oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 There fore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 25-31. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought, &c. In these verses, our Lord warns believers against taking too much anxiety about the things of this world, and the supply of their temporal wants. By several cogent arguments and beautiful illustrations, he teaches Christians that, in regard to these things, they are to exercise their faith on the promises of their heavenly Father, and place upon him the confidence of loving and obedient children. "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" Shall not their heavenly Father, who created their bodies out of the dust of the ground-who breathed into their nostrils the breath of life, and gave them living souls, and who has hitherto supplied all their wants out of his own fulness, continue to furnish a table for them in the wilderness, until his purposes with them here below shall be finished, and they be introduced into the kingdom of glory? He who has bestowed upon his people the gift of eternal life, the greatest and best gift he had to bestow, shall freely give all other things good and profitable for them. Believers should remember that all things are theirs, and in their straits comfort themselves, with the argument of the apostle, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" There is a degree of care and industry in regard to temporal things, which not only is proper, but the neglect of which would infringe upon the Divine commandments. 1 Tim. v. 8; 2 Thess. iii. 10; Rom. xii. 11. The man whose mind is wholly or chiefly engrossed with the concerns of life-who seeks his portion in this world-who frets against the dispensations of God's holy providence, is no disciple of Jesus, however strong his professions may be. He is actuated by the same spirit of unbelief as the Israelites, when, after witnessing all the acts of omnipotent power which the Lord put forth on their behalf, they cried out, "Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people?" ¶ Behold the fowls of the air. The providence of God extends over all his works. He opens his hands and satisfies the desire of every living thing. A sparrow falls not to the ground without his knowledge and appointment. The fowls of the air take no forethought. They are not provident of the future; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet they are all provided for. God feedeth them. Is not the life of the believer more precious in the sight of God than that of the fowls of the air; and shall not his ever-watchful providence, which provides for the wants of the lower creation, much rather minister all things necessary to those whose souls are precious in his sight, and whom he keeps as the apple of his eye? The believer is never for a moment out of the sight and keeping of his heavenly Father. "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." Ps. cxxi. 4-8. Which of you by taking thought. To be over-solicitous about the supply of our temporal wants, argues a want of confidence in our heavenly Father, and brings a charge against the faithfulness of his promises. Not only is it very sinful; it is also vain. Every comfort we enjoy is the gift of God. To Him, and not to our own industry, or skill, or management, is our possession of it to be referred. Without the blessing of God upon his labours, a man can as little acquire any worldly object at which he aims, as he can, by taking thought, add a cubit to his stature. 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But 'seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. b See 1 Kings iii. 13; Ps. xxxvii. 25; Mark x. 30; Luke xii. 31; 1 Tim. iv. 8. 32-34. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. The heathens, in the darkness of nature, and in their ignorance of the nature, character, mind, and will of God, which he has been pleased to reveal to his people, take this world as their portion, and make it their chief anxiety to seek food and raiment. Very different ought to be the conduct of believers. They have tasted of the grace of God, and, through Christ, have been reconciled to him. They know, and it is their duty to live according to what they know, that God will provide for them all things needful. God is their Father to-day, and shall be so for ever. He has hitherto cared for them, and shall continue to do He shall supply their wants, as these wants occur. ADDITIONAL REMARKS. 1. In this chapter, our Lord, continuing his sermon on the mount, lays down a variety of precepts regarding religious duty, and warns his disciples against worldly-mindedness. The duties of which he speaks are alms-giving, prayer, and fasting. He is chiefly employed in teaching the manner in which these duties are to be performed. His disciples are to do all things with a view to the glory of God. They are to be actuated by very different feelings, and swayed by very different motives, from those under the influence of which hypocrites and nominal professors manifest an external appearance of godliness. Many have a name to live, whilst they are yet dead—a form of godliness, whilst they deny the power thereof. The motives which prompt such to act are described by our Saviour. These motives are ostentation and vain-glory. They seek to please men, and care not to honour God. 66 Vain-glory," as has well been remarked, "is a subtle evil preying most on best things a moth that breeds in and corrupts the finest garments." It is a sin into which, in the pride and weakness of our nature, we are very apt to fall. In every thing it is to be condemned, and above all in matters of religion. 