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anxiety to procure respect and empty | ignorance and perverseness, that,

titles of honour from their fellowcreatures, while they felt no real concern about the favour and approbation of God; declaring that, in such a state of mind, they could not exercise any proper reliance upon him as the Redeemer. How solemn is the thought! The faith of Jesus cannot consist with ambition, or a foolish fondness for human applause. Those, therefore, whose grand desire and aim is to be admired and advanced among men, are at once excluded from the number of his true disciples. He requires us to take up our cross, and to follow him through contempt and tribulation. Such as are unwilling to do this, understand not his worth or their own necessities; and, of consequence, they cannot believe in his name.

He warned them, finally, that Moses, the great founder of their own religion, to whom they professed an unreserved submission, appeared as their accuser before God; and that, as they would be fully convicted on the charge of rejecting that prophet, there would be no need to bring any further testimony against them. They were condemned on their own principles. Moses had written much concerning the Redeemer, and represented his office, work, and character, by various rites and ceremonies: a real regard, therefore, to those ancient records would have produced a cordial reception of Jesus, in whom the types and prophecies were fulfilled. Yet such was their astonishing

with the Bible in their hands, they denied and persecuted the very person of whom they were continually reading.

The address is applicable to others besides Jews; to many among ourselves, who pretend to pay the highest deference both to the Old and the New Testament as the revelation of God. May we not ask, Do not these scriptures contain the heaviest charge against you, while you oppose the authority of Christ, and despise his grace? And should you not, to be consistent, either totally reject the book of inspiration, or else change your own principles and practice? The sin of unbelief is generally thought of little consequence; for it is presumed that men will not be finally condemned for mere opinions. But from the representation here given, does it not appear that it includes the most complicated guilt. It is not barely an error of the judgment, but betrays an extreme depravity of heart. It is not a single offence, for it is always accompanied with other base principles, and infallibly leads to every species of ill conduct.

Unhappy they on whom this sin is chargeable! Who treat the Saviour and his offers of mercy with contempt! O, consider how wretched is the state of your mind, while you discover the utmost disdain for infinite excellence, and repay the tenderest love with hatred! Your wickedness is of a heinous nature, and highly aggravated. You despise "the Lord of Glory," the Son

of God, who "thought it not robbery to be equal with God." You pay no regard to the united testimonies of earth and heaven in his favour. You scorn the kindest and richest offers ever made to man. You are unwilling to bow to him, whom even angels worship, or to be indebted to him for the life of your souls, when, alas! without him you must inevitably perish. You set light by his unparalleled condescension and labours of love, and, in defiance of all admonitions and threatenings, are rushing on, with steady course, to certain and everlasting damnation.

It is proper by these repeated warnings to call your attention to your own perilous condition. But how little effect is produced by such solemn reproofs ! Probably, after our Lord's address, his accusers and judges were silenced, and restrained by an awful impression upon their minds from proceeding to any act of violence against him. So possibly may you, who are his avowed opposers, for a season at least be convinced and alarmed by these faithful representations of your guilt and danger. You may seem to relinquish your objections, and yet persevere in unbelief, and be destroyed for ever.-ROBINSON.

Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.-That Christ is the substance of the whole New Testament, containing the history, doctrines, and prophecies of him in the administration of the latter ages of the church, is very

manifest to all. The Old Scriptures are again divided into the law and the prophets; for the historical parts of them contain either typical prefigurations of the evangelical church, or inductions and exemplary demonstrations of the general truth of God's justice and promises, which are set forth by way of doctrine and precept in the law and prophets. Christ is the sum of both these. Matt. v. 17. They waited upon him in his transfiguration, Luke xvi. 16; to note that in him they had their accomplishment. For the law; Christ is the substance of it; he brought grace to fulfil the exactions, and truth to make good the prefigurations of the whole law; John i. 17. The ceremonial law he fulfilled and abolished: the moral law he fulfilled and established, that his obedience thereunto might be the ground of our righteousness, and his spirit and grace therewith might be the ground of our obedience; and therefore it is called the law of Christ, Gal. vi. 2. For the prophets; he is the sum of them too, for to him they give all witness ; Acts x. 43. He is the author of their prophecies; they spake by his Spirit: and he is the object of their prophecies; they spake of the grace and salvation which was to come by him, 1 Pet. 10, 11. So that the whole scriptures are nothing else but a testimony of Christ, and faith in him, of that absolute and universal necessity which is laid upon all the world to believe in his name. John v. 39.-REYNOLDS.

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3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4' And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

5 ༈ " When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?

6 And this he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they amongst so many?

10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 And Jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

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12 When they were filled, 21 Then they willingly re

he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

ceived him into the ship and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

a Mat. xiv. 15 Mark vi. 35. Luke ix. 10, 12.—h Lev. xxiii. 5, 7. Deut. xvi. 1. ch. ii. 13; & v. I.-e Mat. xiv. 14. Mark vi. 35. Luke ix. 12.-d See Num. xi. 21, 22.e 2 Kings iv. 43.- Gen. xlix. 10. Deut. xviii. 15, 18. Mat. xi. 3. ch. i. 21; & iv. 19, 25; & vii. 40.-g Mat xiv.

13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of 23. the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,

17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.

Mark vi. 47.

See §§ XLVIII, XLIX.
Matthew xiv. 13-33.

§ CCXLV.

CHAP. VI. 22-40.

Christ reproveth the people flocking after him, and all the fleshly hearers of his word; he declareth himself to be the bread of life to believers.

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

20 But he saith unto them, to Capernaum, seeking for

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25 And when they had found | Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

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 Ye seek me, not because you, 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.

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33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

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34 Then said they unto

him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

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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.

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40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth unto believeth on him, may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.

32 Then Jesus said unto

them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my

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