Are YOU full???

The doctrine of and reliance on men will never provide true spiritual nourishment and rest.  Our symbolic last supper served by boys today provides a stark example of the vain striving to eat and drink we see in the church and world around us.  The Last Supper performed by the savior Anciently too provides a perfect illustration of what a person will be fed when they rely on God for bread and nourishment and not Babylonian attainment and base understanding of men.

In John 6 our Lord makes an interesting statement;

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, ^anot because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the ^bSon of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father ^csealed.

Throughout scripture, in an astonishing amount, eating and drinking are linked literally and symbolically to physical and spiritual well being.  For instance, the meat given above is given by the Son of Man and produces eternal life.  This is the opposite effect of the very first thing that mortal man did, eat and produce mortal life.  In Isaiah 28 we see the opulent heads of Ephraim who are full of food too, and throw it up repeatedly for the people to eat at the tables.  These are of course not full people, or even satisfied, though they are rich in the worlds decor.  The wicked sons and daughters of Zion who yell “all is well in Zion” also cry, eat drink and be merry!  At the same time Christ commands, come to these waters and never thirst.

To the point, who provideth the bread and water that gives us sustenance, and therefore for what and to whom do we eat?  Is the food we eat spiritually continually enriching our souls, is it filling us with joy and HUNGER or desire for more?  An odd paradigm about the truth seeker, he seeks and receives bread and water that he may no longer hunger or thirst.  Yet, that very bread and water demands continual consumption to be effective.  It enables itself.

The vomit filled food of the Babylonian theologian however leaves one ever learning and never able to come to the truth.  He reads and he studies at the tables of his ‘teachers’, hungering and hungering, never getting full.  A person who relies on the learning of other men entirely, on the same sources repeatedly, on the direction and fences of the arm of the flesh, will always find himself searching, hungry but never full

Christ however intends a person to seek, search, apply  and learn from the fountain of truth, HIM (not a man) .  A person who does this finds himself eating, and being full, with endless capacity to eat.  This is the person who has things of this world provided.

The man leaning on other men sees a doctrine of self reliance.  HE must labor at the sweat of his brow to provide food for the table.  He is taught that in this life one must provide for himself and his family.  He must prepare for the rainy day.  He must eat only the food that is approved for him to eat, for in the day that he eats of other fruit he will die, he does so out of fear (whereas Adam ate anyway, out of knowledge).  Yet, in doing so, living this doctrine of dependence, he never gets full.  He is simply led on from one fantasy idea to another, seeking the lusts of the world and never knowing that he is looking past the mark.  He labors for meat that perisheth.  A hard days work in the name of buying food.  A hard days studying the philosophies of men mingled with scripture.  You want religion do you?  I’ll get someone to preach to you.

The man leaning on the bread of life however is free.  He is provided for as the lillies of the field.  The more complete his submission and reliance on the source of strength the more he is adorned like the lillies.  The more he relies on the word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God, the more nourishing and filling are his meals.

When I go to church, we take snacks for the kids occasionally.  Crackers, raisins, etc.   These are snacks, they temporarily placate.  If I brought supper, a five course meal for them, it would likely be more effective.  So here we see the difference between the terms, snack and supper, which is supposedly provided for us there too.

The way of the world demands that we dabble with spiritual things, but never fully commit.  We must not find joy in gospel extremism!  WE must read and study all of the basics, have a broad foundation.  Seek the worlds employ, search hard high and low to provide for your family, stay busy with goals and attainment.  be distracted.

Jesus gave us the parable;

And when one of them who sat at meat with him, heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper and bade many; And sent his servants at supper time, to say to them who were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all, with one consent, began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee have me excused.  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused.  And another said, I have married a wife, therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servants, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring hither the poor, and the maimed, the halt and the blind.  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.  The Lord said unto his servant, Go out into the highways, and hedges, and compel men to come in, that my house may be filled;  For I say unto you, That none of those men who were bidden, shall taste of my supper. (luke 12)

Those who were gainfully employed, those who looked and dressed the part of success, those who were providing for themselves and families and were distracted by this worldy attainment, the lord declares; “none of those men who were bidden, shall taste of my supper.”  These men were invited to the supper!  They were supposed to be guests.  The were the rich, the men with seed planted in good soil, who had the comforts and luxuries.  When the time came for supper, a full meal being offered, they had better things to do.  The world called.  Their training, though it had brought them to the point of invitation, required the work and toil in the arms of men.  This training did not allow them time to sit at supper with the rich man, after all they were already providing their own!

The other group on the other hand lived simply.  The did not live in the houses and within the fenced courts of society.  They brought all their baggage to the meal and were indeed elated to do so.  These were the travelers on the highways, those who were outliers in the fringes, found in the hedges.  Societal paws had no choking grasp around their necks.  They did not look and act the part of the babylonian business world.  Because of this, those who lived free-er and more simply, came and filled the house.  They were not married to another to whose bidding they had to conform.  Their covenant was with the keeper of the Supper and they allow him to provide.

So then I ask you, if it is supper we are asked to come to, to eat and be full… If the Lord gave us his sacrament and all who were there called it SUPPER, why then is the Lords supper today so meek, so barren?  Barely a teaspoonful of chlorinated water and a token offering of enriched white bread represent this meal we are to partake of and be full!   All of the Lords symbols of sacrament are there, accepting this one.  WE take the body in the bread.  We eat it, remember him.  The same is done with water.  However, we are left wanting.  WE are not filled with a fullness to satisfy.  In the book of Mormon we get this account of how the Lord did it;

And when the Disciples had come with ^abread and wine, he took of the bread and brake and blessed it; and he gave unto the Disciples and commanded that they should eat. And when they had eaten and were filled, he commanded that they should give unto the multitude.  And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the Disciples…he commanded his Disciples that they should take of the ^awine of the cup and drink of it, and that they should also give unto the multitude that they might drink of it.  And it came to pass that they did so, and did drink of it and were filled; and they gave unto the multitude, and they did drink, and they were filled.  (3 Nephi 18)

Make no mistake about it, the editor went out of his way, EVERY TIME, to point out that when they took the sacrament emblems they did so until full.  The effort to eat and drink of the bread of life is pointless, if we do not do so till our cup is brimming.  The symbolism is there in literalism when we  eat and drink of body and blood, however we now forget that very vital facet of the SUPPER of Christ, becoming full. And how does one do so?  How do we become full in the spiritual sense?  Through Christ’s baptism, becomes his sons and daughters, one with him and you will be filled;

And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of ^amy body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled. (3 Nephi 20:8)

Today at church we will partake of our token emblems.  This is quite symbolic in my mind of the food we are now offered.  The doctrine of Christ has been relegated to an art of reliance on the arm of flesh.  There is truly vomit on our tables, and just as the sacrament today will never fill us, neither will the regurgitated gospel provide us the nutrients needed to support Life eternal.  We must take it on our self to rid ourselves of the Babylonian distraction of the world which so loudly beckons in our ears in order to hear the call of the master when he offers a Supper fit for and served by a King!  Then and only then will we be full and our cup made to  run over.