The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-10-31

! The figure of the Living Bread clearly
| illustrates the relation which Christ
sustains to the soul. His origin is posi-
| lively stated as from Heaven. His mis-
sion is indicated in the declarati ton that
eff any man eat of this Bread, he shall
| live forever" trd the method of ac-
complishing that mission by suffering
and death is implied when He declares
that He will give His flesh for the life
of the world. His life for the life of the
world is a worldwide fact and brings
Eternal Life within the reach of all,
| but the realization of that fact is an in
| dividual matter. He holds out His
! gift of Eternal Life to the whole
world, but the appropriation of that
| gift is left to the "any man" who will
eat of this Bread. Let us turn our
consideration to the statement of
Christ that He is the Living Bread come
down from Heaven.
Our first proposition in regard to
this is that there can be no life with
| out bread. While the Israelites sat
by the flesh pots of Egypt they did
not realize how vital connection the
food sustained to the life of the body,
but when God got them off in the viii
derness they began to cry to Him for
bread. With plenty at hand they had
| no sense of need, but fed from the
hand of God day by Cay they under
stood how their life depended upon
| the daily supply of mamma. And as
physical life cannot be sustained with
| out partaking of food, so the soul
cannot live without feeding upon the
Living Bread. And further, as the
proper food for the body must be that
which can be assimilated by the
body, so the food for the soul must be
that which can give life and satisfy.
! The plant feeds upon the black, damp
earth pressed close about its roots,
but man would fill his stomach in vain
with that which the plant thrives upon.
The OK cOntentedly chews his cud OF
| hay and supplies the needs of its body,
| but man would starve upon such a
! diet. So it is with the soul. There is
but one food upon which it can live
and thrive, that is the Living Bread,
| Jesus Christ. Man tries to feed it
upon other things, and the soul is
| starved to death as a consequence.
| Away back in Isaiah's time we hear
him crying out against such folly.
when he says: Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not
bread? and your labor for that which
| satisfieth not? Hearken diligently
unto me, and eat We that which is
good, and let your soul delight itself in
| fatness."
Two important facts in regard to
| the relation of bread to the body re-
quire emphasis-Appropriation and
Assimilation. Our second proposition,
| therefore. is that bread is of no use
unless it is partallen of and the stom-
ach performs its function of assimila-
| ton Of what good would all the
bread in the world be to me if did not
appropriate some of it to the needs of
my body? l would starve with plenty
all around me unless | reached cut and
took the loaves in my hand and con
veyed them to my mouth. 1t Is related
| of shipwrecked crew drifting upon
! the eXpanseless ocean that their scant
! supply of water gave out. and. as day
after day went by, they came nigh
unto death from thirst. But unbe-
known to them they finally drifted
into the mouth of a great river, with
its abundant supply of fresh, sweet
water. But notwithstanding there
was life-giving water all about them
their throats continued parched and
dry. their tongues swollen and their
eyes wildly watching for the cloud
that might bring rain. And while they
drifted death drew nearer and nearer
of = IN, ic lali
threw himself from the boat. AS the
refreshing waters touched his parched
and bleeding lips and swollen tongue
he managed to gasp, "Water!" and
| then sank from sight. But the word
which he had uttered caught the ears
of the other dying men iii the boat
and with eager haste they leaned OveI
the sides of the boat and sucked in the
cool. life-giving water, but it was not
until they began to appropriate it that
it could do them any good. So it is il
regard to the soul. Adrift on the sea
of life, it is famishing and dying fo1
want of the Living Bread. Christ is
at hand ready to give, but if the sou
does not reach out and appropriate the
J gift of Eternal Life it must perish il
its blindness and with the cry ring
ing in the ears of Bread, Living
Bread!"
Man might sta. we with his mouth
full of bread. lie might appropriate
the food, but if he did not carry the
| process to the point of assimilation
| his body would perish. The functions
| performed by the mouth and the
stomach in disposing of food and sup
plving the needs cf the body have
| their very close parallel in the spir
itual life of the soul. Let us see JUS
what it is that the mouth and the
stomach do. The former takes the
food and breaks it up. mixing with il
the saliva which accelerates the pro
cess of digestion. The food is ther
| passed along to the stomach, which
| completes the digestion and assimi
lates into the system such portions as
| are needed TO sustain life and builC
up the body. In the spiritual life the
| mind may be said to perform the func
| tions of the mouth and the heart the
! functions of the stomach. The mino
| receives the truth and breaks it up
| mixing It with the saliva of reason
| for God never objects to man using
| his reason if he does not eNalt ii above
the heart and thus prevent the hear
from performing its functions. Witt
the mind filled and saturated with al
the facts in regard to Christ, the Breat
of Life. the soul would perish, if the
| heart were not permitted to act 1t:
| part and "believe unto salvation"
That was the trouble with the ma
jority of the Jews who listened tC
| 2esus ~ He declared; ''' N the Liv