Works Part 1, Part 3
FAITH THE ONLY MEANS Spiritually to FEED on CHRIST. Opened in a Sermon at Mary le Bow, November, 12. 1654.
JOHN, 6.53, 54, 55, 56.
Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, ye have no Life in you. 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 Drink indeed. He that eateth my Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, dwelleth in me, and I in Him.
I Read all these verses because they all hold out one and the same Doctrine, though in a little different phrases; That you may the better understand the scope of our blessed Savior in these words, know that the occasion of it was this, Christ having the day before fed the Bodies of many thousands who attended upon his ministry; The rumor of this flying abroad, the next day great multitudes thronged after him again, and Christ knowing what lay at the bottom of the heart, told them plainly they sought him for carnal ends, because they had eat of the Loaves and were filled, but that was not the end of his coming into the world to, fil their Bellies, No, there was better food that he was willing to give all that had an appetite after it, and thereupon (that I may not stay you) fals into a most divine discourse of his own being sent out of the bosome of his Father, to be the Bread of life to al who did thirst after him, and would but accept of him, and tels them more particularly that they must eat and drink his flesh and his blood, as the only Food that would do good to their Souls; hereupon these carnal People were extreamly offended at him and at his Doctrine, for they interpret all this in a carnal manner, as if Christ did mean that they must eat his very flesh and drink his very blood, as they did eat and drink other food, and truly it was ever thus and it wil be ever thus, that nothing can act above its own Sphere, and they who have carnall minds can never judg right of spiritual things; thereupon our blessed Savior in the words that I have read, and in many other in this latter end of the Chapter inculcates this Doctrine further, Assuredly no man could ever live that did not eat and drink his flesh and blood, and he that did eat him and drink him, eat his flesh and drink his blood would receive such invaluable nourishment, as he would think it the best meal that ever he was at: And that is the scope of these words, which before I come to handle, give me leave very briefly to vindicate them, from the gross erronious interpretation that the Papists put upon them, for you all know that there is a monster in their Doctrine that is called transubstantiation, which in their conceit is the turning of the Bread and the Wine in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, into the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and whosoever doth not beleeve it (in their conceit) is certainly damned. And this Doctrine of theirs hath been the occasion of the murdering and martyrdome of many thousands of Saints, and among all the Arguments that they alledg to prove it, this Scripture is the prime of all the rest, except only that of This is my Body: But in the next place to that comes this discourse, wherein Christ speaks so Positively and punctually of eating his flesh and drinking his Blood, and the necessity of it to salvation, that they think every man out of his wits that is not convinced by these Texts to grant their transubstantiation; yea, one of them, and one of the learnedst of them hath left it in Print, that if ever the Lord Christ should say to him at the day of judgment, Why didst thou beleeve that the Bread and Wine was my very Body and Blood? he would make no other Answer than this, Thou spakest it so plain in such a place that it could not be denied, my sense and reason could not deny it. Now I wil a little cleer this Text from them, and I hope to such an understanding Auditory as (I think) I preach to, a very few words wil serve the turn. There are three things which whosoever doth but weigh, will be easily convinced that the eating and drinking that is here spoke of, hath no relation in the world to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. The first is,
1. This Sermon was preached a whole year before there was any word of the institution of the Sacrament, the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was at the Passover, immediately before his Death, this was a whole year before it, Now how can it be imaginable that Christs speech here should be meant of a Sacramental eating, when no Sacrament was instituted? Who can imagine such a thing? Secondly,
2. This Text and all this discourse in John 6. if it should be interpreted literally, for that is the thing they stand for, the literal sense (I say) interpret it literally and it is quite against their transubstantiation, for they say that the Bread and Wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ, but if here be any transubstantiation at all, it is that the Body and blood of Christ are transubstantiated into bread and drink, for he doth not say the bread is my body, the drink is my blood, but my body, my flesh is meat, and my blood is drink, so that if you will have any transsubstantiation it is quite contrary. And, Thirdly,
3. The eating and drinking of Christ that my Text speaks of, it is very plain by our Lords words, that whosoever eats him and drinks him as this Text holds out, shal certainly live another life for ever, and they themselves grant that you may eat that very Body and Blood of Christ as it is in the Sacrament, and never partake of his Grace, but go to Hell with the Sacrament in their bellies: I hope that this is enough to shew you that this Text proves it not; I tel you (in a word) that the eating and drinking that my Text speaks of, is the same thing that the people of God enjoy in the Sacrament and out of the Sacrament, for there do we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ spiritually by faith, whosoever receives it preparedly, but the discourse here is nothing at all to that; But now I come to the matter, and in the words there are two things which (the Lord assisting me) I wil open to you, the first is,
1. The duty required of every one that would partake of Jesus Christ; and that is, to eat his flesh and drink his blood; that is the duty pressed over and over and so heavily, that the Lord saith expressly, that whosoever doth not do it, can never live; The duty required, to eate and drink the body and blood of Jesus Christ; the second is
2 The benefits which every soul doth receive who doth eate Christs flesh and drink Christs blood, and that is set down in many various expressions, but all tending to the same thing, that is, they shall live for ever, they shall never hunger nor thirst, they shall in no wise be cast out, they shall be raised up at the last day, they shall live to eternity, these are the benefits or rather the benefit (for all is one) that every soul partakes of, who eates the flesh of Christ and who drinks his blood: wel now for the meaning of it, that I may make it plain, (for my intent is to preach but a short Sermon) I will (God willing) open both the parts, that is the duty required and the benefit received, I will open them distinctly and give you the application of them both together, for the first.
