(Sabbath on the Passover Day)

"For My flesh is truly food, if anyone eats Me he shall live forever!

Fred R. Coulter—March 27, 2021

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services! This is a special Sabbath service, because it is the day portion of the Passover. This happens about every five years; there's a Passover on Friday night, which is the beginning of the Sabbath. Then the rest of the Sabbath Day flows from that.

So, this is Passover Sabbath, or Sabbath Passover not the Holy Day, because that comes tomorrow.Yet, we still have the Night to Be Much Observed unto the Lord tonight.

I've designed this so that you can have your Sabbath services later in the day, say about 4 or 4:30, have this message and then you can start fixing up all the food and everything. Then you can have the message for the Night to Be Much Observed unto the Lord. So, this makes it a little unusual, because tomorrow, the first day of the week, is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Next Sabbath will be the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Some people get confused, because the Wave Sheaf Offering is to be waved duringUnleavened Bread, and it is to be the day after the Sabbath! If it's the last day of Unleavened Bread, the Wave Sheaf offering is waved outside the days of Unleavened Bread, and that can't be, because Jesus Christ—our Perfect Sacrifice—without sin ascended to the Father on the first day of the week.

Now then, the flow events, when we have the Passover on Friday night is different from the Passover week, where we have the Passover in the middle of the week, and then we have the regular Sabbath. So it would be Passover on Wednesday, then we have Thursday night to Friday being the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Then from Friday night to Sabbath night is the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread. So, the Wave Sheaf Offering is waved then.

The problem that you have with this is that when the Passover and Sabbath combine together, the Passover Day is also a day of Unleavened Bread, because as I have explained: the Passover is a separate day of Unleavened Bread, so therefore, when the Passover falls on the regular Sabbath, the Sunday following—or the first day of the week—then becomes the first day of Unleavened Bread and the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, as well.

I know that's a little complicated, because of the way the days fall. But that's what it has to be. As I have shown before, the day of the Passover is called 'the first of the unleaveneds.'

The True Bread is Jesus Christ! Because the Passover is so important, and the coming of Christ to be the Passover Lamb for all mankind, and to begin the Church, all of that is the work of God. As Jesus said, 'Many would come in His name and deceive many.'

So, the Passover itself becomes the #1 thing that Satan wants to destroy first, any way he can!

  • change the time of the day
  • change the day
  • change the emblems

Everything that has been against the Passover is to keep people from being in Covenant with God! That's why we have to understand this day.

More human ideas—religious, secular, and just satanic—have been added to or taken from the Passover: the ceremony, the bread and the wine and the service itself. Remember, as we have found out, the first thing to go is foot-washing! Why? Because Jesus said, 'If I don't wash your feet you don't have any part with Me.' The next thing to do is to:

  • move it to the 15th
  • move it to—as the Seventh Day Adventists—the first Sabbath of every quarter
  • as the Protestants do—calling what they take Sunday morning—as the Lord's Supper
  • as the Catholics do, they say it's the Sacrifice of the Mass

Then all of the idolatry and all of the things that men add to it—rituals, kneeling, prayers—to make it appear that they're righteous. But they're not!

1-Corinthians 10:12: "Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall…. [How many people have we seen fall?] …No temptation has come upon you except what is common to mankind. For God, Who is faithful will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear… [then you have to God and cry out to Him for it]  but with the temptation, He will make a way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it" (vs 12-13).

Verse 14: "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry"—because the first thing that comes in is that:

We need to identify ourselves. Since we're Christians we need a cross to differentiate ourselves from the Jews.

That's how it all started. Then they went from Sabbath to Sunday and from Passover to the Lord's Supper. Read Samuele Bacchiocchi's book From Sabbath to Sunday; absolutely eye-opening, all known in history.

But today, people don't want to read or study; they have been absolutely spoiled with 10-12 minute concentration by television, smart phones. That's why you need a regular Bible with no batteries.

