Better than Passover

You can listen to this sermon here.

This evening, we will compare and contrast the Lord’s Supper with the Passover given to national Israel. So many things given to the Old Covenant people point to partial or final fulfillment in what has been given to New Covenant people - they are there to teach about and point us to Christ. They are intended to give us a richer understanding of how the Bible fits all things together and has a deeper meaning than a superficial read can provide.

The Lord's Supper is given to God's people in the New Covenant as the sign of that covenant (Luke 22:19-20), just as the weekly Sabbath was given to God's people in the Mosaic Covenant as the sign of that covenant (Exod. 31:12-18; Ezek. 20:11-20). In Ex 31, national Israel was commanded to keep the weekly Sabbath for it was a sign between Him and them. In 1 Cor 11 we are told that the Lord’s Supper is a declaration of His victorious death, whereby He conquered sin on our behalf. While the sign of the Old Covenant could be seen and practiced by anyone, the sign of the New Covenant cannot be understood or practiced by anyone unless they have been born again by God.

The Lord's Supper is connected to the last Passover (Matt 26:17-30), observed in conjunction with weekly fellowship meal (Acts 2:42; 20:7) Just as the Passover meal signified the passing-over of the angel of death, so the Lord’s Supper signifies the passing through death of our Savior.

The first Passover anticipated the redemption of ethnic Israel from the bondage of Egypt (Deut 16:1). The first Lord’s Supper anticipated the redemption of spiritual Israel from the bondage of sin (1 Cor 11:23-26). The annual Passover reminded ethnic Israel of the freedom from Egypt their God had given them. The regular observance of the Lord’s Supper reminds spiritual Israel of the freedom from sin their Savior has given them.

The Passover was the covenant meal of the Old Covenant (Ex 12:17). The Lord’s Supper is the covenant meal of the New Covenant. The Passover was a mostly bitter meal, reminding the Jews of their time of want and the faithful provision of their God. The Lord’s Supper was usually observed after a fellowship meal, reminding the children of God of His provision of food for the body and the soul and the faithfulness of the One Who said He would return.

The Passover was observed with family or close friends within the covenant community (Exod 12:43-49). The Lord’s Supper is observed with all who are in Christ, within the local fellowship of saints.

The Old Covenant required observance of certain religious rites for membership: make circumcision, weekly rest from work, the Passover, occasional monthly and annual feast days. Faith in God, belief in the promised seed was not required for membership – only observance of a few religious rites. Those who fail to observe these rites were cut off from the covenant community. This is termed “formalism” and it is a sign of dead religion and must be guarded against within the local fellowship of saints.

The New Covenant requires the application of one truth: you must be born again by the Spirit of God; you must be circumcised of the heart, done without human hands (Col 2:11). Faith in the promised seed is required for membership – no one can enter the wedding feast of the Lamb without the required clothes (Matt 22:12) – the righteousness of Christ! Failure to participate in the fellowship of the saints and the observation of the Lord's Supper neglect the care of their own souls and could be cut off from the New Covenant community until such time repentance might be granted.

Jewish parents used the Passover to teach their children about YHWH and their physical redemption. Christian parents should use the Lord’s Supper to teach their children about the redemptive death of Jesus and the need to believe on Him to be delivered from sin. Belief in God and the promised seed was not a requirement to eat the Passover. Belief on the promised Seed is a requirement to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Great teaching opportunity.

If people did not prepare for the initial Passover as directed, they would die (Ex 12:12-13). If Christians take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, they may die (1 Cor 11:27-30). This is the most graphic reminder that only believers are permitted to take this ordinance seriously. As the people in the Old Covenant taught their children about the need for YHWH's redemption from Egypt and His faithful provision thereof, so parents in the New Covenant should teach their children about their need for redemption from sin and Jesus' faithful provision to save. Both ordinances given the New Covenant community are great teaching opportunities for those who have not been brought near by the blood of Christ; and they are great teaching opportunities for all who have been redeemed, as we each need to be reminded of what He has done on our behalf, lest we drift into thinking little of sin and of His payment for it.

