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countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and 17 wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto 18 thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for your- 19

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of their austerities. Some fasted twice a week. Luke xviii. 12. And some even went so far as to do it four days in a week. At these times, besides abstinence from food, they practised austerities upon their bodies, beating and wounding themselves, and disfiguring their faces. Without their customary bathings, perfumes, and anointings, their personal appearance was squalid. Their hair and beards were left uncombed, and the whole garb was unsightly. Sad countenance. Or, according to the derivation of the word, look not sourly, or like a Scythian or Tartar. This morose and gloomy expression was assumed by the hypocritical Pharisees for appearance's sake. They disfigure their faces. They destroyed the natural appearance of their countenances by neglecting their usual dress and cleanliness, and affecting great sorrow and penitence. Such fasting had no reality, and therefore no acceptableness with God. Is. lviii. 5. No severer condemnation is pronounced by Jesus upon any class of sinners than upon hypocrites. They convert the noblest things, even the observances of that religion which they disobey, into instruments of selfaggrandizement. But they have their reward; the miserable reward of supposing they have enjoyed the reputation of that virtue which they do not possess, when in reality they are understood, most likely, by men, and certainly by God, in their actual character. It has been said that the hypocrite is like the waterman, who looks one way and rows

another; the true Christian, like the traveller, has his journey's end in his eye.

17. Anoint thine head, and wash thy face. That is, affect nothing, observe your customary habits of dress and ablution. Fast in heart, not in appearance. Orientals daily wash and anoint themselves with fragrant ointments, except at times of grief and humiliation. Deut. xxviii. 40; Ruth iii. 3; 2 Sam. xiv. 2; Dan. x. 3; Mark xiv. 3; Luke vii. 46. This practice is rendered necessary by the warmth of the climate, and the looseness of the attire of the people. Of course the direction of Jesus is not literally applicable now. His aim was not to define the mode of keeping a religious ceremony, but to teach the worth of reality and substance contrasted with Pharisaical hypocrisy.

18. Openly. This word, according to Griesbach, is spurious, and should not be admitted into the text. It was probably first placed in the margin by some transcriber, as affording an antithesis to seeth in secret, and was afterwards copied into the body of the page.

19. In the following verses to the end of the chapter, lessons of faith in Providence, and freedom from anxiety about life and its circumstances, are beautifully taught. These lessons were highly appropriate to the disciples of that time, to the Apostles, who went forth poor to preach the Gospel. Yet they are good now; they are the salt of that wisdom which is never spoiled by keeping, but which is

selves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, 20 and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor 21 steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be

Treasures.

fresh through all ages. In the east, the most valuable possessions often consisted of the productions of the earth, the precious metals, and numerous suits of clothing; which, as fashions are not there fluctuating as here, retained their full value for years. Gen. xlv. 22; Judges xiv. 12; 2 Kings V. 5. Moth. A small insect which eats and destroys clothing. - Rust. Canker, or what consumes either grain or metals. Their gold and silver would rust, their grain be blighted, and their garments motheaten. James v. 2, 3.- Thieves break through. Or, dig through the walls of a house to commit burglary. This precept is also found in Luke xii. 33, 34, and John vi. 27. It is not to dissuade from industry and frugality, but from absorption in the pursuits of wealth as the chief good. The phrase is a Hebraism, for instances of which see Hos. vi. 6; Matt. ix. 13; Acts v. 4. A positive and negative expression are united to give the idea of preference, not to express an absolute value. So here. The idea is, Do not lay up for yourselves earthly so much as heavenly treasures. Man, made for immortality, made to be a child of heaven, and companion of angels and cherubim, must, to be happy, live to God and eternity; that is his nature, his element. Otherwise he is like a plant, with its branches as well as roots growing into the ground; like a bird, created for the ample scope of heaven, tamely creeping on the earth as a reptile. Let him soar upward.

