turn the desires from things of eternal interest. This was illustrated by the case of the person who had requested him to interpose, that he might obtain his civil rights. Here was a Teacher sent from God, one whom many acknowledged to be an extraordinary prophet; and some, the Messiah himself; and yet this man does not avail himself of his presence to know what he must do to be saved, but applies to him to undertake to put him in possession of his share of an inheritance,- -a sufficient proof that his sordid soul was wholly absorbed in earthly interests. And this will further show us what our Lord here means by covetousness. Not the wicked desire of acquiring what belonged to another; for by the Mosaic law he had a right to his share of the inheritance, and there is no intimation that he desired more than his share; nor does covetousness here and in other parts of scripture mean the hoarding up of wealth, so as to refuse to apportion that degree of it which duty requires to be expended and given away. This is the desire of keeping; but covetousness includes the desire of having, of increasing wealth even when there is no design to sink into churlishness and illiberality. And the great rule by which this studium habendi, this criminal and dangerous desire of gain, is ascertained to exist, is, when it prevents us from applying with our whole heart to the work of our salvation. For then the worldly desires extinguish or render inefficient spiritual ones; prayer is restrained, or languid and powerless; and those words of St. John become applicable to our case, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." To guard us against this sin,-a sin which does not alarm like obvious immoralities, which puts itself under even virtuous disguises of prudence and diligence, and which, therefore, often steals upon men

--

unawares, the solemn parable which follows was spoken. The moral which the parable was designed to illustrate is, that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth. Those who think that these words merely signify that riches have no power to secure a long life, not only ascribe a very trite and an almost useless remark to our Lord, unworthy of his wisdom; but fail entirely to show that the parable illustrates that sentiment, beyond the bare fact that a rich man suddenly and prematurely dies; whilst many of its most striking circumstances are, in that view, quite superfluous and irrelevant. does it come up to our Lord's meaning, to take life, as Schleusner, Koinoel, and others, in the sense of happiness; as if Christ had said, For a man's happiness depends not on his riches;" for surely that is a truth very easy to be shown by many other considerations than that the opulent, like others, are liable to sudden death; and indeed the answer to so imperfect a view of the subject would be,

Nor

They are at least happy in their riches so long as they live." These and several other interpretations are frigid and trifling, and only show how often the learned, if not themselves spiritual men, pass over, without discernment, the most weighty and important lessons of holy writ. By LIFE Our Lord obviously means, men's true INTEREST; and that he teaches us, consists not in worldly abundance, but in being rich towards God, or, in respect to God; that is, spiritually rich, endowed with those things which form the treasure of the soul, and will remain its treasure after death. Of this great truth the parable is a solemnly impressive illustration.

Verse 16. The ground.-Xwpa, the same as aypos, the land owned and cultivated by himself; for he is designated as already a rich man.

merry.

Verse 17. And he thought within himself, &c. This opens his character. He is full of thoughts and plans; the very increase of his wealth, through the extraordinary fertility of the season, fills him with anxiety; but in the midst of all that, he thought within himself: he thought not thankfully of God, the giver; he thought not of himself as the accountable steward of a superior Lord; he thought not of the interests of his spiritual and immortal nature; and though he thought of future life, he thought of it as certain, not uncertain, and as a scene of sensual enjoyment, not of holy useful works and diligent preparation for eternity. We have therefore the complete picture of a prosperous man of the world, living without regard to God.

Verses 19-21. And I will say to my soul, &c. This is truly epicurean. When the easy and temporary work of providing places in which he might deposit an overflowing wealth was completed, he resolved to discharge his cares, summon his soul from a vigorous application to the gaining of wealth, to its enjoyment in ease, mirth, and luxury. So he resolved to and act in future; but God said, Thou fool, appov, this night thy soul, which thou hast resolved to summon to surrender itself to ease and low gratifications, shall be required of thee; literally, they require, or shall require. This form of speech gives some sanction to the opinion of the

say

be

Jews, that good angels convey the departed spirits of the just to paradise, and evil angels bear away the souls of the wicked to torment. Certainly there is nothing in their notions contrary to scripture; though whether they are taught there, may be doubted. The plural verb in this passage may used impersonally, an instance of which occurs in the 48th verse of this chapter. Death is here spoken of as requiring back a loan. This is in the manner of the Jews, and conveys a striking thought. So in the Wisdom of Solomon, xv. 8, we have, "When his life, which was lent him, shall be demanded,"-the same vcrbbeing used as in the text. The continuance of the soul in connexion with the body is the continuance of life; their separation is death. So long as the soul remains in the body, life is lent us that we may apply it to the great purposes for which it is dispensed; but at death the loan is demanded back, and the soul is summoned to answer for the use made of it.

Then whose shall those things be? &c.— This question is asked to mark the more strongly the poverty of the man reputed rich. What he had he was about to lose: his wealth was about to pass into unknown hands; or, if known, this mitigated not the case, it was to drop suddenly from his

g Matt. vi. 20.

act than from the word used, though some have laid much stress upon it. To give the kingdom signifies the entire concurrence of the Father in the work of Christ, and his acceptance of it; his sealing and confirming every act of grace, and becoming a willing and rejoicing party to the administration of eternal glory to Christ's true disciples, in completion of that grand redeeming purpose, which sprung from his own eternal and infinite love.

Verse 33. Sell that ye have, and give alms. If this be understood as spoken to all Christ's disciples, it must be understood comparatively: Sell of what you have, a due and liberal portion of it; and be not like the rich man just mentioned, whose care was to hoard up all his fruits, and to provide for his own indulgence also. And it is more consistent with the whole scope of the discourse to interpret the command in this comparative sense, than, by taking it strictly, to confine it wholly to the disciples then present. Nor did they understand it as an injunction to sell all they had; for the women who ministered to him of their substance do not appear to have sold their property; and though for a time after the resurrection, the church at Jerusalem had all things in common, what the rest parted with was not so much to give alms in the proper sense, as to provide a common stock in which all participated in a season of danger and persecution. Nor was this introduced into any other of the primitive churches; which shows that it rested upon some peculiarity, and was not of general obligation; if indeed even at Jerusalem it was ever binding, or more than

h 1 Peter i. 13.

a spontaneous act. Further, in the writings of the apostles to the churches, we perceive the distinction of rich and poor, spoken of as permanent, and duties enjoined upon each. The precept is then to be understood as lying against that hoarding up of wealth which interferes with the duty of generous almsgiving. Hence it is enjoined to sell, because a great part of the treasure laid up in those times were goods of various kinds, as corn, fruits, spices, valuable unguents, and to a large extent vestments, as well

as money.

Bags.-Purses, which, by not growing old and decaying, hold and scatter not the treasure put into them.

A treasure in the heavens which faileth not.-A treasure which fails not, either by Loss or EXHAUSTION, secure and incapable of waste. The accidents to which such hoards as the Jews were accustomed to accumulate were liable are suggested by the allusion to the thief and the moth: the latter comprehends all those small insects which prey upon the corn and fruits in the granary, and upon garments in the wardrobe.

Verse 34. For where your treasure, &c. See the note on Matt. vi. 21.

Verse 35. Let your loins, &c.-As the upper garment of the Asiatics is flowing, so was it necessary to confine it within the girdle when any one addressed himself to important service. Hence the adjective evwvos, well girded, signifies in Greek writers well prepared for any action, as fighting, running, serving, &c. In Hierocles we have it well turned to a moral sense: "This was the great end of the Pythagoric discipline, that men should