See Luke 24:35 – He opened their eyes when He broke the bread. He vanished from their presence after opening their eyes of faith. This served the same purpose for these two as His ascension does for all the saints - He departed from this world to send the Spirit as we learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Pagan religions require a god they can see and handle, because they walk by sight and not faith.

Paul tells us that Jesus was our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), showing us the Passover is not a continuing observance, but a ceremonial shadow or type that pointed God’s people to the promised seed who would save His people from their sin. The Lord’s Supper has connections to the Passover but is itself the sign of a better covenant (Luke 22:20 & Hebrews 8:6).

Jesus is our (believers’) Passover (1 Cor 5:7): Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast permeates the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast or with the yeast of malice and evil but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The call is to remember our need of salvation, the spiritual application of the temporal redemption given national Israel on their first Passover. No room for boasting within the New Covenant except for the cross of Christ. We are called to not tolerate the mixing of Old Covenant bondage or unbelievers (those infected with malice and evil) within the body of Christ; but welcome only those who are possessed by sincerity and truth.

This ordinance belongs exclusively to the gospel age, being typified in several Old Testament passages, such as when Melchizedek brought wine and bread to refresh Abram and his warriors who had just defeated several pagan kings (Genesis 14:17-20). Even so, we who are born again by the will of God are immediately at war with our flesh, the system of the world and its present ruler. Christ gives us spiritual nourishment with this simple symbol, the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, of His victory over sin and death and hell and Satan. 'Tis a far, far better respite than what Melchizedek gave Abram. We see another reference to this church ordinance in Proverbs 9:1-6, as lady wisdom bids God's people come to the table she has set, bread and wine, for refreshment and refuge from lure of the culture which wars against our souls.

And read the prophet Isaiah on this topic: On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9)

This is the message of the Lord's Table: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

This is just one aspect of how the OT points to spiritual things. Think about how rich the entire OT is in its revelation of Christ; that was the Scripture from which Jesus and the apostles preached the gospel to the first century world.

While the Bible does not explicitly command us on the frequency, we do see a narrative showing it was an important part of their weekly gatherings, some 30 to 40 years after Pentacost. Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight (Acts 20:7). One author (Terrance O’Hare) observed: “Most commentators agree that this was a Sunday evening meeting, at a recurring gathering of Christians on the first day of the week following their normal activities and work. [Note: this was before Christianity was legal and before Sunday was a regular day off for workers.] They came together in order to break bread. This does not mean that preaching was secondary, but when they came together, they purposed to commune in the symbolism of the covenant meal as the Lord had commended and as the apostles has established by tradition." We should no more neglect the Lord’s Supper than the Israelites did their Passover.

While Scripture does not tell us how frequently to observe this ordinance, it does command us to take it, revealing that it is nourishing to our souls, enhances our fellowship. This puts a new light on this question about frequency; perhaps the question for some should be, why don't we take this ordinance more frequently? The commonly discussed down-side to observing this ordinance regularly is that it can (they often mean will) become routine, dull, meaningless. That was my first thought when I served in a church that took the Lord’s Table weekly. My time at that church showed me that, properly handled, the weekly observance of this ordinance is not routine, dull, or meaningless. If Christ be rightly presented, if we are put in our place of coming to Him with gratitude, in humility, aware of our not-yet status of being conformed to Him, then this simple ordinance is what God intended it to be, bringing glory to the Father through the Son and building up His people spiritually.

The beloved Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, declared, “Shame on the Christian Church that she should put it off to once a month, and mar the first day of the week by depriving it of its glory in the meeting together for fellowship and breaking of bread, and showing forth the death of Christ til He comes.” Throughout the history of the church, weekly observance of the Lord's Supper has been the traditional practice, ably supported by the Word of God.

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16)

When we take the cup of the Lord's Supper, we should remember the cup of wrath He took on our behalf. The cup we hold is a symbol of the glorious benefit of being redeemed by His sacrifice, so we thank our God for His grace while we also soberly remember the price that was paid. No small price; He drank the cup of wrath and shed His blood to secure our redemption. As we drink the cup of His peace, the New Covenant, we do drink vicariously the cup of wrath. When we eat the bread or cracker, which is broken in remembrance of His atoning death, we participate vicariously in the death He died. This is why Paul said Galatians 2:19-20: For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. This is what is real – our spiritual life. It is what is eternal.