Verse 15—Paul says: "I speak as to those who are wise; you judge what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ?…." (vs 15-16). That's important because:

  • you can't have forgiveness of sin without the blood of Christ
  • you can't have that without repenting
  • you can't have access to it unless you keep the Passover

So, you can see why it's so important that Satan come and destroy as much as he can of the true knowledge of the Passover. As I've mentioned many times up to today, read the Passover book!

"…The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the Body of Christ?" (v 16).

Why? Because as Jesus prayed, He wants all of us to be one in Him and God the Father as He and God the Father are one! That can't happen without the Passover. So, Paul emphasizes this:

Verse 17: "For we, being many, are one body and one bread, because we are all partakers of the Bread." The true Bread is Christ! We are going examine that in detail today.

Verse 18: "Consider Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar?…. [yes, indeed] …What then am I saying? That an idol is anything, or that which is sacrificed to an idol is anything?" (vs 18-19)—because it's nothing!

But people get involved in it because they're superstitious, and there are demons wherever there are idols. There is a spiritual presence and essence that emanates out to keep people deluded.

Verse 20: "But that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God…"

Do you think that anyone can ignore the instructions of Jesus Christ for the Passover and how to take it, and:

  • change it?
  • ignore it?
  • modify it?
  • eliminate it?
  • and be right with God?

Absolutely not! Never happen!

Verse 20: "But that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not wish you to have fellowship with demons."

Now listen carefully here because this is important, and today is the Passover Day; we had the Passover last night.

Verse 21: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons. Now do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" (vs 21-22).

Think of the presumptuousness that goes on in relationship to the various things concerning the Lord's Supper, the Mass of the Eucharist.

Heb. 10 is important. This was hard, hard, hard for the Jews to accept this, because they had the temple, the sacrifices, the Law, the Passover, and most of them kept it on the 14th, and a lot of them kept it on the 15th. They had all the Feasts of God, and they were the 'people of God.' But they didn't realize that all of their traditions that they had and added to the Law,the contrary way that they lived, and the rejecting of the Messiah would cost them the temple, their land and be scattered in the Diaspora for 2,000 years!

"…You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons…."

Hebrews 10:4: "Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins"—to remove it completely!

Under the Old Covenant with the temple, they were justified to the temple through the sacrifice and blood of the animals.

But the truth is, it takes a superior human sacrifice—that is God manifested in the flesh: Jesus Christ—to remove sin! It takes the blood of Jesus Christ to do that! Nothing else can do it.

As we have seen, only through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ do we have justification, and justification is right standing before God or with God!

Verse 5: "For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me." A body, a physical body!

Jesus divested Himself of being God to become a pinpoint of life and be impregnated into the womb of the virgin Mary, be born as any ordinary human being so that He could live a perfect life and become a perfect sacrifice.

But He went through every experience that every human being goes through, so that no one could say, 'Lord, You don't understand.' He did!

Verse 6: "You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then said I, 'Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the Scroll of the Book) to do Your will, O God'" (vs 6-7).

That's what we are to do! We're to do the will of God the Father and Jesus Christ. It's all recorded right here in the Bible. Yes, there are some things that are difficult to understand, but there are a lot of things that are easy to understand. So, if you first understand the things that are easy, then you can approach the more difficult.

Verse 8: "In the saying above, He said, 'Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (which are offered according to the priestly law) You did not desire nor delight in.' Then He said, 'Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.'…." (vs 8-9).

This is a quote from the Old Testament. The Jew could have known if they would have been like the Bereans in the synagogue in Berea and 'checked the Scrolls of the Old Testament to see if these prophecies were true or not.'

"…He takes away the first covenant in order that He may establish the second covenant" (v 9)—because the second covenant is for eternal life!

The first covenant was letter of the Law, physical land, physical blessings!

Verse 10: "By Whose will we are sanctified… [made Holy] …through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." That's all time!

That's why the plan of God goes back in time for all of those who never had an opportunity for salvation. It come to the present time and forward into the future time so that everyone will have an opportunity for salvation. But it begins with Christ, and the Church, which is us, and the return of Christ and resurrection of the saints to accomplish the whole plan of God.

