John 6:5 The Gospel Feast I. From the beginning the greatest rite of religion has been a feast; the partaking of God's bounties, in the way of nature, has been consecrated to a more immediate communion with God Himself. II. In order to make this feasting still more solemn, it had been usual at all... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:8 The services of the despised I. The lesson I would draw from the scene is, on the one hand, the lesson of Christ's own gospel to poor, humble, ill-endowed, ungifted persons, and at the same time the encouragement, the blessing, the multiplication which He gives to little things. These ough... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:11 This narrative falls mainly into two portions, both of which suggest for us some important lessons. There is first the preparations for the sign, and then there is the sign itself. Let us look at those two points in succession. I. The preparations for the sign. Christ's preparation in mak... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:12 The Revised Version correctly makes a very slight but a very significant change in the words of this verse. Instead of "fragments," it reads, "broken pieces." The general notion, I suppose, is that the fragments are the crumbs that fell from each man's hands as he ate, and the picture bef... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:17 Note here I. Christ's thoughts about His disciples. (1) He leaves men, whether the world in general or His own people in particular, for a time in fear and danger. The text records an isolated act, but it is an act in the government of the Unchanging One. The principle of that act runs th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:19 The pathway of the King. We have here: I. The struggling toilers. The solemn law under which we live demands persistent effort and imposes continual antagonism upon us. There is no reason why we should regard that as an evil, or think ourselves hardly used because we are not fair-weather... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:28 Difficulties respecting Justification by Faith I. It is an important rule to seek for the most exact language on any subject in those writings which treat of it generally and directly, rather than in those where it is spoken of by the way, the notice of it arising out of some other matter... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:35 I. The conversation of our Lord was well fitted to damp the zeal of those worldly-minded ones whose only object was to use His aid in resisting the Roman power. He had never sought to make partisans. He would simply encourage the faith which would lead them, whose hearts were honest, from... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:36 The Reason of Faith I. Look first at two kinds of faith which are universally practised; for if faith is, in the nature of things, absurd or unintelligent, we shall be as likely to discover the fact here as anywhere. And we may discover, possibly, that the very persons who discard faith,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:44 These words have often been supposed to mean that no one can become a Christian unless an irresistible influence is put forth by God for his conversion. I think, if you look at the words of the text in their connection, and in relation to the circumstances in which they were written, you... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:48 I. It is in the Lord himself alone that the power of life dwells, and from Him that it goes forth. There is no intermediate agent. He is the life of men, and it is by feeding on Himself that eternal life is both obtained and assured. But as in the miracle, so in this which is signified by... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:53 The Words of Christ Let us take the words of the text, and by seeing the different ways in which they have been misinterpreted, let us learn to hold fast the lessons of our Lord in all their original freshness and piercing power. I. First, there was the error of those who understood, or... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:57 _(with Galatians 2:20)_ The Meaning of Justification by Faith I. Looking steadily at the two passages of Scripture which I have chosen for my text, we shall gain the clue to the full scriptural truth about justification. First of all, St. Paul, speaking of himself many years after his co... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:58 Means to Faith the Scriptures and Prayer I. It is not enough to love the character of Christ; who can help loving it? It must be something of a closer and more personal feeling, if I may so speak, that will make Him become to us the bread of life; and this feeling will only be gained by... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:61 Christ is the life of the world. It is as the world's life that we have fellowship with Him. It is as the world's life that faith recognises Him and rejoices in Him. Christ our life! This is our watchword and our experience. To say that Christ is our life, is not only to say there is life... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:66 Forsaken ideal This sorrowful appeal from the less noble but natural feelings of the twelve to their very highest and most spiritual thoughts was not in this case in vain. The appeal "Will ye also go away?" revealed the higher nature of the Apostles, perhaps even to themselves; showed th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:66 The First Confession In connection with this narrative many practical lessons suggest themselves. I select only the following: I. We are reminded by this history of the fluctuating character of human applause. II. We are shown the tap-root from which all apostasy springs. Judas put tem... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:67 The Danger of Relapse I. Experience has so often proved that men have not laid fast hold on the grace which they had received, that we may well conceive our Lord to say to each successive congregation who have professed to be His disciples, "Will ye also go away? For eighteen hundred yea... [ Continue Reading ]
John 6:70 I. Note first, the relation of Judas and Jesus Christ. He was one of the twelve selected Apostles; he had all the privileges, all the opportunities, of Christ's near and dear companions; he was chosen, as were Peter and John and James, out of the increasing number of disciples, to be the... [ Continue Reading ]