Whenever we take this ordinance, let us seek out those within this fellowship whom we have sinned against or who has sinned against us and seek true reconciliation as the Lord's Supper represents unity that can only exist by those indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Passover Fulfilled

You Can Listen to This Sermon Here.

5 points:

1.       The facts of the crucifixion (the text)

2.       The context – what two groups of people?

3.       The physical pain of the crucifixion

4.       The true suffering

5.       The point for us

1. Mark 15:22-39.

2. Context: Two groups of people. Mark 15:15-21. Paul wrote that men are, by nature, enemies of God and children of wrath (Rom 5:10, Eph 2:3). Those who clamored for Christ to be crucified represent everyone not reconciled by the blood of Christ - this was you and me before He redeemed us. In Luke's account we read that the crowd repeatedly demanded Barabbas be the one set free, not Jesus. Carnal man cannot accept the gospel and they will do what they can to suppress knowledge of it. When we sin, we stand with those who demanded Barabbas be set free. The soldiers mocked the Lord of glory and beat Him.  Enemies of God. 1Cor 2:8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The other group, Jesus' disciples, were not making noise before the throne of this world, they had run away when He was arrested, Matthew 26:56 "But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. In this passage, we see two things: God had planned Jesus' sacrificial death in pretty precise detail and we see how those who hate God are often more vocal and active in proclaiming their false religion than are the people God has chosen for Himself to proclaim His. Brothers, this should not be so among us!

The two men on either side of Jesus represent these same two groups of people: everyone belongs to the city of man or to the city of God. While both of these criminals initially railed against Christ, Luke reports (23:42) that one became convicted of his sin and cried out for mercy while the other did not. The repentant man represents all the sheep of God and the unrepentant man represents all the goats. There are only these two groups of people. Each one professing the name of Christ needs to examine himself to see if he is in the faith - it is far too easy to think you are a Christian and not be one. We learn from these two men that it matters not when or how I die, what matters is in whom I die ... in sin OR in CHRIST, Who is my righteousness.

In our day, God-haters fill the news, advocating the murder of infants, all sorts of abominations, and the silencing of Christians. Far too many professing Christians are willing to go along to get along with these reprobates who grow bolder by the day; or they remain silent. Just like the scene at the cross. We who are in Christ should take care not to follow after the world; must guard against following Christians who want to compromise with the world in our day; and we must not be silent! No matter our circumstances, we are to be known as God fearing people; making Him known among the people of the world.

3. The Physical Pain of the Cross. Crucifixion is believed to have originated in the Persian Empire; however, Romans are given credit for perfecting it into a heinous means of inflicting death. Romans crafted the cruelty of crucifixion to demonstrate three clear messages. First, it was incredibly painful for the victim (so much so that the person being crucified often was rendered unconscious during the proceedings). Second, it provided a lingering death, which was much preferred for extremely vicious criminal acts. Third, it afforded a horrific deterrent for anyone contemplating a similar offense. Josephus described crucifixion, following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 66-70, as “the most wretched of deaths.”

Archaeological evidence strongly suggests that criminals during the time of Christ were not forced to carry an entire T-shaped cross, but rather only the crossbeam, which would have weighed between 75 and 125 pounds. The vertical post would be laid down and the cross piece fastened to it, the condemned nailed through the wrists and feet, then the cross would be lifted up and slammed down into the hole made for the post. Archaeological data indicate that the specific nails used during the time of Christ’s crucifixion were tapered iron spikes five to seven inches long with a square shaft approximately three-eighths of an inch across. In John's gospel, Thomas says he would not believe unless he saw and touched the nail marks in Jesus' hands.  

The spikes would have been driven through the wrist, near the heel of the hand. If through the palm, the weight of the man would pull the spike through the flesh. In this part of the wrist (considered part of the hand in ancient times), major nerves and blood vessels would be missed, allowing the man to hang freely, unable to breath. For the feet to be fastened to the post, the knees would be bent and rotated, with the feet lined up side by side and the spike be pounded through the sides of the feet in front of the heel.

