FAITH - FEEDING ON CHRIST
FAITH - FEEDING ON CHRIST
I have been much occupied with “my assembly” and the characteristics of those “who call on the Lord out of a pure heart”. You may remember my contention with ———— long ago; he was for getting people in, in any way. I wanted that they should be made acquainted with the nature of the step. It never helps a soul to assume a place, however good in itself, without faith for it. It is on the contrary very hurtful. Many can accept mentally the doctrine of the one body, and deduce from it that all Christians should be together, who have no idea nor liking for the arduous path which a Timothy must adopt in this evil day — a day of ruin and confusion.
I think “the dying of Jesus” is that you by faith reckon yourself to be dead with Christ. Your own will is in such total abeyance that the life of Jesus is manifested in your body. He was in man’s life here, but never under man’s will. He did everything as a real man, but ever in perfect consistency with the life proper to Himself, and hence always in communion with the Father. To feed on Christ as in John 6 is in contrast to the manna. The latter was eaten as it was seen or given. In order to feed on Christ, you must feed on Him through His death. Hence all the confusion in Christendom springs from a misapplication of John 6. The Romanist and the ritualist reduce this eating to a complete similarity to the manna, the former calling the wafer the body, soul and spirit of the Lord; the latter asserting that as you partake of the sacrament, you appropriate the nature of Christ. The Lutherans are not clear of this leaven. The truth is I appropriate His death to escape from myself, and thus I know I live by [p. 91] Him; He is my life. If I am dead with Him, it is plain that I live with Him, and thus, as down here, I am under an entirely new government, and I need always to bear about in my body the dying of Jesus. The one thought which comes before me constantly is — Do we really know that we belong to Him? Have we realised what it is to be nearer to Him than John was at the supper? (John 13: 23). I might say to myself that if I were once where John was, my cup would be full, but that is looking for sight and not faith. Truly a greater blessing is mine. Oh to enjoy it more in the Spirit! And this I truly desire for you.