2. The duty of ministering to the wants of the poor is strictly enjoined in Scripture. It is to be done in a meek and humble spirit. We are to do good unto all men as we have opportunity, especially to those of the household of faith. By every means within our power we are to seek the advancement of their spiritual and temporal interests. In supplying the temporal wants of men, it little becomes the Christian to be ostentatious. If you are in circumstances to relieve the needy, it is entirely owing to the goodness of God. He has given you your wealth, and given it as a trust, for the husbandry of which you must render him an account. To what is it to be traced, except the bounty of God towards you, that you are not in the condition of those needy persons who solicit your sympathy? Instead of seeking the applause of men in ministering to the poor, you ought to give thanks to your heavenly Father who, in respect of temporal mercies, has made your estate so much more full and comfortable than theirs. Whilst you relieve their bodily wants, you should also, and chiefly, seek to be instrumental in promoting the interests of their immortal souls. 3. "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies." "As to prayer, how foolish and how wretched a thing it is to speak to God and look to man!" In God we live, and move, and have our being. We are most intimately dependent upon him for every mercy, spiritual and temporal, which we enjoy; and are so bound, by every consideration, to render thanks and make supplication unto him-to give thanks for all the blessings he has already bestowed upon us, and to supplicate that, if it be agreeable to his holy will, he may continue to us the enjoyment of his rich and excellent gifts. It would be base ingratitude not to acknowledge temporal mercies, and a mark of spiritual death to rest satisfied with them. With our God there are blessings infinitely more precious, which he is willing, at all times, liberally to bestow upon us-all the benefits of redemption purchased by Christ. We are, to be sure, utterly unworthy to receive the least of all God's mercies. It is not in our own name that we ask them, nor for our own deserts. It is in the name, and for the sake, of Him who is "our elder brother "-whom we have as "an advocate with the Father." The merits of Christ are the arguments with which we are to go to the throne of grace. These merits are inexhaustible. They deserve that God should bestow upon his people whatever is needful for them. He who pleads the merits of Christ, uses an argument that must prevail. God never shut his ear against it-never sent such a pleader empty away. A true believer is a man of prayer. He cannot live without it. He feels how continually he stands in need of the refreshments of Divine grace, and how languid and dead he becomes when the life-giving influences of the Holy Spirit are withheld from his soul. He knows that prayer is the means which his heavenly Father has appointed by which all spiritual blessings may be conveyed to him; and, valuing these blessings above all things, he diligently uses the means of obtaining them. Prayer is as much a privilege as a duty. We esteem it an honour to be admitted into the presence of some great man, and to hold converse with him; but in prayer we commune with God-we are brought very near to him, nay, into his very presence; for prayer is a "trysting-place" which he has marked out for his people, and there they are sure to meet him. The same reasons which engage the believer to secret devotion, obviously enjoin the duty of family prayer. Is God respected, and the Redeemer glorified, in that house where there is no family altar? 4. Worldly-mindedness is with most men a besetting sin. How prevalent is it even amongst believers! With what propriety might our Lord address many of whom there is reason to believe that they are his people, "O ye of little faith!" What a scrambling after riches-what a desperate effort to acquire wealth-what a melancholy devotedness to the service of the world! How many reasons and excuses do we muster to justify ourselves in this our eagerness to treasure up the things that perish in the using! Old age will come, and it can neither work nor starve. Our families must be provided for. We must have a portion for our sons and daughters. And so we delve and toil in the field of mammon; and, looking sideways at the "one thing needful," are careful and troubled about many things. Such anxiety about the world is unworthy the high vocation of Christians. "How contradictory to distrust God in the small matters of food and raiment, when we trust him in matters infinitely greater-the life and wellbeing of our souls!" Is our treasure, indeed, in heaven?-our hearts will be there also. If, indeed, we are Christ's people, our affections will dwell upon him, and be drawn up to where he sits on the right hand of the Father; and this is one test by which we may try ourselves, even whether the love of Christ or the love of the world be strongest within us. It is impossible to serve two masters-God and the world. If we dote too much upon the world, God has not our heart. If God is our portion, we will sit loosely by the world, and consider all we have in it, nay, the whole world itself, as a very small and inconsiderable matter.