20. Earthly treasures are perishable, therefore they should hold a subordinate place; heavenly treasures are incorruptible, therefore they should be supremely loved and sought after. Men are anxious to make provision for their old age; how much more should they gather riches for an everlasting future! Treasures in heaven. What are they? Let our Saviour answer. Matt. xix. 21. Let Paul answer. 1 Tim. vi. 17-19. Charity, good works, a pure heart, a finished Christian character, love; these are treasures, above gold or diamonds; richer than East or West; lasting for ever; glorious to behold; happy to possess and enjoy. We may be poor in aught else, but we may all be rich in soul, rich towards God, rich for the life to come. Let us covet, as no miser ever did his yellow dust, that eternal inheritance laid up for the good in the regions of the fairer world.

21. There will your heart be also. A profound truth. Everybody has some treasure, something he esteems, desires, and loves; something to which his heart turns, as the needle to the pole. If we have a treasure, and our heart is not with it, it is no treasure to us. A real treasure draws the affections after it. Luke xii. 34. Happy will it be for us when we shall see that virtue, goodness, God, heaven, are such treasures as are worth all our desires, hopes, and efforts. Laying up our treasures in heaven, our hearts will spontaneously be drawn up thither.

also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine 22 eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; but if 23 thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters; for either he 24

22. The light of the body is the eye. Luke xi. 34. He states a physical fact to illustrate a spiritual truth. The eye is the receptacle, not the producer, of light. But by a visual deception, it seems to make the light; when open, all is light about us; when shut, all is dark, as if night itself were around us. Thine eye be single. Sound, clear. Full of light. The whole body is enlightened when the eye is in a healthy state. It is in an atmosphere of light. Its motions will all be sure and effective.

23. Be evil. The same figure continued. If the eye be diseased, distempered, incapable of doing its proper office as an eye, then the whole body, through the failure of so small an organ, is enveloped in impenetrable darkness. Man gropes in uncertainty. He feels after things if he may peradventure find them, but all his movements must be uncertain; his noblest sense is gone, "and wisdom at one entrance quite shut out." - The light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! Luke xi. 35, 36. Here is the application. It is one of the sorest ills to have one's eyesight fail; how much more to have the inner light quenched! In is the emphatic word. The connexion of verses 22 and 23 with the foregoing subject is now evident. Jesus had been urging the importance of heavenly-mindedness, of laying up imperishable treasures; riches subject to no earthly mischance. But to do this, the soul must be enlightened, the judgment must not be blinded, the mind's eye, must not

be dimmed by the glare of worldly splendor. If it is diseased, if it see false shapes and appearances, then thoughts, wishes, affections, are shrouded in error and darkness; a darkness how great! a gloom, as of Egypt, that can be felt! When the bodily senses are impaired, the evil is slight compared with the perversion of the powers of the soul. When the inner world is dark, the spark of heaven, the light of God, reason, conscience, are benighted, what a night is there! how much more awful than the natural night, how much worse than total blindness of the eyesight! 2 Cor. iv. 4. Some of the ancient sages used the same comparison, as the eye in the body, so is the reason in the soul." Jesus speaks of a light in us; that would be a positive contradiction in terms, if all was originally totally dark and depraved there. He never taught the doctrine of Total Depravity. He assures us that the light may become darkness, reason may be dethroned, and conscience seared, and the heart hardened; but God did not create us in that state. Having dimmed the lustre of the spirit-eye, we shall pray with Milton:

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"Thou celestial light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers

Irradiate; there plant eyes, all mist from thence

Purge and disperse."

24. The Saviour had spoken of the perishable nature of earthly treasures as one reason why they should not be pursued and laid up as the greatest good; he had alluded to the darkness which over

will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and 25 Mammon. Therefore I say unto you: Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than

spreads the covetous, worldly mind, more dreadful than blindness; he now appeals to the principle that man cannot serve two masters at the same time, as a further motive to labor for the heavenly inheritance in obedience to God. Every man has his ruling passion, his prominent object of pursuit. Two objects of different natures he cannot pursue with equal interest, affection, and unweariedness. He may worship and serve and love the Pleasure-god, or the Moneygod, but he neglects his Maker. All idolatry did not cease when the wooden and stone images were thrown down. It is to be feared that thousands in Christian lands offer their sincerest service, their heartiest worship to Mammon, or some idol of the heart. Hate the one, and love the other. Which means, according to a common Hebrew idiom, to love less and love more, not absolute hatred and love.