Verse 10: "By Whose will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Verse 11: "Now, every high priest stands ministering day by day, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, which are never able toremove sins' but He, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has obtained eternal perfection for those who are sanctified" (vs 11-14).

Perfection is a process. Sanctified means you have the Holy Spirit, but here you are alive at this point and you have to be faithful unto the end. It's given to everyone once to die in Adam. So, the perfection comes over that period of time!

The Protestants have it that you're perfected instantly if you profess the little prayer and accept Jesus. Not so! We have to grow in grace and knowledge, and overcome!

Verse 15: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said, 'This is the covenant…'" (vs 15-16)—the covenant that we are in!

When we took the Passover last night—washed the feet, ate the bread and drank the wine—we are remembering the death of Christ. Jesus said, 'This is the New Covenant in My blood! This do in the remembrance of Me!' We've done that!

"'…that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds'" (v 16). Our mind is to be transformed:

  • by the Spirit of God
  • with the Laws of God
  • through the Word of God
  • through prayer
  • through study
  • through living the way that God wants us to live

Verse 17: "And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again. Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for sin" (vs 17-18)—that's animal sacrifices are no longer necessary!

Now let's see a magnificent part of the Bible, and it's directly connected to:

  • the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
  • our relationship with Him
  • the purpose of His coming
  • our receiving the Holy Spirit
  • our receiving the things that we need for eternal life

All of that is right here in John 6; the true Bread of God! We find in the first part of the chapter that this was just before the Passover, so this is a Passover message.

He fed the thousands there, 5,000, and they wanted to make Jesus king, so He escaped out of their hands and went on His way, and they found Him over in Capernaum, because He went across and when they got there they said, 'Rabbi, how did You get here?'

John 6:26: "Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly I say to you, you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles… [the healings, the bread] …but because you ate the bread and were satisfied."

Think about that! Their idea was, 'let's get this man, make Him king and He can feed us and we don't have to work.' That would be a big deal!

So, here's what Jesus said, and He talked in terms relating to the spiritual meaning of everything and not into the physical meaning of it! Keep that in mind as we go along.

Verse 27: "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give to you; for Him has God the Father sealed"—as the Messiah, and:

  • to do all these works
  • to call the disciples
  • to train them
  • to prepare for Himself to be sacrificed on the Passover Day

They didn't understand that!

Verse 28: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'What shall we do… [everybody wants something to do] …in order that we ourselves may do the works of God?'"

Notice that they didn't say 'in order to receive eternal life.'

Verse 29: "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God: that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.'"

Stop and think about this. The work of God is to believe in Him—Jesus—Whom God has sent! Belief is work, because if you believe you will do. That's what we've covered recently concerning Abraham. He believed, but he also had works.

Verse 30: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?'"

They still wanted the food; v 31: "'Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: "He gave them bread to eat that came down from heaven."'"

Notice that He did not answer that question in a physical sense, He answered the spiritual meaning:

Verse 32: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true Bread from heaven'"—Jesus Christ!

Verse 33: "For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world—past, present, future] …that He gave His only Begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish… [not exist] …but may have everlasting life."

That's the correct translation, because it's in the subjunctive in the Greek, which means there are conditions. What are the conditions?

  • believe God
  • believe Christ
  • keep their laws and commandments

Isn't that what God wants? That's all part of belief!

John 6:34: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'Lord, give this bread to us always.'"

Now Jesus is getting into something that they couldn't understand, but He was telling the truth!

Verse 35: "Jesus said to them, 'I AM the Bread of Life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time." That's defining eternal life!

  • we get hungry
  • we thirst
  • we need food, water, liquid

Verse 36: "But as I said to you, you also have seen Me, yet, you do not believe." They could have, but they didn't!