1. What is meant by our Lord when he doth thus positively say, that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed, this we must eat, this we must drink, What doth he mean? I answer plainly that his meaning is, we must beleeve, Beleeving is eating and drinking, and eating and drinking in this sense is beleeving; that is the general meaning, and that it is so, any of you may prove it your selves, if you wil but read the Scriptures over, for where he saith, My flesh is meat indeed in one place, He that beleeveth in me shall never hunger nor thirst, by and by, He that eateth of this Bread shal live for ever: So that I know not how often in this one Chapter eating & drinking is interpreted by Beleeving, and Beleeving in a Metaphor is nothing but Eating & Drinking, therefore my work shal be (God willing) to explain this, know then in general, that this great Grace of Faith whereby Souls partake of Christ, it is in the true nature of it nothing but an accepting or receiving of Jesus Christ, to be that unto us which God sent him to be for poor sinners; the Scripture is most cleer, in 1 John 12. As many as received him, he gave them power to become the Sons God, even they that beleeved in him; So that to receive Christ is to believe in him; now the receiving of Christ being a spiritual act of the soul, wherin the understanding and the wil must both have a share, it hath pleased the Lord (I beseech you mark it, it hath pleased the Lord) to set out this one act of Beleeving by abundance of Metaphors in the Scripture similitudes taken from the Body, and every one of them being rightly interpreted wil cleerly set out the nature of Faith, and what the Soul doth when it beleeveth in Christ, as I wil give you but a tast, because it is but one only that I mean to open, and that is in my Text Somtimes,
1. Beleeving it is very often set forth by Coming; Come unto me, He that cometh unto me I will not cast him out, that is to Beleeve… Now Coming therein is a figure, an expression taken from an act of our Body, of our Feet, wherein there are alwaies these three things,
1. There is the place from which we go.
2. There is the place to which we go.
3. There is the way and means in which and by which we go: Now these interpreted would cleerly shew you what the Soul doth in Beleeving: So likewise,
2. To look up to Christ, that as Moses lift up the Serpent in the Wilderness, that whosoever looked upon it was cured, so Christ is lifted up that we may look upon him: Now that very act of the eye to look to an Object for such an end, being rightly interpreted would cleerly shew you, what the Soul of man doth when it beleeveth in Christ. And so,
3. To stay upon him or to lean upon him, which is a Metaphor taken from the Body that reposeth it self upon somewhat to uphold it, when it wants strength of its own; now this being discovered would cleerly shew you what the Soul of man doth when it believeth in Christ.
