Many, many Christians consider the John 6 discourse on the Bread of Life to be the meaning for the bread of the Lord’s Supper. I want to point out the difference between the manna which the Bread of Life message is based on, and the unleavened bread which is the basis for the bread of the Lord’s Supper. Not only are these two different kinds of bread, but they stand for two different aspects of the Christian experience. Let’s look at some scriptures that link the Bread of Life message of the New Testament to the manna. 31Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”‘ 32Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and…

The Holy Spirit hovers and broods over the message of the cross. By the word, “cross,” we mean His finished work on the cross. Jesus said in John 19:30b, “…It is finished!…” The two great truths of the cross, forgiveness and deliverance, are standing offers for all people until He comes back. Willing believers claim and experience these basic truths and all of the other truths of the cross. What the Holy Spirit Does When we present the Lord’s Supper with understanding, the Holy Spirit will brood over the truths of the cross being proclaimed. The Holy Spirit is convicting us of our sin. He is pointing out the truths of the cross. He is applying pressure on us to confess our sins and take them to the cross (by faith apply the truths of the cross to a particular sin or death problem). Whatever sin we confess and take to the cross, the Holy Spirit will seek to replace…

There are two great pictures of the cross in the Exodus story. The first picture is well known. The blood of the Passover lamb applied to the doorposts of the Hebrew houses is clearly understood to be a picture of the forgiveness we now have because of the blood of Jesus. The Hebrews applied the blood to the doorposts so that the death angel would see the blood and pass over the household. The Hebrews were thus spared and shielded from a terrible judgment. The Two Pictures of the Cross Let’s look at a simple but very important point here. The Hebrew firstborns were delivered from the judgment of the death angel for the purpose that they might live. The goal delivering them from death was so that they might live. Similarly, Jesus suffered death for us so that we might experience life. This life is in heaven and we get to experience measures of this life down here on…

View summary here If you were to try to summarize in a few words the entire Bible regarding faith and practice; how would you do it? Maybe a simple phrase like the following would do it for you: “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Someone might quote John 3:16. Some might say that this task is impossible. The entire Bible is too vast and diverse to summarize in just a few short sentences; it is impossible even to summarize its basic instructions for faith and practice. And furthermore, someone might object that summarizing the whole Bible has nothing to do with the Gospel which is the title of this chapter. The Gospel of His Body and His Blood Well, let’s start with one basic sentence, and let’s see where it leads us. (You people need to calm down!) SIN LEADS TO DEATH The above statement is certainly…

In presenting this Gospel we begin with the following: SIN LEADS TO DEATH “Death” here is a large concept that includes all of the consequences of sin: Hell, the Second Death, boredom, loneliness, war, sickness, famine, poverty, the killing, stealing and destroying of the devil, shame and any other negative condition one can think of. Sin and Death are all that is wrong with this world and the human condition. “Sin” and “death” are the most Biblical and all-inclusive words to describe man’s fallen condition. The above statement completely and wholly sums up man’s problems. RIGHTEOUSNESS LEADS TO LIFE (BLESSINGS) SIN LEADS TO DEATH (CURSES) This second statement, “Righteousness leads to Life,” is an equally all-inclusive and dominant theme in the Bible. This theme sums up the Law, the Prophets, and Bible promises. It is the exact opposite of the first theme. Righteousness here means right living. Life here means blessing, nourishment, support and provision in every dimension of our…