Verse 37: All whom the Father gives Me shall come to Me…"

We're going to see, brethren, that eating this True Bread of Jesus Christ, as we do for the Passover, everything initiates with the calling of God, which we will see God the Father. Every single one of us, God the Father intervened in our lives and then gave us to Christ to be perfected! I want you to think on that!

I want you to think about how important it is that you have a relationship with God the Father directly because of Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church; that's why everything has to be done according to

  • His will
  • His instruction
  • what God the Father shows us we need to do

"…and the one who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out" (v 37.

Think about what Jesus was as God and all He had, to divest His glory and everything that He had as He became that pinpoint of life and become a human being.

That was His burning thought all His physical life. The Father was there to call those whom He wanted and gave them to Christ.

Verse 38: "For I did not come down from heaven to do [#1]My own will, but [#2]the will of Him Who sent Me."

Notice how many times that is the will, there are two right in that one verse. He defines what it is:

Verse 39: "And this is [#3]the will of the Father Who sent Me: that of all whom He has given Me, I should not lose any, but should raise them up in the last day."

This is not talking about the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Last Great Day. This last day has to do with Pentecost!

  • What do I mean?
  • How many weeks are there in counting to Pentecost? Seven complete weeks!

Tomorrow begins the first full week, and seven complete weeks is 49 days, but Pentecost is the 50th day. In that count:

  • Which day is the last day? The 50th day!

That's why we will be raised on the last day, the 50th day, in the first resurrection! This has nothing whatsoever to do with the Last Great Day after the Feast of Tabernacles.

"…raise them up…" means resurrect them!

Verse 40: "And this is [#4]the will of Him Who sent Me: that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

All of those people there had the opportunity to see Jesus; we don't have the opportunity, but we have the Word of God, which helps us to understand:

  • Who He is
  • what He did
  • how He did it
  • why He did it

Very important to know!

(break)

Here in John 6 Jesus is telling us some very deep and profound things concerning what God is doing with us, and how God the Father and Jesus Christ are working in our lives. What They are trying to achieve and what we need to achieve and how we have seen that belief is also equated to a spiritual work.

John 6:29: "…'This is the work of God: that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.'" That's an amazing thing!

Jesus said that He would give them eternal life and raise them

Verse 40: "…everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Notice that there were four "…will of the Father…", and now He's going to tell us in just a little bit that God the Father is working in our lives and has been from the very beginning of our calling.

Because of that, you see a hierarchy of men between you and God doesn't work too well. God has setup the relationship that it is to Him, through Christ, directly!

Verse 41: "Then the Jews were complaining against Him, because He said, 'I AM the Bread that came down from heaven.' And they were saying, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Why then does He say, "I came down from heaven"?'" (vs 41-42).

In John 8 Jesus says, 'I'm from above, you're from beneath.' Notice how Jesus responded:

Verse 43: For this reason, Jesus answered them and said, 'Do not be complaining among one another. No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day" (vs 43-44). That's the third time He said that!

It's impossible to come to God because you want to be a good person! God the Father has to draw you!

  • How does He do that? Think about the time when you came to the point that you needed to have God!
  • How did you come to that point?
  • whether through difficulty
  • whether through trial
  • whatever the circumstances turned out to be
        • What was the power doing the drawing? The spiritual power of God the Father directly to each one of us!

Think on that! Let that sink in for just a bit!

The Father Himself loves you, because the Father Himself drew you and made it possible for you come to Christ so that you could have your sins forgiven. As we read, the Holy Spirit is the power of God, which comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ. There are two aspects to the Holy Spirit:

  • the begettal for eternal life from the Father
  • the mind of Christ from Jesus, that we learn and think like Him

Verse 44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him; and [I will raise him up at the last day."

What comes next after you are drawn?

Verse 45: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…"

How do you learn the Word of God? Through the Spirit of God! Through the Word of God! That's how the Father teaches you and me and all whom He has called, so that we may have the understanding He wants us to have.

Yes, there are ministers and teachers, and there needs to be. But these are instruments that God uses to teach His people. That's why all who are elders need to teach, teach, teach! Isn't that what they called Jesus? Teacher!

