purchase heaven. Bui jOur Lord did mean that faith in Himself, as the onljr.jSayiour, is the first act of the soul which God requires^J^t A sinner's hands. Till a man believes on Jesus, and rests on Je«us as a lost sinner, he is nothing. — Our Lord did mean that faith in Himself is that act of the soul which specially pleases God. When the Father sees a sinner casting aside his own righteousness, and simply trusting in His dear Son, He is well pleased. Without such faith it is impossible to please God. — Our Lord did mean that faith in Himself is the root of all sav- ing religion. There is no life in a man till he believes. — Above all, our Lord did mean that faith in Himself is the hardest of all spiritual acts to the natural man. Did the Jews want something to do in religion ? Let them know ihat the greatest thing they had to do was, to cast aside their pride, confess their guilt and need, and humbly believe.
Let all who know anything of true faith thank God and rejoice. Blessed are they that believe ! It is an attain- ment which many of the wise of this world have never yet reached. We may feel ourselves poor, weak sinners. But do we believe? — ^We may fail and come short in many things. But do we believe ? — He that has learned to feel his sins, and to trust Christ as a Saviour, has learned the two hardest and greatest lessons in Christianity. He has been in the best of schools. He has been taught by the Holy Ghost.
We shall observe, lastly, in these verses, the far greater privileges of Chrisfs hearers than of those who lived in the times of Moses. Wonderful and miraculous as the manna was which fell from heaven, it was nothing in com- parison to the true bread which Christ had to bestow on His disciples. He himself was the bread of God, who had come down from heaven to give life to the world. — The bread which fell in the days of Moses could only feed and
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satisfy the body. The Son of man :^iad come to feed the soul. — The bread which fell in the (iij^tof Moses was only for the benefit of Israel. The Son of 'man had come to offer eternal life to the world. — ^Those Who ate the manna died and were buried, and many of them were lost for ever. But those who ate the bread which the Son of man provided, would be eternally saved.
And now let us take heed to ourselves, and make sure " that we are among those who eat the bread of God and live. Let us not be content with lazy waiting, but let us actually come to Christ, and eat the bread of life, and believe to the saving of our souls. The Jews could say, — " Evermore give us this bread." But it may be feared they went no further. Let us never rest till, by faith, we have eaten this bread, and can say, " Christ is mine. I have tasted that the Lord is gracious. I know and feel that I am His."
ISToTES. John YI. 28—34.
28. — [Then said they unto him.] These words begin one of the most important of our Lord's discourses, and one about which the widest dififerences of opinion prevail. These differences it will be time enough to consider, when we come to the passage out of which they arise. In the mean time let us remember that the speakers before us were men whom our Lord had miraculously fed the day before, and on whom He bad just urged the paramount importance of seeking food and satisfaction for their souls. For anything we can see they were Jews in a state of great spiiitual ignorance and darkness. Yet even with them our Lord patiently condescends to hold a long conversation. Teachers \vho desire to walk in Christ's steps must aim at thia kind of patienc?, and be willing to talk with and teach the darkest and most ignorant men. It needs wisdom, iailh, and patience.
[What shall we do...worhs of God?] This question is the language of men who were someAvhat aroused and impi-essed, but still totally in the dark about the way to heaven. They feel that they are in the wrong road, and that they ought to do some'.hing. But they are utterly ignorant what to do, and their only notion is the old self-righteous one of the natural man, —
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"1 must do something, I must perform some works to pler^se God and buy admission to heaven." — This seems to me the leading idea of the question before us. "Your command to labour or work for the meat that endureth pricks our conscience. AVe admit that we ought to do something. Tell us what we must do, and we will try to do it." — It is a case of a conscience partially aroused and put on its defence, groping after light. It is like the rich young man who came running to our Lord and saying, "What good thing shall I do." (Matt. xix. 16.)
The expression " what shall we do ? " would be more literally rendered, "what do we?" or "what must we do?" or "what are we to do ?"
The expression " that we might wc>rk," might have been rendered " that we might labour." It is the same Greek word that is translated in the previous verse "labour." The expres- sion, " the works of God," cannot of course mean " the same works thit God works." It means "the works that please God, that are agreeable to God's mind, and in accordance with God's will." Thus 1 Cor. xv. 58, and xvi. 10. This is the view of Glassius.
This question, "what shall we do?" we must remember, ought never to be despised. Though it may often be the lazy expression of languid religious feeling, just half awakened, it is at any rate much better than having no feeling at all. The worst part of many persons' spiritual condition lies heie, that they are quite indifferent about their salvation; they never ask "what shall we do?" — Many no doubt content themselves with saying "what shall we do?" and like those of whom we are reading, never get any further. But, on the other liand, in many cases, "what shall I do?" is the beginning of eternal life, the first step toward heaven, the first breath of grace, the first spiritual pulsation. The Jews on the day of pentecost said, " what must we do ?" Saul, when the Lord met him near Damascus, said, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" The Philippian jailor said, " What must I do to be saved ?" When- ever therefore we hear a person ask the question about his soul, " what shall I do ?" we must try to help him and put him in the right way. We never know what it may lead to. It may perhaps end in nothing, and prove a mere temporary feeling. But it may also come to something, and end in the conversion of a soul.
29. — {Jesus ansivered.. .this. ...worJcMUeve... sent] In this verse our Lord takes hold of the expression used by the Jews about " work," and answers them according to their state of mind, Did they ask what work they should do ? Let them know that the first thing God called them to do, was to believe in His Son,