4. Now among many of these Metaphors, this Text of John's pitcheth upon this especially, of eating Christ, and drinking, which is the action of our mouth and stomach, wherby our life comes to be maintained by our Food, and there is in this of eating and drinking so cleer a demonstration what the Soul of man doth when it beleeveth in Christ, and how it may discover whether men do beleeve or no, that you cannot desire a cleerer than this is, if God do but vouchsafe the ful understanding of it. That then which I have laid out for a part of this afternoon's work is, to shew you wherin the eating & drinking of our food doth shadow out Beleeving in Jesus Christ to eternal life, though I have but now brought you to that which I would endeavor a little more fully to discover to you, Would you know then wherein the Holy Ghost maketh the comparison to stand? for I dare not go to ad the study of our own brains, but wherein the Scripture makes these to answer one another, eating and drinking food for bodily life, and Beleeving in Christ for spiritual life, wherein do they answer? I answer in these six things, some of them I shall not need to stay upon, for if I should stay upon all I should not have time to cleer the rest, but in six things do the eating and drinking of our food answer our laying hold upon Jesus Christ by Faith, and I wil desire you to mark them, because it is the foundation of a great tryal of your spiritual estate. The first,
1. That the Lord when he first created man with a living Soul, with a life; this life of man is not able to nourish it self, to preserve it self in being, nor to strengthen it self when it is any waies impaired, but God hath appointed that which is food, such creatures as have suitable spirits in them to the life of man, that mans life (under God) lies in these, and cannot be preserved without them, but it is the meat and drink (as the ordinary expression is) it is the food and the nourishment, the means wherby the life of man is preserved in a man, and give him all other things in the world, let Angels attend him, Princes wait upon him, let all that God hath given to the whole Creation be bestowed upon him, keep food from him and the man dies, he doth not live, though it is true we live not by Bread only, but God can preserve it otherwise, but in the ordinary proceedings of God, take away food and you take away life, you need no other weapon, mans life, the nourishment of mans life is food; that is one. Now answerable to this for our spiritual life, it is laid up and to be found wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ, in his flesh and his blood, but you must know it is his flesh and blood prepared, that look as other meat, Bread must be broken, and ground, and baked, and so made fit for mans use before he partakes of it, so the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ was ground, was broken by the passion and sufferings he underwent for our sins, and by vertue of his dying communicated it to us, his flesh and blood hath merited life, satisfied wrath, and in Christ and Christ alone lies all the spiritual life of his people, and can be had no where else: Give him all the obedience that ever mortal man had, give him the righteousness of the Holy Angels in Heaven, give him all that a mans Tongue can speak of, or his Pen write down, he is a dead man if he have not the Lord Jesus Christ to be his life it self: Our life is hid in Christ (as the Apostle saith) there is the treasury of it. There is the first, that as our humane life lies in Gods disposing (I mean by his so ordering it) in our food, so our spiritual life lies only in Jesus Christ. That is one. Secondly, (these three first I wil be very brief in) The second branch is this,
2. That look as God in nature hath planted in every man, (because his life is the most excellent thing skin for skin, and all that a man hath, he wil give for his life, therfore God hath planted in man) a more vehement appetite and desire after food then after any thing else in the world, and if he be put to it that the choyce must be made, it may be he would not part with any thing that he thinkes is sutable to him, but if choyce be made all shal goe, so he may have food, the strongest appetite after any thing in the world is after food; insomuch as therefore the Lord uses ordinarily to expresse the highest desires of the soule that man can put out in any kind, he uses to expresse them by hungering and thirsting, which is nothing but the appetite that men have after food, so that living men out of a desire of that which is sutable to their life, have a vehementer desire after that then they have after any thing else in the world; So the Lord plants in any soul to whom Christ is life, (for I speak not of those who are meerly dead, though I shall have occasion afterwards to shew you that Christ gives life to the dead, but (I say) to those to whom Christ is life) there is nothing in the world found in them after which their desires are so mighty, so vehement, so constant, so unsatisfied with any thing else in the world, no such appetite is in the soul of a man, as the party that partakes of spiritual life hath after Jesus Christ; as the heart after the rivers of waters, as the hungry man after his food, all kind of such things are expressed in the longing desires that the soul of a man that hath an interest in Christ hath after Jesus Christ; lay up these by you till I come to apply them, but yet I am not come to the main things, wherein the comparison holds; thirdly; There is a third thing which is between eating and drinking and beleeving, and that is this.
