Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 77, 1906

Christ, the Bread of Life

September 28, 1906 [typed]

Portions of this manuscript are published in 1NL 41-42.

“The Jews then murmured at Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 1

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us His flesh to eat? 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. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh” (character) “is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.” [John 6:41-56.] “He that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.” [1 John 3:24.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 2

“As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. 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 forever. These things said He in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who shall hear it? 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 3

“When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” [John 6:57-63.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 4

“But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him, and He said, Therefore said I unto you, That no man can come unto Me, except it were given him of My Father. From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” [Verses 64-66.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 5

Here was a crisis. The questioning, unbelieving ones were the ones who were always on the doubting side, seeking to bring in objections to the faith. Every time they did this, they were strengthening their faculties for urging objections. Instead, they should have been convinced by the truth. If they could pick up any theory about which they could question and doubt, they would do this. 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 6

We can see the wisdom of Jesus in bearing for so long with these disciples, who were really unconverted in heart and mind and soul. His plain specifications of the truth brought the crisis while He was yet with the disciples. Otherwise they would not have discerned the meaning of the apostasy. 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 7

“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” [Verses 67-69.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 8

“Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the twelve.” [Verses 70, 71.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 9

The Final Triumph of Truth

Ages before His incarnation, Christ distinctly chose His position. He foresaw His life of humiliation, His rejection and crucifixion, His victory over satanic agencies, His victory over death and the grave. He saw the world flooded with light and life and heard the song of triumph sung by the millions rescued from the hold of Satan. 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 10

Christ is our Deliverer. He exclaims, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues! O grave, I will be thy destruction!” [Hosea 13:14.] Thrice in rapid succession He exclaimed, “I will raise them up at the last day.” [John 6:40, 44, 54.] Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of that day, saying, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” [Jude 14, 15.] And Solomon, when in the capacity of a preacher he tried to present the strongest motive to holy obedience—the motive that was above that was above all estimate in view of the judgment to come—said, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” [Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 11

God places every action in the scale. What a scene it will be! What impressions will be made regarding the holy character of God and the terrible enormity of sin, when the judgment, based on the law, is carried forward in the presence of all the worlds. Then before the mind of the unrepentant sinner there will be opened all the sins that he has committed, and he will see and understand the aggregate of sin and his own guilt. When the loyal overcomers are crowned, God would have present all who have transgressed His law and broken their covenant with Him. And not one of the righteous will be absent. They see, in the Judge, Christ Jesus, the One whom every sinner has crucified. The Son of man shall come in His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 12

But the trumpet is waxing louder and louder, and the wicked dead come forth to confront Christ. When the multitude of the lost, those whom God has favored with great light, shall look upon the goodness, mercy, and love of Jesus; when those who might have been saved if they had accepted the light and the blessings of God’s Word, but who refused to obey His law, see the great sacrifice made in their behalf, they understand the unmeasured love of the Redeemer; they understand His incarnation, the sweat drops of blood, the marks of the nails in His hands and feet, the pierced side; and they ask to be hidden from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. They see as in reality the condemnation of Christ, they hear the loud cry, “Release unto us Barabbas.” [Luke 23:18.] They hear the question, “What shall be done with Jesus?” and the answer, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” [Matthew 27:22; Luke 23:21.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 13

The reign of appearance and pretense is over. The voice of the righteous Judge speaks with awful emphasis, as He utters the sentence, “Depart from Me; I never knew you.” [Matthew 7:23.] 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 14

The division of the whole multitude will be made. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” Those who have done good and those who have done evil will receive a reward according to their works. Then shall Jesus say to those on His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” [Matthew 25:31-34.] Thus He welcomes them to live hereafter in eternal communion with Himself. Every voice in the mansions of heaven echoes the welcome, “Come, ye blessed of My Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 21LtMs, Ms 77, 1906, par. 15