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20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light:

having, perhaps, originated from that circumstance, might have been retained in application to all sorts of houses.

The perishable nature of earthly treasures is here distinctly exhibited, as a dissuasive from cherishing the spirit of accumulation. Of whatever our wealth consists, whether raiment, or the fruits of the earth, or gold and silver, it is exceedingly frail, and our hold upon it is equally feeble.

21. Your heart; your affections. How suitable that our affections should be placed, not upon treasures that decay, and that will leave the heart comfortless, but upon treasures beyond the reach of accident and dissolution, and which will impart ever-enduring

bliss!

22. The Saviour enforced his caution by an illustration drawn from the natural body. The body is furnished with a lamp, that is, the eye, which enables it to discern all objects around, and properly to use its powers. If the eye is in a healthy condition, the body has light, and can rightly direct its energies. But if the eye be diseased, the lamp is either gone out, or burns dimly, and thus leaves the man to grope in the dark, to misapply his efforts, and to fail of his end; or it burns in a flickering, fitful manner, so as to dazzle and deceive. How miserable the man whose directory either fails to guide, or misleads! In so unhappy a state, as regards his highest interest, is the man who hoards up treasure on earth, to the neglect of heavenly

23 But if 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!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he 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 Mammon. treasure. The light of the body; more properly, the lamp. || Single; sound, in a healthy state, capable of rightly discerning objects, seeing them as they are.

23. Evil; disordered, not properly performing its office, not rightly presenting objects of sight. If, therefore, the light that is in thee, &c.'" This is the application of the simile: If that within thee which ought to enlighten, is itself shrouded with darkness, how great and utter the darkness! If it give forth a false light, how miserable the condition! If thy mind, thy inward powers, be perverted, how can there be a right guidance?

24. Jesus proceeded to dissuade from the love of earthly treasure, by declaring the impossibility of grasping both worldly good and heavenly good. These two are in their nature opposite, and eager devotion to worldly good must incur the loss of heavenly good; just as no man can perform the will, at the same time, of two masters, the interests and commands of one of whom are at variance with those of the other. Two masters; of opposite characters and claims, as appears by the last clause of the verse. | Hate-despise. Such words as these are sometimes employed in the Bible, in a comparative, rather than in an absolute, sense; and they express all degrees of opposition, from indifference and dislike, up to positive hatred. See Deut. 21: 15-17. Mal. 1:2, 3, quoted in Rom. 9: 13. Luke 14: 26.

25 Therefore I say unto | air for they sow not, neither you, Take no thought for your do they reap, nor gather into life, what ye shall eat, or what barns; yet your heavenly Faye shall drink; nor yet for ther feedeth them. Are ye your body, what ye shall put not much better than they? on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the

In the present instance, they express the opposite of attachment; such an indifference, or dislike, as leads to neglect. | Mammon. The name of a heathen deity, who was supposed to preside over wealth; the god of wealth. This imagined deity is here placed in contrast with the true God. God and Mammon are represented as two masters, or lords; to both of whom it is not possible for a man to render service at the same time. The simple idea conveyed is, You cannot be devoted to the attaining of worldly good and to the attaining of heavenly good at the same time. The two things are in contrast with each other. He who would grasp one, and hold it with all his might, cannot grasp the other also.

By three distinct considerations, the Saviour here cautioned his disciples against the desire of earthly treasures: - 1. The perishable nature of earthly treasures, and the consequent impropriety of placing the affections upon them. 2. The pursuit of worldly good, as a grand object, is a perversion of our powers, and shows a disordered state of mind, in regard to our true welfare. 3. The impossibility of uniting together the pursuit of heaven and the pursuit of earth. Compare Matt. 19: 16-26. Mark 10: 17-27. Luke 12: 13-21. 18: 18-27. 1 Tim. 6: 9, 10, 17.