-ED. CHAPTER VII. 1 Christ ending his sermon on the mount, reproveth rash judgment, 6 forbiddeth to cast holy things to dogs, 7 exhorteth to prayer, 13 to enter in at the strait gate, 15 to beware of false prophets, 21 not to be hearers, but doers of the word: like houses builded on a rock, 26 and not on the sand. JUDGE not, that ye be not judged. a Luke vi. 37; Rom. ii. 1, xiv. 3, 4, 10, 13; 1 Cor. iv. 3, 5; James iv. 11, 12. Ver. 1. Judge not, &c. This command refers to rash, censorious, and unjust judgment. See Rom. ii. 1. "If we judge others, we may expect to be ourselves judged. Commonly none are more censured, than those who are most censorious. He who, like Ishmael, has his hand, his tongue, against every man, shall, like him, have every man's hand and tongue against him. Gen. xvi. 12. And they shall be judged of God. James iii. 1. Christ does not here forbid his disciples to form a judgment of the state and character of men, according to their avowed principles and conduct; for he directs us to judge by this rule (chap. v. 15-20), and many of our duties require us so to do. But we ought not to be officious, rash, or severe, in forming a judgment, or hasty in declaring it." Neither does our Saviour here condemn judging as a magistrate; for that, when according to justice, is lawful and necessary. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with 'what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. b Mark iv. 24; Luke vi. 38. 2. With what judgment, &c. If we be harsh and unmerciful in judging our brethren-bitter and censorious in regard to their conduct-men will very narrowly scrutinize our behaviour, and be severe in their judgment of it. What would have become of us, had God dealt with us as we deal by our brethren? If we are uncharitable and revengeful in marking and exposing the conduct of our fellow-creatures, imputing false motives to them, and calumniating them on every occasion, can we expect that the Lord will extend his mercy unto us? "In this, as in other things, the violent dealings of men return upon their own heads." See 2 Sam. xxii. 27; Mark iv. 24; James ii. 13. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 3. And why beholdest thou the mote, &c. A mote signifies any light substance, as dry chaff, or fine spires of grass or grain. It probably most usually signified the small spicule or beard on a head of barley or wheat. It is thus placed in opposition to the word beam. Beam. This word here signifies a large piece of squared timber. The one is an exceedingly small object, the other a large one. The meaning is, that we are much more quick and acute to judge of small offences in others, than of much larger offences in ourselves. We discern even a very small object, that hinders the vision of another, more quickly than a much larger one that obscures our own sight. 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out, &c. Christ directs us to the proper way of forming an opinion of others, and of reproving and correcting them. By first amending our own faults, or casting the beam out of our eye, we can consistently advance to correct the faults of others. There will then be no hypocrisy in our conduct. We shall also see clearly to do it. The beam, the thing that obscured our sight, will be removed; and we shall more clearly discern the small object that obscures the sight of our brother. The best way to judge of the imperfections of others is to be free ourselves from greater ones. This qualifies us for judging, makes us candid and consistent, and enables us to see things as they are, and to make proper allowances for frailty and imperfection. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 6 d Prov. ix. 7, 8; xxiii. 9; Acts xiii. 45, 46.' 6. Give not that which is holy, &c. Pearls are precious stones found in shell-fish, chiefly in India, in the waters that surround Ceylon. They are used to denote any thing peculiarly precious. Rev. xvii. 4; xviii. 12-16; Matt. xiii. 45. In this place the word is used to denote the doctrines of the Gospel. Dogs signify men who spurn, oppose, and abuse these doctrines; men of peculiar sourness and malignity of temper, who meet them like growling and quarrelsome curs. 2 Peter ii. 22; Rev. xxii. 15. Swine denote men of impure life; corrupt, polluted, profane, and sensual; who know not the value of the Gospel, and tread it down as swine would pearls. 2 Peter ii. 22; Prov. xi. 22. In admonishing such, and urging upon them the acceptance of the Gospel, we must be prudent and wise, lest its precious truths, through our instrumentality, should be made the subject of their profane merriment, and the name of the Lord be dishonoured and blasphemed. we must be very cautious whom we set down as belonging to this class, and only do it upon full evidence. But 7 ¶‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For 'every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? e Chap. xxi. 22; Mark xi. 21; Luke xi. 9, 10; xviii. 1; John xiv. 13, xv. 7, xvi. 23, 24; James i. 5, 6; 1 John iii. 22; v. 14, 15. Prov. viii. 17; Jer. xxix. 12, 13. g Luke xi. 11-13. h Gen. vi. 5, viii. 21. 