"…Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father… [when you answer the call, God is the one Who makes it possible for you to comprehend it]  …and has learned, comes to Me."" (v 45)—They both work together in it!

Verse 46: "No one has seen the Father except He Who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me has eternal life" (vs 46-47).

  • IF you believe in Him, then you'll be baptized
  • IF you believe in Him, you will want to do the will of God
  • IF you believe in Him, you will believe God the Father
  • IF you believe in Him, you will believe the Word of God

All of that is the work of God!

"…has eternal life"—not yet given, but you have the down payment, which is the Holy Spirit! (Eph. 1:13-14).

Now, notice what Jesus says next, a very short verse:

Verse 48: "I AM the Bread of Life"—which is Christ!

We eat the bread, symbolically of His broken body, and we drink the wine, symbolically of His shed blood. True! But He is the Bread of Life, because these are the words of Christ. These words, when we read them, feed our mind and spirit. So therefore, that is Life!

You can see how great and wonderful that John 6 is.

Verse 63: "It is the Spirit that gives life… [has to be the Spirit of God] …the flesh profits nothing…. [spiritually] …The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are Life."

So, when you read the words of Christ, what is happening? They are the Bread, because Jesus is the Bread of Life and the words He is speaking are Spirit and Life, which then gives us understanding of the Word of God in preparation for the resurrection when Christ returns.

Let's see what Jesus means by "…the flesh profits nothing…."

Verse 49: "Your fathers ate manna in the desert, but they died."

That didn't give them eternal life! The only way that you can have eternal life is through God the Father and Jesus Christ!

Verse 50: "This is the Bread, which comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die"—will not see death forever (John 8)—anyone! BUT :

  • you have to come God HIS way
  • you have to answer the call of God the Father
  • you have to believe and be baptized
  • you have to receive the Holy Spirit of God

All of that we find in other places that adds to what we're covering here!

Verse 51: "I AM the living Bread, which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is even My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" Talking about His coming sacrifice!

  • He had to be perfect
  • He had to be the Creator of mankind
  • He had to be the only One Who could qualify to bring us redemption from God the Father

Can't come any other way! That's what Jesus said! No one comes to Me, except or unless the Father draws him!

Notice their reaction, because remember how the Jews were concerning clean and unclean foods. They even categorized people as clean, common or unclean.

  • clean was a Jew
  • common was circumcised Gentile
  • unclean were all Gentiles not circumcised

Verse 52: "Because of this, the Jews were arguing with one another, saying, 'How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?'"

Didn't we learn in the synagogue that human flesh is unclean? How is He going to do that?

It is symbolic, because it is the spiritual food. Like He said, 'The words that I speak to you are Spirit and Life.'

So, when you read the words and assimilate them in your mind and they become part of your thinking—just like we read in Heb. 10—being written our heart and mind. That's feeding the mind! That's more important than feeding the body.

Since we're still human we have eat, drink, sleep and all this sort of thing, that's true. But all of that in the long run profits nothing! Without the Spirit of God, when you come to the end of your life and die, there's nothing!

Verse 53: "Therefore, Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you… [or in Truth] …\ unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have Life in yourselves.'" That's direct reference to the Passover!

Think about this: You do not have Life in you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood. What does this tell us? There's no such thing as an immortal soul! If there were, you would have immortality dwelling in you! But you must receive the Spirit that comes from God that unites with the spirit of your mind so that we become the begotten children of God the Father awaiting the resurrection and our lives are dedicated to growing and overcoming, learning everything that we can about the Word of God and Truth, and how to live, think and all of that sort of thing.

Verse 54: "The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day. for My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink" (vs 54-55).

When you take the Passover, you are doing as God has desired, and you are blessed of Him and receive of His Spirit, His Truth and of eternal life. If you don't take the Passover, you won't receive it!