To breathe, the man on the cross would have to push up on his feet, scraping his scourged back on the rough wood of the post. With all his weight on the spike through his feet, he couldn't stay up very long - a couple quick breaths. Then back down - scraping his back - to hang from his hands. Intense pain and muscle cramping were inventible, hastening the collapse of the man, leaving him unable to breathe - dying of asphyxiation.

At the ninth hour, which was around 3 PM, Jesus cried out to the Father. We'll look at what He said in a minute. What we need to see now is better recorded by John: John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. The sour wine on a hyssop branch - same as that used to paint the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts during the last plague of Egypt: Ex 12:21-23 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

These details are God quietly screaming His sovereignty and proclaiming His Son to be the fulfillment of that precious sheep from so long before. The Jewish Passover lamb shed its blood to protect national Israel's firstborn from physical death. The Passover Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus, is the fulfillment of that type. He shed His blood to preserve true Israel's children from eternal death.

Jesus was crucified outside the city, at the garbage dump. All these physical things piled one on top of another to humiliate the condemned. The Creator and Judge of all flesh, treated like the dregs at the bottom of a cup.

The temple veil was torn in half, foretelling the certain doom of the temple building, which, in 70AD, would come tumbling down until no stone was left in place - just as Jesus had said. When the centurion saw and heard all this, he declared that Jesus truly was the Son of God. The repentant thief and the Roman centurion both had their ears and eyes opened to see Christ for Who He is.

But physical death was not the worst of it, nor would it have satisfied our great need.

4. The True Suffering on the Cross. Many people, sadly, were crucified by the Roman government. Only one crucifixion satisfied the Father's wrath against the sin that plagues the sons and daughters of Adam. When Jesus cried out, My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? He was quoting Psalm 22, which provides a rich description of what was happening at the cross. The death of Christ was not an accident of history; it was God’s plan from before time to redeem sinners. For Christ to be forsaken means He was not being treated as a son, but as an enemy of His Father; for our benefit.

The wrath of God was poured out on Christ at Calvary, He drank the cup of death meant for you and me. Earlier in Mark's gospel, we have this response from the Lord Jesus to the request from James and John to sit on either side of Him in glory. Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” (Mark 10:38-39). Note how Jesus connects these two, the cup and baptism. The other disciples heard this. Other than the ten being indignant at these two, what might they have thought about the cup and the baptism? They would soon learn that this cup the Lord spoke of was not the cup of communion and the baptism was not a water baptism. Jesus had spoken in terms that left his disciples uncertain, but we know from the record of Scripture that what He was speaking about was the cup of wrath and the baptism of death that awaited Him; of which He lamented: I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:50)

The disciples would drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism vicariously through Him. No mortal man can stand where Jesus did: cursed by God for the sins of others and lay His life down knowing He would pick it back up again. When we take communion, we are not drinking His cup, but we drink in remembrance of what He did – to cut the New Covenant in His blood to reconcile sinners to Holy God. When we are baptized, it is not merely following His example when John baptized Him in the Jordan. Paul asks, Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3) And further he tells us, (1 Corinthians 12:13) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. We were baptized into Christ’s death, the death He died for us, to break down what separates us from God and one another, to make one people that will bring honor and glory to His name. The cup and baptism signify our union with Christ, reminding us of what He did for us in drinking our cup and being baptized into the death we deserve.

At the cross of Calvary, what is called the Great Exchange took place: 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This is what Paul spoke of last week in telling us how Christ drank the cup of wrath due us and gave to us the cup of blessing. We have an alien righteousness - that of the God-man - which secures us as beloved in the Father. Without this union with Christ, there can be no peace with God the Father.

Hebrews 8 tells us the priests of the Old Covenant and the sacrifices thereof were copies and shadows of the heavenly things. Because He was the obedient son, the faithful witness, the righteousness of God, He was qualified to appear as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:11-14) The time for the temporary covering of sins with the blood of goats and other animals was finished when Christ shed His blood. There is no need to return to the shadows. The promised One has come and He has finished His redemptive work.

