ings of his carnal nature by
turning back to the flesh-pots of Egypt, he languishes and dies.

Be it remembered that this bread of life is Christ. It is not some
theory about Him. It is not some system of theology of man's
formulation. Men may feed upon systems and theories till their souls
are dwarfed and starved. Such feeding makes partisans and cold-blooded
sectarians, without imparting divine life to the soul. We must come
directly to Christ. Through His holy word we must study Him, assimilate
our lives to His, feed upon Him as the bread from heaven, and drink in
of His gracious spirit. The world took knowledge of the saints of old,
that they had been with Jesus. And so it may now easily decide as to
those of such holy companionship.

2. Christ is the bread of life. As such He has to be appropriated.
There is no virtue in bread to sustain life until it is appropriated
and assimilated to the system. Men may starve within reach of
abundance. God supplies the bread of life, but He does not compel men
to eat it. They are urged to eat and live, but they may refuse and die.
Oh, the millions in our land who are starving for the bread of life,
when it is offered them day by day! Unless we eat the body of the Son
of God we have no life. Our salvation, therefore, depends upon eating.
Yet there is no virtue in the act of eating. The virtue is in the thing
eaten. It is not putting on your coat that makes you warm, but the coat
after it is on. Faith is a condition of salvation; but there is no
power to save in believing. The saving virtue is in the thing believed.
So we may substitute nothing for that which God has given. We must eat
the bread which God provides, else all our eating will be in vain.

3. It is well understood by all classes that the wants of the physical
man need to be daily supplied. To meet these demands, is the chief
concern of the great mass of humanity. Observe that young man. He is in
the vigor of robust manhood. He has just enjoyed a night's refreshing
sleep and a hearty breakfast. His system seems to be overflowing with
an excess of vitality. He goes forth to his work boastful of his
strength. But how many hours is it till nature cries aloud for the
replenishing of his strength? How long can he live on the boastful
supply of his physical manhood? A few days finds him as helpless as a
babe. So essential is physical food to physical life.

Nor is spiritual food less essential to spiritual life. As new-bo