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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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son , who could so easily support multitudes of followers , was very proper to undertake tfiat office : they therefore determined to compel him to become their king . To avokl which , when he with-¦ ^ v ¦ ^^^ ^* ^^^^ *• ^ ^^ ^ ^^ " ^ " ^ ^» ^ ^^ ^ ~ - ^ ^ - " ~— ^ ^™ —— - ^ —~ - —~ —
^^^^ ^^^^ drew from them , and went to the other side of the sea , they followed him t | ie next day to Capernaum , and accosted him with , * Rabbi , when earnest thou hither ?" but he who knew the thoughts
arid secret principles of men ' s hearts , plainly told them , " Ye seek me , not because ye saw the miracles ( and were thereby convinced of my mission from God , and are desirous to be instructed
in his will ) but because ye did eat of the loaves and were rilled ; ( and therefore are willing to ber come followers of one who , you think , can so easily support you without any expense or labour of your own ; but act not by such mean views . I have much nobler
ones to propose to you . ) Labour not for the bodily meat which perisheth , but for that ( spiritual ) food which enduredi to everlasting life , ( and will render you immortal ) which the son of man will give unto you , for him hath God the Fatherscaled , i . e . stampcd with the impression of his own authority in those miracles of which yoursolvrs have been witnesses and partakers . " To this the people replied , 44 If thou art indeed sent of God to reVeal his
will to us , and authorized by the si gnature of his divine power , tell us , what shall we do , that we may work the works of God , or what is that duty which God hath required of us by thee ? " Jesus answered , " This is the work of God , the particular duty he requires from yoiij that ye believe
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on him whom he hath sent , and hath given to you , personally , such proofs that he hath sent him . " Thus far our Lord discourses to them in the most plain and intelligible manner . But now . the . people began to cavil , and to shew themselves in their true co «
lours , that they were not sincere inquirers after truth and the will of God , but wanted that real reverence for God and his authority which was necessary to
dispose them to pay a proper regard to the evidences he had given of the mission of his son . They demanded of him , " Whatsignshewest thou then , that we may see and believe tke ? What dost thou weak ? " Just as if he had hitherto
given them no sign : or as if they had quite forgbtten the miracles of the preceding day . They even require from him a repetition of the miracle of manna by which the Israelites were supported forty years in the wilderness , or some other like it : so strongly were they attached to the bodily bread
which perisheth . Now , after the people had discovered such a captious and ill-disposed spirit , our Saviour through the rest of his discourse to them , uses much more
figurative and obscure expressions . Thp general import of which is , to assert his own divine mission , the important purposes of that office to which he was appointed by the Father , the faithful and effectual
manner in which he would execute it , the glorious effects which a cordial reception and compliance with his doctrines would produce for mankind , securing to them everlasting life , which he will assuredl y bestow f on all who sincerely believe in him ; but that it was never intended , thnt
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Observations on JohnVi . 37 > by the late Rev . TV . Turner . 9 $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1808, page 93, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2389/page/37/
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