Observe, 4. How speedily Christ relieves them of their fears, by telling them who he was: It is I, be not afraid. It is a sufficient support in all our afflictions to be assured of Christ's gracious presence with us. Say but, O Saviour, It is I, and then let evils do their worst; that one word, It is I, is sufficient to allay all storms, and to calm a thousand tempests. Observe lastly, With what joy and gladness the disciples received and entertained Christ in this hour of their distress: They willingly received him into the ship. Though the company of Christ is always sweet and welcome to his disciples and friends, yet never is it so very agreeable and desirable to them as in the hour of trial and temptation: then they willingly receive him, and joyfully welcome and entertain

him.

22 The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone; 23 (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias, nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks ;) 24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither ? 26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed.

Our blessed Saviour having wrought the foregoing miracle, feeding five thousand with five loaves, the people followed him in troops from place to place. Christ, who knew their hearts, tells then plainly what

was their end; they followed him indeed, but not for any spiritual excellences they saw in him, or soul-advantages they expected from him, but for bread; only to have their bellies fed with the loaves, not their souls satisfied with the bread of life. O! how seldom is Christ sought for his own sake, viz. Jesus quæritur propter Jesus. Aug. How natural is it for men to seek Christ for sinister ends and by-respects! But to seek him only for outward advantages, is the basest of by-ends, and that which the soul of Christ exceedingly abhors. Labour not for the meat which perisheth. This prohibition must not be understood absolutely, but comparatively; not as if Christ intended to take them off from their lawful labours, and the business of their callings; but his meaning is, Labour not in the first and chief place for for bread for your souls to live eternally earthly things, which are all perishing, but by; even for the food of my heavenly doctrine, which will make them that feed upon it immortal: and this the Son of man stands ready to give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed; that is, by a special commission and authority, hath blessings to them that want and crave them. empowered him to dispense all spiritual Learn hence, 1. That all the things of this life are perishing and fading. The best of outward comforts and enjoyments are meat that perisheth. 2. That it is the greatest of follies to labour intensely and inordinately for, and to set ourselves with all our might and strength to pursue and follow after, perishing things. 3. That Jesus Christ's holy doctrine, his heavenly grace, is food that never perisheth, nor diminisheth, how many soever partake of it; but makes all that partake thereof, to be partakers of 4. That Jesus Christ eternal life therewith. his Father, to give eternal life to such as is authorized, sealed, and commissioned by industriously labour after him, and will not be satisfied without him. Him hath God the Father sealed; that is, Jesus Christ was sealed to the office of Mediator by God the Father: Christ was sealed at his baptism, sealed by his doctrine, sealed by his miracles, sealed by his resurrection, sealed by his unction of supereminent and unparalleled sanctification. Lord! where will the rejecters of Christ then appear at the great day, who have despised the authority of him whom the Father commissioned to give eternal life to whomsoever he pleaseth!

28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, That ye believe

on him whom he hath sent.

Here the Jews, who were strict observers of the ceremonial law of Moses, and rested

thereupon for salvation, enquire of our Saviour what they should do that they might please God? Christ directs them to the great duty of believing on himself, to own and acknowledge him to be the true Messiah, and as such to rely upon him alone for salvation: This is the work of God, that ye believe, &c. Learn hence, That for a penitent, humbled sinner to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, is a work highly pleasing and acceptable unto God. Christ calls faith the work of God, upon a threefold account: it is the work of his efficiency and operation; 'tis the work of his commanding; and 'tis the work of his approbation and acceptation; a work that God is highly pleased with, and greatly delighted in: This is the work of God.