Then you live by every Word of God and the words that He spoke they are Spirit and they are Life! That is, again, spiritually to eating His flesh and drinking His blood. You need that daily!

  • you need study daily, feeds your mind
  • you need prayer daily, forgiveness of sin

Verse 56: "The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him." That can only be done with the Spirit of God!

What does that mean? It gets down to a practical thing! All of this has a lot of symbolism in it, a lot of spiritual understanding to understand, but it gets down to one simple principle.

Verse 57: "As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me."

How is that? Through the words of God! All of the words we have are the voice of God! Jesus was the Lord God of the Old Testament. All those words of God apply to us in the way that Jesus has shown that they ought to. That's why we keep the Sabbath, the Passover and the Holy Days. There are special blessings that come when we do. Every year we get a little more, a little more and a little more! Every day we grow in grace and knowledge!

When we sin, which we do because we're not perfect, we can come to the Father and have our sins forgiven through the sacrifice and shed blood of Jesus Christ. That way daily repentance is like a cleansing to get rid of the things that are contrary to God.

Just like in our bodies, we have daily processes to get rid of the waste. The food we eat is good, but it produces waste. The drink that we drink is good, but it produces waste. Likewise, when we're living in the world, but we're not of the world, there are things, sins and problems that come along that we need to repent of. That's how we grow in grace and knowledge.

That's why we study the Word of God. That's why we go over it and over it, because every time we do we learn more.

Verse 57: "As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me. This is the Bread, which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate manna, and died. The one who eats this bread shall live forever" (vs 57-58).

He spoke that in the synagogue and they didn't quite know what to do.

Psa. 119 is one of the most magnificent Psalms in the book of Psalms. I might mention that in my Bible I have circled all the 'Is' most of the time when there are a lot of 'Is' that's a lot of vanity and a lot of self. But here in Psa. 119 it is individual direction to God, for God to direct him. So, every time it's 'I' it is not in vain, and it's very positive.

Psalm 119:97: "O how love I Your Law! It is my meditation all the day…. [that explains John 6] …Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me" (vs 97-98)—the commandments are!

Think of these as words of Christ in relationship to when He was living in the flesh.

Verse 99: "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation…. [feeding the mind] …I understand more than the ancients because I keep Your precepts" (vs 99-100).

Notice that obedience gives you understanding!

Verse 101: "I have held back my feet from every evil way, so that I might keep Your Word."

The Word of God in your mind helps you direct how to live so that you're not walking in sin! That's eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood!

Verse 102: "I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You have taught me."

Remember what Jesus said, 'All who have heard of the Father and have been taught by the Father comes to Me.' We come to Christ every day!

Verse 103: "How sweet are Your words to my taste!…."—mentally and spiritually, not physically. He wasn't eating scrolls of the Old Testament.

"…Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way" (vs 103-104).

Quite interesting, indeed! Now let's see exactly what it tells us in Psa. 34, and this agrees exactly with what Jesus said, 'My flesh is food, indeed! And My blood is drink, indeed!' Now notice the attitude that springs from that kind of relationship with God.

Psalm 34:1: "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall always be in my mouth." Think of that! Everything you do comes from God!

Verse 2: "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (vs 2-3). You exalt God!

He's given free moral agency, that's true; but free moral agency by itself without the Word of God and the Spirit of God is nothing but vanity. There's nothing that lasts forever with that. But this is what God wants us to do.

Verse 4: "I sought the LORD, and He answered me…"

  • when you pray, there are answered prayers
  • when you don't pray, there's no solution
  • when you study:
  • you learn how to live
  • you learn how to think

and with God's Spirit

  • you learn how to direct your life
    • but if you don't study, you're not eating spiritually

"…and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant; and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles" (vs 4-6).

Now here's a little something extra besides that:

Verse 7: "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them." There are angels that are:

  • with you
  • protect you
  • help you

Verse 8: "O taste and see that the LORD is good…" How do you taste the Lord?