3. That look as it is in our bodily life, our natural life, that as there is no such vehement appetite after any thing as after food when we want it, so there is no such satisfaction in any thing, as there is to be had in sutable things, that when a hungry man is satisfied with food, there is the quiet of his outward life; then all vehemency, all pains, all angers, all longings till he hath more need doth cease, for you know such is our life, that one meales meat will not serve it but for a little while, but when hunger is raised and food administred, then is the desire quieted: So now when the Lord Christ hath life prepared in him, and raised up in the soul a desire after him, when that soul findeth him, when he can find that Christ owneth him, or intimates to it that he accepts it, it is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, no joy, no delight, no content in the world pleaseth the Soul so as to say this one thing I have found Christ Jesus and have an interest in him; All these are main, but the three last are most ful to my purpose, and therefore I hasten to them; Fourthly then, and that which I think is one of the greatest of all the rest, thus it is,
4. That look as it is in our food (pray mark it, look as it is in our food) for the body, let the food be never so excellent, never so wel Cooked, never so freely conferred, we never so freely invited, let al be set out that is imaginable, that food never nourisheth me or any other, until it come to be incorporated within me, that when a man & his food come to be made one, one mass, I wil not say transubstantiated, but translated and changed into the same substance with himself, never doth it become food to him til then. Take a man, set him before all the dainties, let him smel to them, put them in his mouth, nay (if you can imagine it) he may swallow them down, and they pass through him, if they be not incorporated into him, that the flesh of the beast he eateth turns to his flesh, or to be made fit for his blood, it is no food to him, though all the delicates of the world be set upon a Table, and say, here is enough to satisfie a thousand men, not one bit of them is fit for me, except it be so changed that it becometh one mass with me, this we all know in our natural food. Now herein lies the answerableness, so it is with Christ, it is Jesus Christ that is prepared, the Lord hath prepared and put the vertue into him, that it is enough to serve all the world, if the Lord be pleased to bestow it upon the world, but no man ever comes to have spiritual life from Christ till Christ become one with him, and he become one with Christ; It is Christ in you that is the hope of Glory; and this our Savior expresseth in the very Text (saith he) He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, I dwel in him and he dwels in me; that they are made one really, only with this difference it, remember it, indeed our food for our body, we and our food are made of one substance, but there the food is turned into our substance, that if it were not the flesh of a Beast turned into my flesh, if it were not the blood of a Bird that is turned into my blood, and so it leaves its own nature and is changed into my nature, but this is different in our spiritual eating, for here instead of Jesus Christ being changed into our nature, we by feeding upon him are changed into his nature, made partakers of the divine nature, and there is a mystica, I spiritual union betwixt the Lord Jesus Christ and us, whereby we cease to be what we were in regard of our corrupt being, and now come to be changed into his spiritual being, but notwithstanding a union and conjunction there must be, or else the Lord Christ never profits: This is so plain that (I hope) I need say no more about it, that is the fourth. Lay up these, for these wil be for tryal before I dismiss you. Then fifthly, the fifth thing wherein the comparison lies is this,
5. That look as the Lord in his infinite wisdom hath in nature given such a Power to our stomach, our appetite to receive it, and our stomach to digest it, that all the art in the world hath not the power or skil to come and make the food that is an extraneous thing another thing from it, to fit it so and prepare it so that it shal be fit to become one with me, no art in the world can do it like that of the stomach, the power that God hath given to nature; we know if we should take our meat and boyl it upon the hottest fire, it can never prepare it so as the heat of a mans stomach can do it; God hath given this peculiar faculty and power to the stomach, thus to make our meat sutable for us; so it is with the grace of God, beyond all other graces and works of all the creatures yea, of the Angels, he hath given that power to the souls acepting of Christ, and consenting to Christ, that power to unite Christ and the soul together, that is not elsewhere found in all the world; for all Gods creatures if they should all joyne together to put out their utmost skil, they could not make such a conjunction between Christ and the soul as beleeving doth; but yet I wil tell you thus far, not by any virtue that God hath put in faith, but as it is the hand whereby we receive the holy Spirit, for by the Spirit we receive faith, and this holy Spirit that takes Christ and gives him to us, and takes us and gives us to Christ, this holy Spirit in a way utterly unknown to us, and no waies to be understood in this world, makes us one with Christ. There is the fifth. And then the sixth and last is this,