In our day, the news brings us a report of people in the nation of Israel planning to reenact the Jewish Passover in anticipation of rebuilding the Jewish temple. They are trying to move backwards in redemptive history, as if Christ has not come! The Passover was to remind them of God's rescue of His people from bondage in Egypt, with the lamb's blood as the marker. And the Passover was to point to another Lamb who would come and have His blood shed. In a passage where Paul is describing the danger of allowing a bold, unrepentant sinner to remain in the fellowship of saints at Corinth, he uses the image of leaven in in yeast: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Paul is teaching us that the kingdom of God is pure, undefiled; and we are to work to keep our local fellowship as pure as humanly possible. During the Jewish Passover, they had to make sure no yeast was anywhere in the house, not just in the yeast. This was in preparation for the Passover lamb being sacrificed so its blood could be applied to the doorposts.

Something greater that the blood of animals has been shed on our account: Christ Jesus is the Passover lamb for all who have been given to Him. If the Jews were to be so diligent in getting the leaven out of their homes, Paul tells us, should we not be more so in getting publicly unrepentant sinners out of our fellowship? He applies this to our lives and our message - unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We should have genuine fellowship with one another and biblical truth in our conversation, teaching, and preaching. We'll review this in our next, final point.

5. What This Means for Us. In real terms, what does the crucifixion of Christ mean to us? Since this happened so long ago, is it necessary to talk about it? Next week we will hear about the resurrection, without which we are no different from those who have no faith. There is no resurrection without a death. And, as mentioned earlier, the death of Christ was no ordinary death. Preaching Christ and Him crucified is the means we’ve been given to bring lost sheep into the fold.

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. This short statement hits three key points that he will explain in more detail in chapter 2. Frist, He was sent; this sending was to preach the gospel, not to baptize; second, the gospel is plain speech, not smooth words; third, the power of redemption is with God, not man.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Same three points, amplified.

Preaching with power from God does not rest in human wisdom or cunning. It grieves my soul to see so many Baptists waste their lives embracing worldly ways to attract people of the world into the local assembly of the saints! Flashy programs and emotionally manipulative messages are not of God. When men called of God stand up to preach, there is a recognition of Whom we represent. We are not our own, we preach a message not of our making. Contrary to the values of the world, we exalt the God-man who allowed Himself to be treated horribly, Who has a kingdom not of this world, Who bids us to serve one another with love as He loved us - giving ourselves to one another. He gave Himself to us by submitting to taking the cup of wrath due us.

Crucifixion was a humiliating, grotesque method of killing the dregs of society. The Christian faith embraces what the world considers shameful; we preach a Lord and Savior who was treated like refuse by the powerful of the world. False religions pursue charismatic leaders who gather lots of followers who are eager to hear that they are prized above all. True religion cherishes faithful servants who preach what they need to hear, that they are not good in and of themselves and that the only One Who is good in and of Himself submitted to be crucified by the hands of sinful men and suffer the wrath of God on our account.

Back in 1 Cor chapter 1 we read about carnal behavior, the saints were following this man or that. Paul would have none of it. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Notice how he finishes this rebuke of these dear people - three diagnostic questions: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? When we have a party spirit we follow a man rather than the God-man. Following carries the sense of being in union with the leader. The only true leader was crucified for you - no mere man could have been. Our water baptism reflects our union with the leader, signifying our death and resurrection in him. The Lord’s Supper declares His death for sin and soon return. Can any mere man suffice as your leader or mine? Let us not be drawn aside from the truth of God's Word, the sole sufficiency of the blood of Christ. The time for shapes and shadows is over. The true Passover is our Lamb of God. Seek refuge in Him. Trust Him. Speak gospel truths to one another.

John Owen, The Glory of Christ, as quoted by Rick Holland in Uneclipsing the Son, page 141:

"A constant view of the glory of Christ will revive our souls and cause our spiritual lives to flourish and thrive. The more we behold the glory of Christ by faith now, the more spiritual and the more heavenly will be the state of our souls. The reason why spiritual life in our souls decays and withers is because we fill our mind with other things. ... But then the mind is filled with thoughts of Christ and His glory, these things will be expelled. ... This is how our spiritual lives will be revived."

If you want your spirit revived, fill you mind with thoughts of Christ and His glory. Seek those thing which are above, and spur one another on while it is still today. And tell others where you found bread and water that truly satisifies.