25. Having thus cautioned his disciples against the love of this world (compare 1 John 2: 15-17), Jesus proceeded to caution them against anxiety in regard to a subsistence. Take no thought; cherish no anxiety. So in Phil. 4: 6. || Is not the life, &c. An argument to enforce the preceding

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought

exhortation. The amount of it is this: Life, which God has bestowed, is a matter of far greater importance than food. Since he has bestowed the greater blessing, trust in him for the smaller; especially as the smaller, the food, is necessary, that the life may accomplish the purpose for which it was bestowed. Life was bestowed not for a trifling purpose; particularly the life of those who become subjects of the Messiah, and are true children of God. God will not permit life to fail of its object, through his failing to bestow needed food. || The body than raiment? He who gave us bodies, will also furnish the clothing which they need, in order to be preserved from perishing, and from failing to answer the end for which they were given. The body is a greater gift than its clothing; trust, then, for clothing to him who bestowed the body. The word translated more, in this verse, signifies a more important thing, a matter of higher value.

26. Better; more valuable.

It is

27. One cubit to his stature. of little consequence, if we judge according to the real importance of things, whether we be tall or not; and thus, in respect to our real interests, an addition made to our height would be a trifling thing. If all our anxiety cannot avail for the procuring of such a trifle, certainly, then, anxiety in regard to our lives ought not to be cherished. See Luke 12: 25, 26. It is probable, however, that the word here rendered stature is equivalent to our word age, as it is in John 9: 21, 23, and Heb. 11: 11. Then the idea will be, Which of you, by cherishing anxiety, can add a cubit to his life? that

for raiment ? Consider lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

the 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one

of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

is (see Luke 12: 26), can make the smallest addition to his age? The application of the cubit, a measure of length, to time, is similar to the expression in Ps. 39: 5-" Thou hast made my days as an hand breadth;" thus happily versified by Dr. Watts:

"A span is all that we can boast,

An inch or two of time."

Life was frequently spoken of, by the Hebrews, as a journey, or a pilgrimage. Now, a cubit, when compared with a journey, is a very small thing.

29. Glory; splendor. Compare 1 Kings, 10th chapter.

30. Grass. The original word is of more extensive import than our word grass, and is equivalent to herbage, the smaller growth of the field, which in the East was employed for fuel. Oven. Ovens were of various kinds. The cakes (for bread was not made in the shape of our loaves) were often baked by placing the dough on the outside of the oven, while the fire was burning within. They sometimes had movable ovens, constructed of brick, and sometimes portable ones, of brass. Unleavened cakes were made of the thickness of a knife; leavened cakes, of the thickness of a little finger.

32. Gentiles; people who were not Jews, and consequently not enjoying religious advantages. They are seeking anxiously what they shall eat, and what they shall drink. They know not the providential care of the true 7

VOL. I.

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.

God; and we might expect from them an anxious seeking for such things. For you, however, instructed in divine truth, how unbecoming to be thus anxious!

33. Kingdom of God; spiritual blessings, such as the new dispensation, when rightly viewed, proposes both here and hereafter; in opposition to mere temporal good. The direction is of the same import as that contained in v. 20. || His righteousness; that is, the true integrity towards man and God, true piety, which God requires. The possessive case is used in the Bible with great latitude. Here, his righteousness does not mean, righteousness which he possesses, but that which he requires of men. || All these things; all the things just spöken of; that is, all things necessary for eating, drinking, and clothing; necessary for life. Wealth is not promised; but the support of life is promised. And such are the providential arrangements, that true piety will, in general, secure whatever is necessary for subsistence, if not for comfort. For, besides other considerations, piety to God requires moderation, and temperance, and industry in our proper calling. God will not withhold his blessing, but in various ways, frequently unthought of, will provide for his people. Tim. 4: 8. 6: 8. If we seek, in true piety, for heavenly treasure, we shall not only

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.

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JUD

CHAPTER VII.

UDGE not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye

have the present comforts of piety and the blissful hope of eternal life, but, in addition, whatever is needful for the present life.

34. The evil thereof; the care and perplexity pertaining to it. For any one day, the perplexity, or care, properly pertaining to it, is enough. Bring not, in addition, the care and trouble belonging to the morrow.

