cient Doctors of the Church. Our Common Mafter hath taught me, to tall no Man Mafter upon Earth; yet I never refufed the help of his Minifters to guide me into the knowledg of his Truth: And fince I have been able to ufe that help, I have ftill valued, in the first place, that affistance which is offered me from the Primitive Bishop's and Fathers. And this liberty I have been encouraged to ufe in the Church of England, not only for judging of. Points which he has not determined, but thofe alfo which fhe has. And from the bottom of my Heart I give thanks to Almighty God, that I have had my Education in the Communion of a Church, which at the fame time that it prefcribes to me a Rule of Doctrine & Worfhip, does give ine full liberty to inquire all manner of ways, whether The has dealt fincerely with me or not. Under the Discipline of fo honeft a Church, I truft that I have learn'd to be an honest Man. For though I am as confident of the main Queftion as I defire to be, yet I have, and by the Grace of God always will have, a quiet reserve for better Information: And I fhall not count him an Enemy but a Friend, that both can and will difcover my Miftakes. For which Reafon I have obeyed your Advice, and asked the leave of my Superiors, to let thefe plain Thoughts go into the World. And I let them go, much rather defiring that they may meet with Contradiction, than Approbation in any part, where they ought to be contradicted.

Nay, I will not refufe to make allowance for them who cannot oppose an Adverfary without Huffing and Vanity. If I can fee that they offer though but a little Reafon, I will readily acknowledg it; or if they offer none at all, let them but seem to believe what they fay,, and they shall not go without a Reply..

A's

As for that sense which I have (not, without good Authority) offered, of those Paffages in this Chapter concerning the Father's drawing, and giving Men to Chrift; if it does not equally please all Perfons, I hope they who are otherwise minded, will not be difpleafed with me, when I have declared, that I fhall no longer care for it, when any Man fhall lead my Understanding to a

Sir, I have but one thing more to fay; Let you and I obferve and follow the moral Inftructions of this Chapter; which if all would do, I am confident none of us fhould run into any dangerous Miftake about the meaning of any part of it. Our Lord hath said it; That if any Man will do his Will, he fball know of the Doctrine whether it be of God. In paraphrafing our Saviour's Difcourfes here, I could not but obferve how apt it was to infuse a truly wife, honeft and godly Temper into the Minds of his Hearers. And therefore for a Conclufion, I added to the Paraphrafe, what I thought was a futable Exhortation; that whilft we may happen to difpute about the sense of fome more difficult Paffages in this Chapter, we may not forget to make the great Defign of it the Subject of our Practice. And fo I commend you to the Grace of God, and reft,

Your molt, &c.

The

T

The Sixth Chapter of

St. JOHN.

ง

The Argument.

His Chapter begins with a Narrative of the miraculous Feeding of Five Thousand in the Wilderness; and confisteth wholly of those Passages that happened upon this occafion. The People were fo overjoyed with the Miracle, that they refolved to make Jefus a King; which he avoided, and fecretly went to Capernaum. But they not fo fatisfied, followed him thither the next day; when he took another courfe to prevent their Defign; and that by reproving their worldly-mindedness, and by calling them off from the Cares and Pleafures of this Life, to mind heavenly Things, and everlasting Life; Which fo turned their Stomachs against him, that they fell to cavil at his Sayings, and to dif parage his Miracles, by fetting up the Manna wherewith Moles had fed their Fathers, against his feeding them the day before. Whereupon he inculcated two things upon them with great earnestnels: The one was this, That they might gain eternal Life by Him and his Doctrine; which he therefore called the Bread of Life, and the Bread that came down from Heaven; and therefore that it was a vain thing in them to challenge him with Mofes's giving their Fathers that Bread from Heaven, which ferved only to fuftain a mortal Life. The other was this, That they had fufficient evidence of his coming from God; but that they believed not, B because

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becaufe of their worldly Prejudices against him. Whereupon he tells them, that God had committed no other Perfons to his effectual care, to convince and fave them, but fuch only who were difpofed to receive the Truth by an honest Mind; and that himself was not bound to conquer the obftinacy of unteachable Men, Notwithstanding all which, they proceeded to cavil at his Sayings, and because, in allufion to the Loaves he had multiplied, and to that Manna which they boasted of, he-had called himself the Bread of Life: and in pursuance of Such figurative Speeches, he did alfo exprefs believing in him, and trusting in his Death, &c. by eating his Flefh, and drinking his Blood: They exclaimed against him, as if he had, in the literal fenfe, offered his Flefb to be eaten; some of his own Difciples alfo understanding him in that manner. To wham indeed he explained himself; but for all that, upon his free reproof of their infincerity, they left him. And then be proved the constancy of his Twelve Apostles, permitting them alfo to go, if they were not willing to stay fhewing withal that he under food who were fincere, and who were not.

The Chapters ent 2CD VI.A Eter these

things fe

fus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

1

1. The Paraphrafe.

Shall not mention thofe Miracles which Jefus wrought between the Paflover laft mentioned, [Ch. 5. v.1.] and that which was now at hand, v. 4. of this Ch.] faving that only of the Loaves; which though it be reported by all the other Evangelifts, yet they have omitted that Difcourfe upon it which he had with the Jews. The occafion of it was this: He went in a Boat with his Difciples over that part of the Lake of Genezareth in Galilee, which wafheth the City Tiberias. 2. And

V. 2. And a great multitude followed him, becaufe they faw his Miracles which he did upon them that were difeafed. V. 3. And Jefus went up into a Mountain and there he fat with

his Difciples. V. 4. And the Pallover, a Feast of the Jews, was nigh. V.5. When Jefus then lift up his eyes, and faw a great company come to him,he faith unto Philip, Whence fball we buy bread that these may