that burden on all the children of Adam: "In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread;" and, “He that will not work, neither let him eat." But we are to understand it comparatively. Labour not for worldly bread in the first and chief place; it must not be our principle care and concern; and for this good reason-it perisheth; not only our necessary food, but the wealth, honour, and pleasure of the world, which men hunger for, like meat, perish; they perish in the using, and they who use them must soon perish in the grave. This shows the folly of being too eager in the pursuit of them; and at the same time should put us upon the greatest diligence in seeking for the food of our immortal souls, even Christ himself, who is the bread of life, as he largely shows in this chapter. Now, to help you in doing this, we shall,

I. Consider JESUS CHRIST under the emblem of FOOD; and,

II. Inquire into the nature of that LABOUR which is here recommended in order to obtain it.

I. Let us consider Jesus Christ under the emblem of Food. As we cannot understand any thing that is spiritual, but as it is compared to something that is natural, God is pleased in his word to use many similitudes, whereby to set forth the excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ, and recommend him to us. Hence he is called a Sun, to signify Light; a Rock, to signify Support; a Refuge, to signify Safety; and here he compares himself to Food. And this way of teaching not only helps us to understand spiritual things, but it serves to put us in mind of them; so that when we see the sun, it may remind us of Christ our light; and, when we take our meat, it may put us in mind of Jesus, the meat which endureth to eternal life. This is a part of that spiritual-mindedness, which to enjoy is life and peace. A few particulars

will convince you how properly Christ is compared to food.

1. Because Christ is as necessary to the life of the soul, as meat is to the support of the body. You know God has so formed our bodies, that we cannot live long without food. Christ is no less necessary for the soul; so it is written in this chapter, ver. 33: "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world ;" and again, ver. 35, "I am the bread of life;" and ver. 51, "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." The same is asserted again and again throughout the chapter; the whole of which you will do well to read when you go home.

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2. All kinds of food are the gift of God; no man in the world can make any thing eatable. Man can plant, and sow, and rear cattle; he can also dress his food with endless variety, when he has got the materials but he can make none of them. No man can give life to a plant, or to a beast. Every thing we eat is the gift of a good God. Just so, Christ, the bread of life, is the gift of God. "God gave his Son." "Blessed be God for his unspeakable gift!" The manna that God sent down to feed Israel in the wilderness was a lively type of Jesus; "for the Bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven," ver. 33.

3. Most kinds of food are prepared for our use by fire. So Christ, as our sacrifice, endured, in the garden and on the cross, the dreadful wrath of God, as "a consuming fire." This was set forth in a lively manner by the sacrifices of old, which were burnt on the altar; which represented that Christ was to be consumed by the flames of his love for his Father and his elect, and at the same time by the flames of the divine wrath against sin, which he had undertaken to bear. But the Paschal-lamb was not wholly

consumed; after it was roasted with fire, it was eaten by the ancient believers: the same sacrifice which procured their safety became their food: and thus it is with us, if by faith we feed upon Christ crucified. And this leads to another remark.

4. Food must be actually received, eaten, and digested, in order to support life. It is not hearing of food, nor seeing it, nor smelling it, that will satisfy hunger, nor nourish the body; nor will merely hearing of Christ, nor attending ordinances, nor partaking of sacraments, nourish the soul unto eternal life. By true faith every believer receives Christ for himself, depends upon him for his own salvation, and feeds upon him in his heart with thanksgiving. This eating is absolutely necessary to salvation, as Christ declares, ver. 53: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you."

5. There is pleasure and delight in the reception of food, if persons are in health; and so there is in feeding upon Christ by faith. But then there must be spiritual health and appetite. The disordered stomach of a sick man "loatheth dainty meat:" and there are those who abhor the doctrine of salvation by Christ: but the man who is alive to God, who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, finds sweet and heavenly delight in partaking of Christ and his benefits. His love, his grace, his blood, his righteousness, his intercession, his glory, are sweeter to the taste than honey to the palate. He sits down to the Gospel-table, and finds there a feast of fat things full of marrow, and can say, with the spouse in the Canticles, "I sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”

6. We may remark that, when Christ is compared to food, it intimates the constancy with which believers must make use of him. Many of the busi

nesses and pleasures of life are occasional only; but we cannot live without daily bread. Just so it is that the life we live in the flesh, must be by the faith of the Son of God. “The just shall live by his faith ;" and he who has 'once "tasted that the Lord Jesus is gracious," will say, "Evermore give me this bread!"

II. We now proceed to enquire into the nature of that labour which Christ recommends in the text; for he not only directed the people to moderate their worldly pursuits; saying, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth," but he directed them to employ themselves diligently in the pursuit of heavenly things-as if he had said, "Labour for the meat which endureth unto eternal life." But we are not to suppose that any sort of labour is intended, by which a sinner can merit eternal life, or that any diligence in religion will make a man worthy of Christ, or of the mercy of God through him. This is a common and very dangerous mistake; but this would be to subvert the whole Gospel, which teaches us that "not by works of righteousness which we have done," but "by grace are we saved, through faith; which faith itself is the gift of The Lord will beat down all human pride, and glorying in self. He alone must be exalted in our salvation. And it is evident, from the latter part of the text, that merit is entirely out of the question; for, of this bread of life it is said—which the Son of Man shall GIVE you. If, then, it be given, the labour required cannot be in order to merit or purchase it.

God.'"

The nature of this labour may be learned from the following verses: the people asked our Lord what it was. What shall we do that we may work the works of God? They wanted to know whether he required any other works than Moses did they thought something very great was necessary which they called "the works of God;" and they seemed to think that

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by some of their own good deeds they might merit this bread. Now observe Christ's plain answer. This is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent—“This is the great duty which is necessary to the acceptance of your persons and your works; this is what God commands, approves, and is the author of; namely, that ye receive me, and rest your souls on me for salvation, as appointed of the Father for that purpose, and plainly authorized and approved by the miracles I have wrought."

FAITH, then, is the work intended. Believing in Christ is that labour which he recommends to us, in order to our living upon this heavenly food. You will ask-What is faith? I answer, in the words of a late Reverend Divine: "Faith signifies the believing the word of God. It relates to some word spoken, or to some promise made by him, and it expresses the belief which a person who hears it has of its being true. He assents to it, relies upon it, and acts accordingly. This is faith." We are to believe all that the word of God declares; but faith, as connected with salvation, chiefly relates to the divine testimony, or promise of God, concerning Jesus Christ. All faith relates to some testimony, human or divine. Now, saith St. John, if we receive the witness (or testimony) of men, the witness (or testimony) of God is greater for this is the witness (or testimony) which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness; that is, the testimony of Christ in himself, in his own mind or conscience : he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record; that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. 1 John v. 9-11. The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind into the true meaning of this blessed testimony; and the believer is persuaded of its truth, excellence,