Sermon XVII
OF SALVATION BY CHRIST ALONE
John 6:44–51. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day, &c.
THE SUM OF THE TEXT
1. CHRIST is known of none but of him whom the Father draweth, that is, except the Father teach us that knowledge inwardly in the heart. Therefore Christ saith unto Peter, Matt. 16:17, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
2. Christ is the wisdom of God, which is of more price than precious stones, and whatsoever can be wished is not to be compared unto it, as Solomon saith in the Proverbs, 8:11.
3. The old heavenly bread, that is, the righteousness of the law, doth not justify; but Christ, if we believe in him, justifleth for ever.
The Exposition of the Text
This text teacheth us nothing else but Christian faith, and stirreth it up in us as surely. John, through his gospel, doth almost no other thing but instruct us how we must believe in the Lord Christ, and such a faith as is grounded on the true promise of God, made unto us in Christ, shall save us, as this text plainly declareth. Also they are here all proved fools, which have taught us another way and means to obtain righteousness; whatsoever man's mind can invent, although it be holy, although it have a fair show before men, it must needs utterly fall, if that he will have salvation to come thereby; for although man is exercised with the duties of godliness, he shall not
be able to attain unto heaven, unless God prevent him with his word, which may offer his divine grace unto him, and lighten his heart, that he may walk in the right way. Now this way is the Lord Jesus Christ, he that will seek another way, as the most part of men with their outward works commonly do, hath now erred from the right and high way; for Paul saith, Gal. 2:21, "If righteousness come by the law," that is, by the works of the law, "then Christ is dead in vain." Therefore I say, that a man must by the gospel be as it were bruised and broken, and humbled even from the bottom of his heart, as being frail and weak, which can move neither hands nor feet, but only lieth prostrate and crieth, help me, O omnipotent God, merciful Father, I am not able to help myself. Help, O Lord Christ, mine own help is nothing. That so against this corner stone, which is Christ, all may be broken, as he saith of himself, in Luke 20:17, when he asked the Pharisees and Scribes, "What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder." Wherefore either let us fall upon it by our imbecility and weakness, by denying ourselves, and so be broken, or else he will break us for ever in his straight judgment. But it is better that we fall upon it, than that it fall upon us; upon this foundation Christ saith in the text, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day." Now he whom the Father draweth not, shall surely perish; it is also concluded that he which cometh not to this Son, shall be damned for ever. He is the only Son given unto us, which may save us, without him there is no salvation; if he help not, our case is most miserable. Of him Peter also speaketh to the same effect, in the Acts of the Apostles, chap. 4:11, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Whither would our divines and schoolmen turn themselves here, which have taught us, that by many works we must attain unto
righteousness? Here is that high master, Aristotle, confounded, who hath taught us, that reason endeavoureth to do the best things, and is always ready to the better; but this Christ doth here deny, for unless the Father possess and draw us, we shall perish for ever. Here all men must confess their imbecility and slowness to good things: if so be that any persuade himself that he is able to do any good thing by his own strength, truly he hath reproved Christ of falsehood, and with great arrogancy, presumeth to come to heaven, although he is not drawn of the Father; wherefore, where the word of God is in his course, and soundly preached, whatsoever things are high and great, it casteth them down, it maketh all mountains even with the vallies, and overthroweth all hills, as the Prophet Isaiah saith; that all hearts hearing the word may despair of themselves, otherwise they cannot come unto Christ. The works of God are such, that while they kill they make alive, while they condemn they save; as Hannah, the mother of Samuel, singeth of the Lord, 1 Sam. 2:6, "The Lord killeth, and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up." Wherefore, if a man be thus stricken of God in his heart, that he acknowledgeth himself such a one as ought for his sins to be condemned, he surely is even that very man whom God by his word hath stricken, and by this stroke hath fastened upon him the bond of his divine grace, whereby he draweth him, that he may provide for his soul, and have care of him.