6. That look as in our food, when the food is prepared, and we have an appetite to it, and the stomach receives it and works upon it, and it becomes one with us, then by vertue of that, by the strength of that food are we enabled to live as men; if we have wasted our spirits, if our healths are decayed, here is strength to be added, if we have work to do, we are thereby enabled to do it, to go through what belongs to us, by the power that comes in Gods way of ordering it, by the power that comes and is added to us; So it is here in our spiritual life, that when once the Lord brings the Soul to value Christ as that wherein his life lies, to have a desire after him above all goods in the world, to come to have Christ incorporated into us by the power of the Spirit, then do we come from hence by the Covenant of Grace, the operation of …he Holy Ghost, according to Gods dispensation to his People, to receive such a supply of his Spirit, as we are enabled to walk as those that are alive unto God through Jesus Christ; only add this difference (for I wil shew you how the preheminence lies in our spiritual eating with this difference) that whereas our outward food never gives life to those that want it, but by the blessing of God only repairs it in those that have it, now this spiritual eating of Christ doth not only maintain life in those that are alive, but it raiseth them up from the very dead, it gives life, and that moment that the Lord enables the soul to hunger after him and rest upon him, in that moment is the life of Jesus Christ conveyed to him. And this is the first part, to let you see that eating and drinking, it is nothing but beleeving in Christ, and the resemblance of them stands in these things, as I have opened to you; and now the second (which I wil be but brief in, because I would not stay you long, nor be hindred from the Application of it, the second) thing I promised is,
2. A little to discover what the benefit is that we partake of, by eating and drinking the flesh and the blood of Jesus Christ, What do we get by it? For answer, We can easily say when men are extolling the good cheer they have been at, at any Feast or Banquet, where luxury is set out, What get you by it? a feeding of our Bodies that wil return to clay is al that a man gets by it; Now what is gotten by this eating and drinking of Jesus Christ? Oh! could I but in a few words open to you what our Lord hath said of it, (saith he)
1. He that eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood he shal have everlasting life: There is the first benefit. What means he by that life? That is not this poor frail momentary life that we live, though this be the purchase of Christ to Beleevers, but he shall have, First,
1. The life of pardon, that whereas all of us are dead under the guilt of sin, dead in Law, liable to wrath, they are pardoned men if once they beleeve in Christ.
2. Whereas they were dead likewise under the dominion of sin, and were strangers to the life of God, the Lord Jesus infuseth a principle of a new spirituall life into them, and such inward qualities and holiness, that enables them to live the life of God, that life that is of the same kind that Christ himself lives, his life, a holy spiritual life, that alas! if I could open it to you and you understand it, it would make you conclude, that there is no such life in any creature to be found, as the life that every soul lives that laies hold upon Christ; I, and then he adds,
3. This life is an everlasting life, that is as our Savior expresses it, (saith he) Your Fathers did eat Manna, that is (as the Scripture saith) Angels Food, not that Angels eat any meat, but if they did eat any food it would be Manna, Your Fathers did eat Manna and are dead, but he that eateth upon me lives for ever; It is not such a poor momentary life as this is, but a life that wil last to all eternity; this is the Benefit: Nay, mark some other expressions that come in here together,
2. He shal never hunger nor thirst more: That wil explain wel what the Lord means by saying an everlasting life, they shal never hunger nor thirst, What is that? He means not that they shal never desire more of Christ, No, there is a two fold hunger and thirst.
1. There is such a hunger and thirst as riseth out of sweetness, that because the honey is good they would have more of it, because the Wine is good, therefore the Drunkard saith, I wil sip again, where the content of it makes them desire more of it: This hunger all the People of God have, because they find contentment in Christ, therefore they desire more of him: But then,
2. There is another hunger and thirst which is deadly, which will kill a man unless it be supplied, which our Savior explains in his discourse with the Woman of Samaria, He that drinketh of that Water shall thirst again, that is, if he have not a supply he will be in as dead a condition as he was in before, if he be not supplied: But now he that eateth and drinketh of the meat and drink that he prepares, though there wil be a sweet hunger to make him desire more, yet there wil be such a life and stock of life within, that til eternity have end they shal never be destitute of meat: So here is a benefit, a life everlasting, that they shal never hunger nor thirst; Nay, he explains it yet a little higher in the words I have read, the one is (saith he)
3. Whosoever doth thus eat and drink, and thus cometh to me, I wil in no wise cast off; What is that? though (it may be) he may think himself the most unworthy, and say, Lord! here is meat indeed, Lord! ever more give us of this meat, But who am I that I should come? I am the unworthiest, wretchedest, vilest of all; Nay, let him be never so unworthy in himself, never so vile, I wil in no wise cast him out, if he come to me, for God my Fathers wil is, and he gave it me in commission when I came from him, not to deny food to any one that cometh after me; Nay, (saith he) last of all,
4. This is the Command I have from the Father, That I should raise them up all at the last day: Though it is true, the bodily life ends and fails, and they shal turn to dust as others do, yet when I come to make good the life that my People must have in abundance, when I come in the last day to make it good to them, I must raise al up that ever did partake of me to life: you see here is the benefit which is laid down in the Text: I have only a little paraphrased upon it, thus I have opened the Doctrinal part, That whosoever would live happy, Eating and Drinking of Jesus Christ is the Duty required of him, and they that do it are happy abundantly; Let me now a little apply this to you, but three Uses I wil briefly make of it, or rather the Lord makes them, for it is out of mans power to do it, three things I would observe. First,
USE, 1.