7-11. Ask, and it shall be given you, &c. The promise is, that what we ask shall be given us. We must ask in faith-in the name and for the sake of Christ-with humility, sincerity, and perseverance. It is implied, that we ask the things which God has promised to give, and which are best for us. 1 John v. 14. God is willing to provide for us, to forgive our sins, to save our souls, to befriend us in trial, to comfort us in death, to extend the Gospel through the world. Man can ask no higher things of God; and these he may ask, assured that God is willing to grant them. Our Saviour encourages us to prayer by adducing a very beautiful and tender illustration. No parent turns away his child with that which would be unsatisfactory or injurious. He would not give him a stone instead of bread, nor a serpent instead of a fish. Our heavenly Father is more careful of his people, than the most affectionate parent can be of his children. With what confidence, therefore, may we come as his children, and ask what we need! Parents are evil; that is, are imperfect, J often partial, blind, and sometimes passionate; but God is free from all this, and therefore is ready and willing to aid us. Every one that asketh receiveth. That is, every one that asks aright, that prays in faith, and in submission to the will of God. He does not always give the very thing which we ask, but he gives what is better. A parent will not always confer the very thing which a child asks, but he will seek the welfare of the child, and give what he thinks will be most for its good. Paul asked that the "thorn in his flesh" might be removed. God did not literally grant the request, but told him that his grace should be sufficient for him. 2 Cor. xii. 7-9. A fish. A fish has some resemblance to a serpent. Yet no good parent would attempt to deceive his child in this. So God will not give to us that which might appear to be of use, but which would be injurious. His gifts are good and perfect. 12 Therefore all things 'whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. k i Luke vi. 31. k Lev. xix. 18; Chap. xxii. 40; Rom. xiii. 8-10; Gal. v. 14; 1 Tim. i. 5. 12. All things whatsoever, &c. This command has been usually called the Saviour's golden rule, a name given to it on account of its great value. All that you expect or desire of others in similar circumstances, do to them. Act not from selfishness or injustice, but put yourself in the place of the other, and ask what you would expect of him then. This would make you impartial, and candid, and just. It would destroy avarice, envy, treachery, unkindness, slander, theft, adultery, and murder. It has been well said that this law is what the balance-wheel is to machinery. It would prevent all irregularity of movement in the moral world. Its justice is seen by all men, and all must acknowledge its force and value. This is the law and the prophets. The sum and substance of the Old Testament, in so far as the duties between man and man are concerned. 13 'Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 || Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Luke xiii. 24. Or How. 13, 14. Enter ye in at the strait gate. Christ here compares the way to life to an entrance through a gate. The words straight and strait, have very different meanings. The former means not crooked; the latter pent up, narrow, difficult to be entered. This is the word used here, and it means that the way to heaven is pent up, narrow, close, and not obviously entered. The way to death is open, broad, and thronged. Our Saviour here referred probably to ancient cities. They were surrounded with walls, and entered through gates. Some of those, connected with the great avenues to the city, were broad, and admitted a throng. Others, for more private purposes, were narrow, and few would be seen entering them. Such is the path to heaven. It is narrow. It is not the great highway that men tread. Few go there. Here and there one may be seen-travelling in solitude and singularity. The way to death, on the other hand, is broad. Multitudes are in it. It is the great highway in which men go. They fall into it easily, and without effort, and go without thought. Christ came to arrest men in this path, which all in the state of nature are travelling. But for the salvation which is in Jesus, all had gone straight on to eternal perdition. If you are not in Christ, you are posting along the "broad way." Pause and consider. Strive to enter into the narrow way. Man's striving, indeed, were to no purpose, but, by the gracious promise of assistance which our Lord-who himself is the way, the truth, and the light-has given to every one who asks it of him. m 15 Beware of false prophets, "which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. m Deut. xiii. 3; Jer. xxiii. 16; Chap. xxiv. 4, 5, 11, 24; Mark xiii. 22; Rom. 16-18; Eph. v. 6; Col. ii. 8; 2 Pet. ii. 1-3; 15. False Prophets. The word prophet originally means, one who foretels future events. Afterwards it was used to denote teachers of religion in general. In this sense it is probably used here. A false prophet is a teacher of unsound doctrine, or one falsely laying claim to divine inspiration. Who come in sheep's clothing. The sheep is an emblem of innocence, sincerity, and harmless ness. To come in sheep's clothing, is to assume the appearance of sanctity and innocence, when the heart is evil. Ravening Wolves. Rapacious, or disposed to plunder. Applied to false |