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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
them not to labor for the meat which perishes, but to seek for spiritual
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food, that wisdom which endures unto everlasting life. This the Son of
God alone could give, for he has the seal of the Father. With solemn
earnestness he sought to impress upon them that temporal favors are
of little consequence compared with the heavenly grace offered by the
Son of God.
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work
the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God, that ye believe on Him whom he hath sent. They said
therefore unto him, What sign showest thou then, that we may see, and
believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the
desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” It was
Christ himself who conducted the Hebrews in their travels through the
wilderness. It was he who had daily fed them manna from heaven; yet
they blindly referred him to this miracle, wrought for their fathers, in
a spirit of caviling unbelief. Jesus declared to them that as God had
given them manna to preserve their lives, so he had sent to them this
gift of his Son, that through him they might eat of the bread of life and
become immortal.
“Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the
true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh
down from Heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they
unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.” Jesus used bread as a
figure to illustrate the vitalizing power of his Spirit. The one sustains
physical life, while the other satisfies the heart, and strengthens the
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moral powers. Said he, “I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me
shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But
I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.” Those
who experience the spiritual union with Christ never hunger for higher
enjoyment. All uncertainty is gone, the weary soul finds continual
refreshment in the Saviour. The feverish thirst for wealth and honor is
gone. He is in them a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Jesus assured the Jews that they had seen him and his works yet
believed not. He did not refer to their seeing him with their natural
eyes; but he meant that their understanding had been convinced, while
their proud and stubborn hearts refused to acknowledge him as the
Messiah. The Saviour had been doing in their midst works that no