If you be but willing you may cleerly discern whether you are partakers of Jesus Christ yea or no; Oh! that the Lord that is the Father of spirits would work upon your spirits while I am speaking, Friends! Shall I speak a little freely and examin this great Assembly, where doth your eternal happiness lie? tel me in your own hearts, what you would answer to it if God did examin it, where doth your hope of happiness lie? Would not this be your Answer? Only in Jesus Christ the Son of God that became a Savior for poor sinners, I disclaim all other things, and I look for my happiness only in Christ, Would not this be the Answer of you all? It may be some Pharisaical self justifiers, they can pitch presently upon their own honest and innocent life, but I pitch upon that which I think every one of you would answer, It is Christ (you say) but what Christ is it that you make account is your life? What Christ is it? Is it Christ the Son of Mary and the Son of God, Christ that died upon the Cross, that rose again and ascended into Heaven, and sits at Gods right hand in the Glory of his Father, and that shal come again in the end of the world to judg the quick and the dead? Jesus Christ is preached to you in the several meetings in the ministry of the word, Is it this Christ you look for? I, let me add this, If there be no more for thee or me than this, this Christ that sits at the right hand of God, if thou canst not ad, this Christ fed upon by me; It is Christ in you the hope of Glory, it is not Christ in Heaven the hope of Glory, therefore I must needs beg of you that you would be true to your own souls, for (through mercy) I have a little converse amongst men, and a little experience of them, but the want of the knowledg of this point undoeth many men, they have heard so much of Christ that unless they be the arrantest sots and debauched persons, they can tell you all the story of Christ, but if you come to examin how I pra'y came this Christ into your hearts? I know how he was prepared for Bread, how the Father hath ground him, and baked him, (pardon the expression) I know how the Father hath prepared his flesh and blood to be meat and drink, But how came he to be your food? and how got you your interest in him? if you did eat his flesh and drink his blood in a carnal way, it would do you no good, for though you go for Church members, yet if the Lord have not done these things in thee, which I have spoke of, thou wilt be utterly lost when thou comest to seek for salvation; Doth it not trouble thee to think how thou canst answer these four or five Questions? I will but name them. First,
1. Hath the Lord convinced thy Soul really and cleerly that there is no salvation to such a wretch as thou art, further than Christ Jesus wil vouchsafe it unto thee; art thou set down under that? that is wel, for believe it til this work of Christ come upon our hearts, we never see the necessity of that work. Secondly,
2. Hath he raised up in thee that amongst all the contents thou findest in other things, though God maketh thy Wife comfortable, or thy Husband comfortable, and al things sutable, yet stil thy heart is unsatisfied, if I have not Christ I am undone, What will my riches do me good, if I have not Christ? What wil all the talk of others do me good if I have not Christ? Hath he raised up in thee such a desire after him What sayest thou? Thirdly,
3. If at any time the Lord smile upon thee though no body be by, but he smiles upon thee in secret, thou hast gotten some cleer Evidence that Christ is thine, and he wil own thee before the Father, Canst thou turn back and even laugh before the Lord and say, Oh Lord! is it so? Is Christ mine? Is this to thee … the honey and the hony combe?
4. Dost thou find likewise in a way that thou know'st not, how it is brought about, but thou findest somwhat settled upon thy heart that hath changed the frame of thy heart? thou that art by nature proud, lascivious, and naught, there is somwhat that is wrought in thee, and there comes some strength, that though thou canst not walk as thou should'st do, yet the Lord is dear, and his Children are dear, and his waies are dear, some strength God affords, that thou art not pleased in the world, but thy soul finds that God hath enabled thee to make him the end of thy life, and his word the rule of thy life, Hath he done this for thee? then there is eating and drinking of Christs flesh and blood, then in the name of God thou doest partake of Christ: But (good Friends) be not deceived, I tel you in many places not one of a hundred that hears such a Doctrine as this, have any part in Christ, or their feeding upon him, or relying upon him, therefore I pray try your selves; That is the first Use I wil make of it. Then in the second place,
USE, 2.
