60 'Many therefore of his | disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

62" What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

e

70 Jesus

answered them,

Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

a Mat. xiii. 55. Mark vi. 3. Luke iv. 22.6 Cant. 1. 4. ver. 65.-c Is. liv. 13. Jer. xxxi. 34. Mic. iv. 2. Heb. viii. 10, & x. 16-d ver. 37.-e ch. i. xviii; & v. 37. - Mat. xi. 27. Luke x. 22. ch. i. 18; & vii. 29; & viii. 12.-g ch. iii. 16, 18, 36. ver. 40.-h ver. xxxiii. 35-i ver. 31.-k ver. 51, 58.- ch. iii. 13.-m Heb. x. 5, 10.n ch. vii. 43; & ix. 16; & x. 19.-0 ch. iii. 9.-p Mat. xxvi. 26, 28.-9 ver. 27, 40. 63. ch. iv. 14.-r I John iii.

63 It is the spirit that 24; & iv. 15. 16.-4 ver. 49, 50, 51.- ver. 66. Mat. xi. 6.

quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and and they are life.

66 From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.

-uch. iii. 13. Mark xvi. 19. Acts i. 9. Eph. iv. 8.— a 2 Cor. iii. 6.-y ver. 36.-≈ ch. ii. 24, 25; & xiii. 11.— a ver. 44, 45.-6 ver. 60.-c Acts v. 20.-d Mat. xvi. 16. Mark viii. 29. Luke ix. 20. ch. i. 49; & xi. 27.-e Luke vi, 13.-ƒ ch. xiii. 27.

READER.-No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him.-Doth Christ compel men against their wills to be subject unto him? No, in no wise. He

hath ordered to bring them in by

way of voluntariness and obedience. And herein is the wisdom of his power seen, that his grace shall mightily produce those effects in men, which their hearts shall most obediently and willingly consent unto; that he is able to use the procauses to the producing of his own per and genuine motions of second most holy, wise, and merciful purposes. As we see human wisdom can so order, moderate, and make use of natural motions, that by these artificial effects shall be produced;

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom as in a clock, the natural motion shall we go? thou hast the of the weight or plummet causeth words of eternal life.

d

C

69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,

the Son of the living God.

the artificial distribution of hours and minutes; and in a mill the natural motion of the wind or water causeth an artificial effect in grinding the corn; how much more,

and perfect

then, shall the wisdom of Almighty that most blessed
God, whose weakness is stronger,
and whose foolishness is wiser, than
men, be able so to use, incline, and
order the wills of men, without de-
stroying them. or their liberty, as
that thereby the kingdom of his
Son shall be set up amongst them!
So that though there be still an
habitual, radical, fundamental in-
determination and indifferency to
several ways, unto none of which
there can be a compulsion, yet by
the secret, ineffable, and most sweet
operation of the Spirit of grace,
opening the eyes, convincing the
judgment, persuading the affections,
inclining the heart, giving an under-
standing, quickening and awaken-
ing the conscience, a man shall be
swayed unto the obedience of Christ;
and shall come unto him so cer-
tainly as if he were drawn, and yet
so sweetly as if he were left unto
himself. For in the calling of men
by the word there is a drawing and
a coming. The Father draweth and
the man cometh. That notes the
efficacy of grace, and this the
sweetness of grace. Grace worketh
strongly, and therefore God is said
to draw; and it worketh sweetly
too, and therefore man is said to
come.-REYNOLDS.

life: and this is, indeed, the great
ambition of a true christian, this
is his study, which he ceases not
to pursue with ardour day and
night: nor does he let so much as
one day pass, without copying some
lines of that perfect pattern; and the
more he advances in purity of mind,
the greater progress he makes in
the knowledge and contemplation
of Divine things.

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.-Man, in this life, becomes SO much the more perfect and happy, in proportion as he has his mind and affections more thoroughly conformed to the pattern of

But who will instruct us with regard to the means of reaching this blessed mark? Who will shew us how we may attain this conformity to God, and most effectually promote his honour and glory, so that at last we may come to the enjoyment of him in that endless life, and be for ever satisfied with the beatific vision of him? What faithful guide shall we find to direct us in this way? Surely he himself must be our leader; there is no other besides him, that can answer our purpose. It is he alone that acquaints us with his own nature, as far as it is necessary for us to know it; and he alone that directs us to the way wherein he chooses to be worshipped.

Nothing is more certain, than that the doctrine which leads us to God, must take its rise from him; for by no art whatever can the waters be made to rise higher than their fountain.-LEIGHTON.

The Father of mercies hath appointed means of the salvation of mankind, which lie open to them, if they would not be wanting to themselves; but especially to us,

who are within the bosom of his church, he hath held forth saving helps in abundance.

What warnings, what reproofs, what exhortations, what invitations, what intreaties, what importunities, hath he forborne for our conversion! what menaces, what afflictions, what judgments, hath he not made use of for the prevention of our damnation ! Can there be now any man so desperately mad as to shut heaven gates against him, which the merciful God leaves open for him? or as to break open the gates of hell, and rush violently into the pit of destruction, which God had latched against him?-HALL.

Let us hear what he himself saith: "I am the bread of life," saith he; "he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in me shall never thirst." "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." "Whoso eateth my

I am that bread of life. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drinkflesh and drinketh my blood, hath indeed.—Meat and drink, we know, are, by God's own appointment, the common supports of human life. Of all meats, bread is reckoned the most strengthening. Of all drinks, wine is the most refreshing. Now, as our bodies are strengthened and refreshed by these, which are used as the outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper; so are our souls by the things signified by them, even by the body and blood of Christ, which are there verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful. It is a great refreshment to our souls, to have the pardon of our sins sealed and delivered to us, as it is there, in the blood of Christ. And our souls are as much strengthened by the grace of God,

eternal life. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me. and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." But then he adds afterwards, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John vi. 35-63. As if he had said, all that I have now spoken, is to be understood in a spiritual sense, and of a spiritual life. I am the life of your souls. It is by my body and my blood that your souls are quickened, nourished, strengthened, and preserved to eternal life.