet
in his mouth and bitter in his digestive system.
If you and I can take delight in reading this
section of the Word of God and the judgments that
are to fall upon the earth, then we need to do
a great deal of praying to get the mind of God.
It is very sweet to know the Book of Revelation,
and know what God intends to do, but when we know
that judgment is coming to the Christ-rejecting
world around us, we cannot rejoice in that. The
prophecy becomes bitter.
Many
people begin the study of prophecy with eagerness,
but when they find that it applies to their life
and that it makes demands on them personally,
they lose interest, and it becomes a bitter thing. Many people say, "I don’t want to
hear about the Book of Revelation. It scares me!"
My friend, it is supposed to do that, but IF you are a believer in Christ, it should be in
your mouth sweet as honey. A great many believers
are more interested in Antichrist than they are
in Christ. Antichrist’s reign is limited! Christ’s
reign is forever. It’s good to know about Antichrist,
but so much better to know Christ personally. Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you. In him was
life; and the life was the light of men.
Only
when we partake of Jesus continually, day after
day, will we ever see Heaven.
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