30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? What dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Here the Jews tell our Saviour, that before they will believe in him, they must see some sign from him, to confirm his doctrine, and prove him to be the Messias. They acknowledge Christ had wrought a great miracle in feeding five thousand persons with five barley-loaves, but Moses fed their fathers in the wilderness, who were no less than six hundred thousand persons, with excellent manna from heaven, and this for forty years together; from whence they would seem to conclude that they had more reason to believe Moses than Christ; not considering that Moses was but an instrument to obtain by prayer the manna at the hands of God; but Christ was an agent, and that, by a creating power inherent in himself, he multiplied the five loaves to the feeding of five thousand. Note here, from the Jews requiring a sign before they would believe, That he who publishes a new doctrine to the world ought to confirm

his mission by some miraculous operation. 2. That God honoured Moses, his messenger, very much, and Christ his minister much more, in that both of them wrought great and special miracles for the confirma

tion of their mission. 3. That the Jews' not believing Christ to be the true Messias, upon so many attestations, and after his divine mission was confirmed by such miinexcusable, and their obstinacy invincible. raculous operations, rendered their infidelity

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which com. eth down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

blessed Saviour, he takes occasion to make Upon the Jews mentioning manna to our life, and manna, the bread of Moses; and a comparison betwixt himself the bread of that in three particulars. 1. It was not Moses that gave the Israelites that manna, it was God at the prayer of Moses; but it was God that now offered them the bread

2.

of life, were they willing to accept it. The manna was not given from heaven, from the air and clouds, which frequently that is, from the celestial heaven, but only in scripture is called heaven; but Christ the bread of life was given and sent by the Father from the highest heaven, even the heaven of glory. 3. Manna was not true spiritual food effectively and of itself, but bodily food only; but Christ is real and spiritual bread, which gives life to lost and dead men; which manna did not, could not do. And whereas manna was peculiar to Israel alone, Christ gives life to all sorts of persons, Gentiles as well as Jews: The bread of God giveth life unto the world. Learn hence, That as Christ is the truth and substance of all types in the Old Testament, so particularly the manna was an illustrious type of Christ. In many things they agree; and in some they differ. They agree in their original; manna came down from above, so did Christ; manna was freely given, so is Jesus Christ the free gift of God; manna was not fit to be eaten as it lay in the field, but must be ground in a mill, or beaten in a mortar, and baked in an oven, before it was fit for food. Christ was ground by his sufferings, bruised on the cross, scorched in the fiery oven of his

Father's wrath, that he might become a fit Saviour for us. Again, as the manna was gathered by the Israelites daily and equally; it was rained down about their tents, and every man had his omer. Thus is Christ in the ministry of the word daily offered to a lost world, and all that believe in him shall share alike in the benefits of the justification, sanctification, and glorification from him. But now the manna and Christ differ in this; and the true excels the type thus: There is a quickening, enlivening virtue, a life-giving and a life-upholding power in Christ, the bread of life, which was never found in manna, the bread of Israel. And whereas manna only fed the body of an Israelite, and this only for a little time in the wilderness; Christ nourisheth the soul, the souls of all believers, be they Jew or Gentile, bond or free, and this not for a time, but for eternity: The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the

bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not.

Observe here, 1. How the carnal Jews, hearing of the bread which Christ had commended so highly, and conceiving of it carnally, desire they may partake of it constantly: Lord, evermore give us this bread. The commendation of spiritual things may move the affections and quicken the desires of natural persons; but if their desires be not spiritual and serious, diligent and laborious, constant and abiding, they are no evidence of the truth of grace. Observe, 2. Christ discovers another excellent effect of this bread of life, which he had been recommending; that such as feed of it shall never hunger more: that is, inordinately, after the perishing satisfactions of this world; but shall find an all-sufficient fulness in him, and complete refreshment from him, for the preserving and perpetuating of their spiritual life: He that cometk unto me shall never hunger, &c. Observe, 3. How justly Christ upbraids the Jews for their obstinate infidelity: Ye have seen me, says our Saviour, yet ye believe not. Ye have seen me in the flesh, you

have heard my doctrine, you have seen my miracles; I have done amongst you those works which never any man did, to convince you that I am the Messiah, yet you will not own me to be such, nor believe in me. O the strength of infidelity and unbelief! The devil has as great an advantage upon men by making them strong in unbelief, as God hath by making his people strong in faith.