  • by studying His Word with His Spirit
  • by living your life with His Spirit
  • by meditating on the Word of God
  • by delighting in the Word of God

"…blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him" (v 8). When trouble comes you turn to God!

Verse 9: O fear the LORD, all you saints, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him."

That's quite a thing to look at! "…fear the Lord, all you saints…" You're not going to be lacking anything. There may be people in the world who have more physical things than you, but IF you have the spiritual things:

  • God's Spirit
  • God's Word
  • His blessings
  • His grace

You have more than they have!

Now let's see what Peter says. 1-Peter 2 tells and answers the question: Where is all of this leading? Especially when you look out and see the world going the way that it is, and seeing the things that are taking place; how the wicked are 'riding high.' Where is all of this going to lead?

  • to the resurrection
  • to the saving of the world
  • to all the saints will be resurrected

And we, under Christ, will save the world!

  • that's why we're in training
  • that's why we have to eat His flesh and drink His blood

Symbolically!

1-Peter 2:1: "Therefore, having put away all wickedness… [that's a constant battle] …and all deceit… [don't let your carnal mind deceive you] …and hypocrisies and jealousies, and all slanders, as newborn babes… [that's how we start out when we receive the Holy Spirit] …yearn after the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow" (vs 1-2).

Then, as Paul says, we can have strong meat; what we're covering today is strong meat!

Verse 3: "If you yourselves have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious. To Whom coming, as to a living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious" (vs 3-4). And we're chosen and precious, too!

Verse 5: "You also… [because you're chosen by God] …as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house—a Holy priesthood… [not yet installed, but will be at the resurrection] …to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

Verse 9: "But you are a chosen stock, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people for a possession of God, that you might proclaim His excellent virtues, Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light"—that's what God has for us!

Psa. 22—we're not going to go over the whole Psalm, because these are the words of Jesus prophesied while He was hanging on the cross. But Jesus had His mind on the goal! Always remember that; that's a very important principle. Whenever there are troubles, keep your mind on the goal, which is the Kingdom of God and eternal life in the Family of God!

Psalm 22:25: "From You comes my praise in the great congregation…"

That's a prophecy of Jesus and the great congregation is the first resurrection with all of the saints on the Sea of Glass. We're going to see Him and the Father. He is going to proclaim all the children of God that God the Father has given Him, which is all of us, and present us to the Father.

That's what Christ was looking to! He knew the end result of it!

"…I will pay my vows before those who fear Him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied…" (vs 25-26)—eating His flesh and drinking His blood, living by every word of God!

"…those who seek the LORD shall praise Him; may your heart live forever" (v 26). Notice where it comes to:

Verse 27: "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD…"—because of:

  • His sacrifice
  • those He has called now
  • all of those from the time of the apostles, the patriarchs down through history to our very day

"…and all the families of the nations shall worship before You, for the Kingdom is the LORD'S and He rules over the nations" (vs 27-28).

The people then will do the same as we're doing now.

Verse 29: "All the rich of the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him… [resurrected and serve Him] …even he who cannot keep his own soul alive"—resurrected from the dead!

Verse 30: "A seed shall serve Him; it shall be told of the LORD to the coming generation. They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall yet be born, that He has done this" (vs 30-31).

What a prophecy, and we will be able to do that starting with the Millennium!

Remember that the true Bread is Christ, and if you eat of this Bread and drink of this Blood you will have eternal life, and you will be raised on the day of the resurrection!

Have a wonderful Night to be Much Observed to the Lord!

Scriptural References:

  • 1 Corinthians 10:12-22
  • Hebrews 10:4-18
  • John 6:26-33
  • John 3:16
  • John 6:34-40, 29, 40-48, 63, 49-58
  • Psalm 119:97-104
  • Psalm 34:1-9
  • 1 Peter 2:1-5, 9
  • Psalm 22:25-31

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

  • Ephesians 1:13-14
  • John 8

Also referenced: Books:

  • From Sabbath to Sunday by Samuele Bacchiocchi
  • The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/1/21

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