hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day.

45. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

46. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

Instead of receiving the words of truth with due reverence, the Jews murmured at them. The Lord warns them not to invent objections, or listen to cavils. Such a spirit is totally inconsistent with that grace of God which bends the heart towards revealed truth. And though no man can come unto Christ, unless the Father draw him, there are states of mind which remove them to a greater and a greater distance from him. This, he intimates, is no new doctrine, but such as the prophets had made familiar to them. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.1

A truth is declared here, which many are very unwilling to admit ; and which others pervert, as they do also other scriptures, to their own destruction. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. "The natural man receiveth not the things of God." The heart by nature is so filled with corrupt thoughts and desires that it cannot come and surrender itself to Christ:

1 Is. liv. 13. "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord: and great shall be the peace of thy children."

2 2 Pet. iii. 16.

it will be turned away from him by envy, as in the case of his brethren; by covetousness, as in Judas; by pride, as with the Pharisees; by love of worldly things, as in the young ruler. Therefore, as we read in ver. 65, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. The Spirit of God the Father must so subdue the natural disposition of the heart, and must influence it with such humble feelings and godly fear, as shall draw it towards Him who offers salvation to the meek and contrite, and opens the kingdom of heaven to those who enter it as little children. And all such are taught of God, have this repentance and submission from his grace.

Therefore when it afterwards happened that some of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him, it was, that they were not drawn of the Father. And when Peter and the rest refused to leave him, saying, Lord, to whom shall we go? it was because it was given them of the Father.

Were, then, those who did leave him, on this account free of blame? The Father did not draw them onward to repentance and faith. Is this laid to their charge? St. Paul has proposed the difficulty. "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? "3

Certainly if God were as man is, and there were no difference between the nature of his power, and the nature of man's power, we could not comprehend how this might be. If one man

3 Rom. ix. 19.

who has complete power over another, obliges him to act, or prevents his acting, that man does not act according to his own wishes. Superintendence, in that case, is compulsion. But it need not be so with God. He whose wisdom is perfect and power infinite, may have means of drawing the heart, so that the person drawn shall still have freedom, and the person not drawn by him shall still be without reply.

When Jesus, for example, said to Zaccheus, "Zaccheus, come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house, he came down and received him joyfully." And this, we know, he could not have done, unless he had been drawn by the Father.

Now if an earthly being who had power of life and death over Zaccheus, had thus compelled him, there would be no room for choice and inclination of his own. But "with God all things are possible :" and therefore it was possible for him so to draw Zaccheus as to leave his own choice free and so not to draw the young ruler, when he went away from Jesus sorrowing, as to leave upon his own head the guilt of his refusal. Every one who has attended to the movements of his own heart, has felt such freedom, whether in yielding to the grace of God, or in resisting it.

But we do not pretend to clear up the mysteries, which are connected with the grace of God in the heart of man. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever."4

4 Deut. xxix. 29.

St. Paul does not argue with the gainsayer, but silences him : 66 Nay but, O man, who art thou, tha trepliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou formed me thus?" Neither does St. John deny that there is mystery, nor endeavour to explain it, when he distinctly says, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God."

And is this any reason for distress or for despair? Surely, if rightly considered, it is a matter of comfort and encouragement. "I know that in me,

that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing;" and that I can no more come unto Christ, and "continue in his word,"—that is, redeem my baptismal vows, and make the covenant my own,-except the Father draw me, than I can turn the course of the wind or of the stream. I am told this in scripture, and it agrees with my experience. But why should this affect or grieve me? I have also the promise, "If If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally :" and I am sure that there is no unrighteousness with him,6 that he should refuse his Holy Spirit to those that ask him. Why should a man complain, however indigent, if he knows that there is a treasury at hand for his supply? Rather let him rejoice, that he has this help to relieve his wants, this strength to aid his weakness. He has the support of God; this gives him confidence. He has no power of his own; this makes him humble and dependent; the proper feeling for him, his best security, in this state of danger and of trial.

5 James i. 5.

6 Rom. ix. 14.

7 Luke xi. 13.

LECTURE XXXV.

JESUS DECLARES HIMSELF TO BE THE BREAD OF LIFE.

JOHN vi. 47-58.

47. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

48. I am that bread of life.

49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Here the Lord again takes up the metaphor which he had used before, and declares himself to be the bread of life: that is, the support and nourishment of the soul. The Israelites, no doubt, had formerly been fed with manna in the wilderness: it nourished the body for a while, but there was nothing in that food which profited beyond the present life; whereas, whoso came to Christ for nourishment, should never die. He that believeth on him hath everlasting life. For he was come to give his flesh for the life of