John 6:47-58 Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me has everlasting life.… 1. In the ordinances. These are the conduits. Jesus Christ hath instituted and appointed His ordinances to be the means of carrying His nourishing virtue to the soul. The ordinances are the dishes of gold upon which this heavenly meat is brought. Prayer, reading, preaching, meditation, holy conference, the sacrament; in these Christ presents Himself to the soul. He that forsakes these can expect no feeding from Christ. "In this mountain will the Lord of hosts make a feast of fat things." etc. (Isaiah 25:6). The feast is made in the mountain of God's house, and the ordinances are the dishes on which this meat is set and the knives by which it is carved out to the soul. 2. Saving lively faith. This is the instrument. What the hand and mouth and stomach are in the corporal eating that is faith in this spiritual eating. Faith is the hand that takes this meat, the mouth that eats it, and the stomach that digests it. Yea, faith is as the veins and arteries that do disperse and carry this nourishment to every power of the soul. This is abundantly cleared in this very chapter (ver. 35), "He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; he that believeth in Me shall never thirst." "Cometh" is expounded by "believeth." Eating and drinking are here put for believing. Crede et manducasti. He that believes eats, and he that eats not it is because he believes not; Hic edere est credere. (Ralph Robinson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.WEB: Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. |
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