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Or else. Or, at least will hold to, obey one. Despise. Disobey the other. ·Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. This is the inference from the principle advanced. Mammon is a Chaldaic and Syriac word, meaning riches, and is here used as the name of the money-god. If we truly love and serve God, as devoted, dutiful children, we shall postpone all worldly aggrandizement as of inferior consequence. If rich, we shall esteem wealth of less value than religion. If poor, we shall still feel that we may have within our possession the grandest treasure of the universe. But on the other side, if we centre our de

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sires and hopes in things earthly, we shall inevitably defraud our Creator; we cannot live to this world and to heaven also,— give half a heart to God, and half a heart to Mammon. But how many are engaged in the futile attempt to bring about this impossible thing; and distressing their lives with the knotty problem, how they may be worldly and spiritually minded at the same time!

25. Therefore. A conclusion from the preceding verse. If one must be your master, let it be the rightful one, your Father in heaven. Vex not yourself with needless fears about temporal prosperity. — Take no thought. An unfortunate rendering. Rather, take no undue thought; be not anxious and solicitous, distracted in mind, tossed by cares. Phil. iv. 6. There is no countenance given here to the idle, the improvident, and thriftless. A degree of attention is necessary to secure a livelihood. Rom. xii. 11; 1 Tim. v. 8. But the point is, that we should not be so much concerned about living, as to neglect life, to distrust Providence, and to forego heaven. Food and clothing are the means, not the ends of life. Several beautiful and pointed illustrations enforce the doctrine through the following verses. - Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? This is the first reason for a calm, unanxious reliance on Divine Providence, the past experience of its care. 1 Peter v. 7. If God has bestowed life and bodies, certainly he will not fail in providing the less gifts

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meat, and the body than raiment ? Behold the fowls of the 26 air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can 27 add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for 28

of food and clothing. The splendid boon of a human, rational, happy existence is such a proof of his

The desert and illimitable air,

Lone wandering, but not lost.

"Thou 'rt gone, the abyss of heaven

kind regard as to banish the fear Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart

of any inferior needed blessing being denied us. The formation of the body, with its wonderful adaptation to the outward world, with its perfect senses, its capacities of labor, endurance, and enjoyment, is such a master-piece of Heaven, as to leave us in no doubt that the requisite garb will be provided to shelter "this little moving temple." -Meat. This name was formerly given to all kinds of food. — Raiment. Old English for clothing. Luke xii. 22, 23.

26. Behold the fowls of the air. Observe the birds. Luke xii. 24; Job xxxviii. 41. The Saviour uses the simple and elegant reasoning of nature, and from the birds, flying around him, draws profoundest truths. It is obviously not his purpose to counsel men to do as the birds, and neither sow nor reap; but to cast themselves on the bosom of Providence without anxiety. If the bird, an irrational, insignificant, transient creature, 66 poor citizen of the air," sings blithely, without fear of the morrow, or questioning of Providence, shall not man, the lord of this lower world, favorite of the skies, be taken care of? Are ye not much better than they? Of nobler nature, more important station, and sublimer destiny. The poet Bryant has finely paraphrased the sentiment of Jesus, in his address to the Water-fowl:

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Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, And shall not soon depart.

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain

"He who from zone to zone

flight,

In the long way that I must tread alone,

Will lead my steps aright.”

27. Luke xii. 25, 26. —Add one cubit unto his stature. A cubit is a measure, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, of 18, or 22 inches. Few would desire to add thus much to their stature. It is more probable that the word here translated stature would be better

expressed by age, as it is actually done in John ix. 21, 23, and Hebrews xi. 11. Though few may wish to be taller, multitudes desire to add to the length of their lives. The argument is then, - If we are so helpless as to be unable to add one cubit to our age, or prolong our life one moment, why should we not perceive our very weakness to be a motive against being "careful and troubled about many things"? The impotence and fruitlessness of all our solicitude, the impossibility of our prolonging our existence one second beyond the allotted period, is a reason why we should confide cheerfully in that tender Providence, which takes no advantage of our weakness, but ministers as the gentlest nurse to our needs. God will do for us better than our fears, better than our hopes.

28. From the fowls of the air he draws the conclusion, that man should not be anxious for the means

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