shall come to me; and him that 37 All that the Father giveth me cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Our blessed Saviour having lamented the obstinate infidelity of the Jews in the foregoing verse, who, though they had seen him, would not believe on him; he doth in this verse comfort himself with the assured expectation, that there would be a number, which should certainly and infallibly come unto him: All that the Father hath given me, shall come unto me, &c. Here observe, 1. An account of the persons that shall come to Christ, All that the Father hath given him. There is a double gift of us to Christ. 1. In God's eternal purpose and counsel. 2. In our effectual vocation and calling, when our hearts are by the Holy Spirit of God persuaded and enabled to accept of Christ, as he is freely tendered us in the gospel. Observe, 2. The gracious entertainment which Christ gives to those that come unto him: He will in no wise cast them out; where the positive is included in the negative, I will not cast them out: that is, I will kindly receive, and graciously entertain them. Learn hence, 1. That both God the Father and Christ his Son are unfeignedly willing, and cordially desirous, of the salvation of lost sinners. That federal transaction which was betwixt the Father and the Son from everlasting, about the salvation of lost sinners, evidently declares this. Learn, 2. That the merciful and compassionate Jesus will in no wise cast out or reject, but kindly entertain and receive, every penitent sinner that doth believingly apply unto him for pardon of sin and eternal life: I will in no wise cast out; that is, I will not cast them out of my pity and compassion, out of my love and affection, out of my prayer and intercession, out of my care and protection: I will not cast them out of my covenant; I will never cast them out of my kingdom; for my nature inclines me, my promise binds me, and my office as Mediator engages me, to the contrary

38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, That of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.

In these words our Saviour gives us the confirmation of the foregoing promise, that

he will in no wise cast out those that come

unto him, by assuring us, that it was the great end for which he came into the world. His Father sent him to do his will, and not his own; that is, not to do his own will without his Father's, but to do his own will and his Father's. For Christ, as God, hath a co-ordinate will with his Father's, and as man, a will subordinate to the will of his Father. Now it is the will of both Father and Son, that such as believe in him should be preserved from perishing, and be raised up by Christ at the last day. Learn hence, 1. That the Lord Jesus Christ stands not only inclined by his own mercy and goodness to save repenting and believing sinners, but doth also stand obliged thereunto by virtue of a trust committed to him from the Father. Therefore Christ mentions the will of him that sent him, as a reason of his fidelity in this matter. Learn, 2. That the Father's will and good pleasure is the original source, the fountain and first spring, from whence the salvation of believers doth proceed and flow. It is the Father's will that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. Learn, 3. That such as are given to Christ by the Father, and put as his trust into his keeping, he looks upon them as his charge, and stands engaged for the preservation of them This is my Father's will, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. Yet hath the Father so committed the care of believers to his Son, as that he keeps them still in his own hand, John x. 21, 28. My Father which gave them to me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. Learn, 4. From those words, I will raise him up at the last day, that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly,

essentially, and really God. That person who can by his own almighty power raise the dead, must certainly be God. others from the dead, and his own dead And this power Christ had. He raised body from the grave also, by his own power; and therefore Christ says, I am the resurrection and the life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Doubtless he that spake these words, and made these promises, knew his own power to perform them; and that power must be omnipotent, and that act of omnipotence doth prove him to be God. 'Tis true, the disciples raised the dead, who yet were not God, but with this difference, they rased the dead by Christ's power; but Chr.st raised others and himself also by his own power.

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.

Although Christ had in the foregoing true bread that came down from haven verses plainly asserted himself to be the for the benefit of the world, yet the Jews, understanding his words carnally, are offended with him, and murmur at him, for pretending to come down from heaven, when they knew him to be the son of Joseph and Mary. They understood nothing of his divine nature, nor of his miraculous conception by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, and therefore were highly offended at him. Thence learn, That ignorance of Christ's divine nature was the ground and occasion of that contempt which was cast upon his person. Observe farther, The proof which Christ gave of his divine nature, in his knowing the hearts and thoughts of these murmuring Jews: Jesus said, Murmur not among yourselves. Christ knows and observes the most secret murmurings and repinings that are found in the breasts of the children of men; and this his knowledge is an evidence and proof of his divinity, that he is truly and really God.

44 No man can come to me, ex