He could first find with himself no help nor council, neither did he wish for any, but now he hath found the special consolation and promise of God, which is after this sort: "Every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened," Matt. 7:8. By such a promise man is more and more lifted up in mind, and conceiveth a greater trust and confidence in God; for as soon as he heareth that this is the work of God alone, he desireth of God, as at the hand of a merciful Father, that he will vouchsafe to draw him. If so be that he be drawn of God unto Christ, undoubtedly that also shall come unto him, whereof the Lord maketh mention here, namely, that he will raise him up at the last day; for he
layeth hold on the word of God, and trusteth in God; whereby he hath a certain testimony, that he is he whom God hath drawn, as John saith in his first Epistle, chap. 5:10, "He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself." Hereupon it must needs follow, that he is taught of God, and in verity now knoweth God to be no other, but a helper, a comforter, and a Saviour. Hereby is it now manifest, that if we believe, God will be no other towards us but a Saviour, helper, and giver of all felicity, who requireth and asketh nothing of us, but will only give and offer unto us, as he himself saith unto Israel, Psalm 81:10, "I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." Who would not love such a God, which showeth himself gentle and loving unto us, and offereth so readily his grace and goodness? They shall not be able to escape the severe and eternal judgment of God, who do unadvisedly neglect so great grace, as the epistle to the Hebrews saith, if they that transgressed the law of Moses, escaped not unpunished, but died without mercy, how much more grievous shall God punish them, which count the blood of the Testament as an unholy thing, and tread under foot the Son of God? O how diligent is St. Paul in all his epistles to teach how the knowledge of God may rightly be conceived! O how often doth he wish to increase in the knowledge of God! as if he would say, if ye only knew and understood what God is, ye should then be safe. Then ye would love him, and do all things that are approved of him, thus he saith, Colos. 1:9, "We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." And Psalm 119:34, David saith, "Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart."
And thus ye have out of the first sentence of this text, that the knowledge of God doth come from the Father. It is needful, that he lay the first stone in our building, otherwise we should labour in vain. But that is done thus: God sendeth unto us preachers whom he hath taught, and provideth that his will be preached unto us; First, that all our life and condition, although it have a fair show and be holy outwardly, is of no estimation before him, yea, is abhorred and loathed of him. And this is called the preaching of the law; afterward he maketh grace to be preached unto us, to wit, that he will not have us utterly condemned and cast off, but that he will receive us in his beloved Son, and not simply receive us, but also make us heirs in his kingdom, yea, and lords over all things which are in heaven and earth. This now is called the preaching of grace or of the gospel; and all this is of God, which raiseth up and sendeth forth preachers. This St. Paul signifieth, when he saith thus, Rom. 10:17, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." This also the words of the Lord mean here in the gospel, when he saith, "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. Not that any man hath seen the Father save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father." Whereas we hear the first preaching, that is the preaching of the law, how we are condemned with all our works, then man sigheth unto God, and knoweth not what to do, his conscience is evil and fearful, and except help should come in time, he should despair for ever.
Wherefore the other preaching must not be long deferred, the gospel must be preached unto him, and the way unto Christ must be showed, whom God hath given unto us a Mediator, that through him alone we may be saved by mere grace and mercy, without all our works and merits. Then the heart is made joyful, and hasteth unto such grace, as the thirsty hart runneth unto the water. David had a notable feeling hereof, when he said thus, Psalm 42:1, "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." When, therefore, a man cometh to Christ, through the gospel, then heareth he the voice
of the Lord Christ, which strengtheneth the knowledge that God hath taught him, to wit, that God is nothing else but a Saviour abounding with grace, who will be favourable and merciful to all them which call upon him in his Son. Therefore the Lord saith moreover, John 6:47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 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." In these words the soul findeth a table daintily furnished, whereby it may slack all hunger; for it knoweth assuredly that he that speaketh these words cannot lie. Wherefore if it commit itself confidently unto him and cleave to the word, it resteth upon him, and so departeth not from this goodly table.