Does the Saviour discourage all concern about the future days, or years, of our lives? No. He dissuades us from perplexing anxiety about the future, and from a distrustful fear that our necessities will not be provided for. The proper business of each day is to be performed in that day, and its anxieties are not to be increased by anticipating the wants of following days. Yet such is the plan of divine providence, that the performance of daily duties in their proper time is followed with blessings in days and years yet to come. As in the case of the farmer: It is his duty, at certain times, to sow; but the performance of this duty is succeeded by blessings months afterwards. He would transgress the Saviour's directions, if, to the care and trouble connected with sowing, he should add misgivings and perplexity respecting the result of his labors. A similar remark may be made in reference to every human employment.

CHAPTER VII.

1. The Saviour proceeded to caution his hearers against forming harsh

mete, it shall be measured to you again.

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?

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?

judgments respecting their fellowmen. A tendency to this always exists; but it was probably very much in danger of being indulged in the times of our Saviour, when those who were reputed as pious cherished a very diminutive view of others. See Luke 18: 11.

Judge. This word has respect here to the forming and expressing of unfavorable opinions respecting others. And we are cautioned against this from the consideration, that, if we abstain from the exercise of a censorious spirit, others will not exercise such a spirit towards us.

2. It shall be measured to you again; you will be treated as you treat others. Compare Luke 6: 37, 38. The rule is of very extensive application, and has a bearing upon our acceptance with God, as well as upon our enjoying favor with men. In this connection, however, it seems to relate to our intercourse with our fellow-men.

3. Mote-beam; that is, a very small thing, and a very large thing. A man who cherishes a censorious spirit, and is disposed to express harsh judgments respecting others, is, in all probability, guilty of far greater faults than those which he condemns; so that, in comparison, those which he condemns are, to his own, as a mote to a beam, or as a twig to the trunk of a tree. Brother. Compare 5: 22.

4. How; with what appearance of propriety?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast | you; seek, and ye shall find; out the beam out of thine own knock, and it shall be opened eye, and then shalt thou see unto you: clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lost they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 7 Ask, and it shall be given

5. First, &c. Let your attention be directed principally to the correction of your own faults. When you have removed your own, which may be incomparably worse than your neighbor's, then you may be more able rightly to judge of his.

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?

Luke 10: 10,11. Prov. 9:8. 23:9.

This verse may contain only the substance of what the Saviour said to his disciples on this topic. He may have enlarged upon it. It did not, perhaps, come within the scope of Matthew's design to give more than a mere hint of some things which the Saviour said, while he more fully communicated what the Saviour said on other topics.

7. Encouragements are now presented for affectionate, confiding prayer to God. In 6: 7-15, Jesus distinctly exhibited the spirit in which we should pray; and now he presents encouragements. The three forms of expression contained in this verse, present but one and the same idea.

6. Dogs, in Oriental cities, are frequently very insolent and ravenous. 1 Kings 14:11. 16:4. 21: 23, 24. Jer. 15: 3. Persons who treat others in an insolent and injurious manner, are compared to them. Ps. 22: 16, 20. Phil. 3: 2. || Holy; that which has been consecrated to God. Here, as dogs are spoken of, the word literally refers to pieces of meat offered in sacrifice. Swine are universally regarded as uncleanly animals, indisposed to distinguish nice and valuable articles, consuming what but for them would be thrown away. || Trample them; that is, lest the swine trample the pearls under their feet. || Turn again; lest the dogs turn around after having consumed the meat, and commence their ravages upon your persons. Dogs have been known, in Oriental cities, during the night, to attack even living men. The amount of the proverbial language in this verse is, Offer not your favors to men who will not value them, and who will turn your very kindness into an occasion of abusing you. In application to the apostles, to whom it seems to have specially referred, the 9, 10. Prayer is here encouraged, idea was, Deliver not your instruc- by noticing the manner in which tions to men who will contemptuously parents treat the requests of their chilreject them. Compare Matt. 10: 14. | dren. God is our heavenly Father.

8. The consideration here presented seems to be this: It commonly happens, that a person who needs a favor, and seeks it in a proper manner, and from the proper individual, obtains it; that a person searching for a thing properly, that is, with due wariness, and diligence, and perseverance, finds it; that a person seeking admission into a house in a proper manner, gains admission. The Saviour wished also to make the impression, that as, in common life, asking is necessary to obtaining, so asking of God that is, praying is necessary in order to receive favors from him.

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