Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-08-21
HE IS THE BREAD OLLIE
LESSON VIII, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. %.


nit Verses, 33-35-Golden Text, John
vi, 34-Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by
permission of II. $. Hoffman, publisher, Phil
adelphia
| %. Jesus answered them and said, Yer
| lily, verify, | say unto you, Ye seek me,
not because We saw the miracles, but be-
cause we did eat of the loaves and were
filed"
He reads their hearts, He sees their blind
ness, and that their only thought is for
food for the body. Were they not very
like multitudes in our own day, and like
very many who bear the name of Jesus, but
yet are wholly given up to laborng merely
for food and raiment?
81. Labor not for the meat which per-
| isheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man
shall give unto you"
We are reminded of the question in lisa.
lv, ?, "Wherefore do we spend money for
that which Is not bread? And your labor
for that which satisiieth not? Hearken
diligently unto Me, and eat We that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness."
For Him hath God the Father sealed"
This is given as the reason why the Son
of Man is qualified to give the meat which
endureth. By comparing Eph. i, ID; iv,
30, with Acts X, IS; John ill., 80, "a, it
seems to refer to His being sent by the
Father and filed with the Spirit. These
are our qualifications also.
2S 'Then said they unto Him, What
shall we do that we might work the works
of Godg"
He spoke of giving them enduring meat
as His gift They talk of doing something,
so blind were they and so blind are we to
Gods way. How much had they done in
the matter of being fed a little while before
on the other side of the sea?
%. Jesus answered and said unto them,
This is the work of God, that ye believe on
Him whom He hath sent"
They spoke of doing the works of God,
He speaks of the work of God, for it is inn
possible for God to work through instru-
ments which He does not control. To be-
lieve on Him is to receive Him (John /, 12).
30. "They said, therefore, unto Him,
What sign showest Thou, then, that we
may see and believe Thee? What dost
Thou work."
1t does not seem possible that those who
had so recently witnessed the multiplica
ton of five loaves and two fishes to feed
five thousand men could ask for sign.
81. "Our fathers did eat mama in the
desert; as it is written, He gave them bread
from heaven to eat"
Reminding Him that in the wilderness
the people were fed with mama every day,
and doubtless saying in their hearts, You
fed us yesterday, it is true, but now feed
us again today, as Moses did our fathers"
81. "Then Jesus said unto them, Verify,
verify, say unto you, Moses gave you not
that bread from heaven; but my Father
giveth you the true bread from heaven"
lie would direct their thoughts not to
Moses, nor even to Himself, but to the
Father in heaven. This he always did.
80. For the bread of God is He which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life
unto the world"
Bread is mentioned in this chapter six
teen times, and at least ten times it refers
to the True Bread. BY considering verses
81, 49, "a, 81, Il, IS 80, 81, S. and their con-
text, it will be seen that He is Himself the
True Bread, and that we are to eat Him,
or eaU His flesh and drink His blood oversees
$500, which, by comparing verses 81 and
A., will be seen to mean that we are to be-
lieve on Him, for there are not two ways
of obtaining eternal life.
81. Then said they unto Him, Lord
evcrmore give Us this bread"
Like the woman ut the well, who said
''Sir, give me this water, thar thirst not
neither come hither to draw" Chapter iv
l5), she thought only of natural water,
and they think only of natural bread.
80. "And Jesus said unto them, am the
bread of life; he that cometh to me shall
never hunger, and he that believeth on me
shall never thirst"
Continuing the thoughts of the last
verso that He IL our foruivanaSS our naaca
our assurance, our salvation, read such
words Eph. i, g. {; ii, II; II Tim i, IL
lsa xii p and do as the people did will
the words of Hezekiah, rest yourself upor
these words Oh Chron. xxi, s. and yoI
will know the meaning of this verse of oul
lesson. Hunger and thirst" is a phras,
- embracing all individual needs and unsat
ised desires of man, in all their variety.
80. But | said unto you, That We ais,
have seen me and believe not"
There are some of you that believe not.
Eye will not come to me-" How Otter
would |, and ye would not" in return
ing and rest shall We be saved, and y
would not" They despsed the pleasan
land; they believed not His word" The
could not enter in because of unbelief
Verse 6I; chapter V, 40; Matt. xiii, 81
lisa. xxx, -; Ps. cvi, "a; Heb. iii, 49,
Such is the sad refrain all through Script
ure, while the loving, tender heart of Go,
is seen in such words us these "Oh, tina
my people had hearkened unto me, an
Israel had walked in my ways!
He should have fed them also with tn
finest of the wheat, and with honey out O
the rock should have satisfied thee (P,
lxXxi, 1916.
81. "All that the Father giveth me shal
come to me, and him that cometh to me