This is that supper, to the preparing whereof the heavenly Father killed his oxen and fatlings, and hath bidden us all unto it. The living bread whereof the Lord here maketh mention, is Christ himself, whereby we are so fed; if we lay hold but of a morsel of this bread in our hearts, and keep it, we shall be satisfied for ever, neither can we ever be plucked from God. Moreover, such an eating is nothing else, but to believe in the Lord Christ, that he is made unto us of God, as St. Paul saith, 1 Cor. 1:30, "Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." Wherefore by and by after the text, when the Jews were at contention about his words, he saith, "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." Manna, which the fathers did eat in the desert (as Christ here saith), could not save from death, but this bread maketh us immortal; if we believe in Christ, death shall not hurt us any thing at all, yea, there is no more death. This the Lord meaneth by these words in another place, where he saith to the Jews, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death," John 8:51; where it is certain that he speaketh of the word of faith and of the gospel. But some man may say, that the holy die notwithstanding, for Abraham and the holy prophets are dead, as the Jews said unto him: I answer, the death of Christians is only a sleep, as the scripture also commonly calleth it. For a Christian tasteth and seeth no death, that is, he hath the feeling of no death. For this Saviour Jesus Christ, in whom he believeth, hath overcome death, that afterwards he should not feel or taste it, but death is unto him only a passage and gate to life, as Christ himself witnesseth, John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Wherefore the life of a Christian is happy, and on every side replenished with joy, and the yoke of Christ easy and sweet. But that it seemeth heavy and grievous unto us, this is the cause, for that the Father hath not yet drawn us; hereupon it cometh to pass, that we take no pleasure thereof, neither is the gospel comfortable unto us. If so be that we would lay up the words of Christ well in our heart, they would be unto us an exceeding comfort. And thus ye have heard how we must feed on this bread which came down from heaven, that is, on the Lord Christ, to wit, by faith, which we then do when we believe in him, that he is our Saviour.
The whole chapter out of which this text is taken, commendeth unto us nothing else but spiritual meat. For when the multitude followed Christ, that they might again eat and drink, which the Lord himself signifieth, he taketh occasion of the corporal meat which they sought, and almost through the whole chapter speaketh of spiritual meat, as he said, "The words which I speak are spirit and life." Whereby he would signify, that he therefore fed them, that they should believe in him; and as they did eat the bodily meat, so they ought also to feed of the spiritual. Here let us weigh and mark this, that the Lord doth so gently and graciously apply himself to us, and offer himself in such gentle words that it ought worthily to move our hearts, to believe in him, to wit, that that bread was therefore given for us, inasmuch as it was behoveful that he should taste death and suffer hellish pains.
Also should bear sins which he never had committed, as though he had committed them, and had been his own; and he did also the same willingly for our sakes, and took us as brethren and sisters. This if we believe, we do the will of the heavenly Father, which is nothing else but to believe in his Son, and so be saved. As Christ himself saith a little before, "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." It now therefore appeareth, that he that hath faith doth the will of God, and eateth of this heavenly bread, as St. Augustine saith, what dost thou prepare thy mouth? believe, and thou hast eaten. Of this spiritual supper the whole New Testament speaketh, but especially in this place of John. The sacrament of Christ's body and blood is a certain testimony and pledge of this true supper, whereby we ought to strengthen our faith, and to be assured, that this body and this blood, whereof we feed in the sacrament, delivereth from sin, death, Satan, and all evil. But how may a man perceive and know, that he also doth pertain to this heavenly bread, or is called to this spiritual supper? Let him consider the case in his own heart, which if he find so affected, that he doth as it were feel the sweetness in the promise of God, and is undoubtedly persuaded, that he is of the company of them which pertain to this supper, he is assuredly such a one indeed. For as we believe, so cometh it unto us.
Such a man hath also by and by a regard of his neighbour, and helpeth him as his brother, careth for him, giveth unto him, lendeth him, comforteth him, briefly, doth no otherwise to him than he desireth to be done unto himself; and all this proceedeth from hence, for that the bountifulness and goodness of Christ hath replenished his heart with sweetness and love, that it is a pleasure and joy unto him to do good to his neighbour, yea, and he is grieved if there be none toward whom he may be serviceable. And beside all this, he is tractable, and lowly towards all men, he doth not esteem the temporal pleasure and pride of life, he judgeth no man, he defameth no man, he interpreteth all things in the better part. Whenas he seeth that the matter goeth not well with his neighbour, as that he fainteth in faith, waxeth cold in love, and that his life is not on every side
approveable, he prayeth for him, and is sore grieved if any commit any thing against God and his neighbour. In fine, the root and sap are sound, for they are in a flourishing vine, to wit, Christ, and therefore such fruits come forth. But if any be void of faith, and not taught of God, such a one doth not feed on this heavenly bread, neither bringeth forth these fruits, for where a right faith is not, there such fruits are always wanting. And therefore St. Peter teacheth us to make our calling unto salvation sure by good works: where he speaketh properly of the works of love, namely, that we do good to our neighbour, and be affected toward him, as toward our own flesh and blood. Thus much shall suffice concerning this text. Let us all call to God for his grace.