Oh! what a comfort may this be if the Lord would enable me to speak of it, I could pour down even showers of Consolation, upon those souls that have gone along with me in the tryal: All you that the Lord hath shewed this mercy to you, that you feed thus upon Christ: I tel thee this, Carry it home, thou hast eat a meal's meat that will keep thee as a man while God lives, he hath given thee one bit, Oh! one mouthful of Christ to get into Christ: I read of the Widows Oyl, truly it was a delicate portion that God laid out for her, that for a great while together shee had a little Oyl in the bottom of a Cruse, and a handful of meal in the bottom of a Barrel, and she and her Son did live upon it for as many years as the Famine lasted; I warrant you that poor Woman would not have taken a hundred pound for it: So that poor soul that can say, I bless God he hath raised me up from my low condition, and I have abundance of the world about me, but I know Christ is more dear to me than all the world, I know my prayers are to him for life, and I hang upon him as wel as I can for life, and look for it no where else, and I dayly apply my heart to him in that poor measure his Spirit enables me, I tel thee (poor soul) he hath given thee Jehoiakims portion and the richest food, for manna was Angels meat this the Angels, nay, pardon me, God never created any creature in the world to tast of this, but every poor soul how wretched soever that lives upon Christ feeds upon …t; I pray meditate upon this at home, and the Lord help you to ruminate upon this in secret. Is it so Lord that the poor soul that casts himself upon Christ is thus made one with him? Surely I wil never take care how it is in the world with me, God hath provided wel for me, my Lot is fallen in a very good place. And Lastly,
USE, 3.
For Exhortation: I shal make but one Use and that shal be in the very words of our blessed Savior, when he begins this Doctrine in this John 6. ver. 27. when they came and flocked after him for the Loaves, saith Christ to them, Labor not for the meat that perisheth but for the meat that endures to eternal life: This Counsel of Christ I would a little press to you, though I borrow half a quarter of an hour, forgive me, for it is for your good. First, (saith Christ)
1. You seek me for the loaves, labor not for that▪ Friends, we are all cumbred, as our Saviour said to Martha in Luke 10. the latter end, Martha, Martha, thou art carefull and cumbred about many things, So we are cumbred all of us about many things, some of us are cumbred how to get more wealth, some of us cumbred how to dispose of the wealth we have got, we are cumbred about our places, offices, and these worldly things hurry us up and down, we can hardly come into any place but all the peoples talk is, no body is at leisure but full of business, and what is it for? the meat that perisheth, all that thou laborest for is perishing, perishing money, pershing wealth, perishing honor, perishing profit, alas Freind! in a very few daies all that thou laborest for, wil not be worth one penny, at least to thee, and but over a little time to no body else, perishing things not worth your seeking, the Lord knows they are not, they that the world comes in most upon, and all that their hearts can wish comes in with ease, it is not one hours content, it is but meat that perisheth, but now labour (saith he) for the meat that endures to eternall life, here is meat worth your labouring for, I appeal to all your consciences that have heard the Sermon, whether this meat be not worth the labouring for, whether to get an interest in Christ, to hunger after him, to long for him, to rely upon him, Is not this worth the seeking? Oh! seek it, and to encourage you,
2. I wil tel you what our Savior adds in verse 27. Labor for that meat that endures to everlasting life, (saith he) the Son of man he gives it you; that is, you have no promise if you labor for the things of this world, How many are those that toyl and moyl, and cark and care most for the world, and it wil not come upon them? many a man sits up late, and riseth early, and manages his business discreetly, and yet it wil not come, but God hath engaged himself by a Promise, that he that seeks the bread of life shal have it, that if thou canst but pour out thy soul, Lord! leave me not destitute of Christ, he wil not deny the Son of man to thee: But lest some-body should further add, Give it me! Why should he give it me? What is there in me that the Son of man should be given me? Why should I think the Lord Christ would give me this food? If I ask that, he ads, For him hath God the Father Sealed, that is, I came into the world under a sealed Office to do the wil of my Father, and the work that my Father hath sealed to me, made my work to do, is, To give eternal life to those that seek it: He can as wel deny himself, and deny that he is sent from God, and his Office, as to deny the bread of life to a soul that unfainedly labors for it: Wil not this do it? The Lord bless it, and give you to consider what I have said, and win all our hearts to study that Jesus Christ may be more in our thoughts.
FINIS