to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." *

If the eyes of our mind be not clear, so as to see that the service of God is our only real happiness, then shall we fall into the fatal mistake of seeking this world's goods, of seeking the praise of men ; but we cannot serve God and the world. The world and all things in it are made for His service, and for the use of His children, but if we care much for the good things of this life, and for what men may think of us, then we shall find that Mammon is taking the place of God in our hearts.

Verse 25. "Therefore (said the Lord Jesus)-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 meat, and the body than raiment?" The people stood upon the mountain, and the birds flew over head, and the wild flowers grew in the turf at their feet, and Jesus said unto them

26. "Behold the fowls of the 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?"

Why then are you full of care for your daily food? Does not your Father know that ye need it? He takes care even of the little birds, and will He not much more take care of you ? It is folly. Not the most anxious thought can add one hour to your lives, any more than you can add one inch to your height.

27-29. "Which of you by taking thonght can add one cubit to his stature? And why take ye thought for rai

The meaning of the word Mammon is "Riches," and our Saviour uses the word as the name of an Idol; for the good things of this life are indeed the Idol which is very apt to steal away our hearts from God.

P

ment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 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?"

There is no need to add a word to this lovely lesson given by Jesus to the people; they saw in all its beauty the bright Lily of the land of the East, one of the most glorious of flowers. They knew it would be trod upon by the crowd, or gathered for fuel when the stalks were dry, yet the robes of a king were not so beautiful. We see bright flowers round us every day, and we know that the same kind hand made us and them. can give to us the beauty He gives to them if He will, and He will give us all that is good for us to have. Let us then put from us all anxious care, and learn from the birds and the flowers the lesson of trust our blessed Lord would teach us from them in his next words.

He

Verses 31-34. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: (who know not God) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 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."

How much needless care we might spare ourselves, if we thus felt and thus acted! How often have we fretted and grieved about things that were, we thought, to happen to-morrow, or at some time not yet come: the time came at last, and everything was different from what we expected. We need not have been

in such trouble. Oh let us be wise; let us serve God to-day, and trust him for to-morrow.

Prayer.

O thou who art the light and the life of men ;* God, the Father of glory, give unto us the Spirit of wisdom, and of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; that the eyes of our minds being enlightened, we may know what is the hope of his calling; that we may be able to choose for ourselves the true riches by which we are made heirs of glory, and that we may understand the greatness of thy power, by which thou wilt make all who truly believe in thee able to serve thee. This world and all that is in it must soon pass away.

O make us wise to choose those good things that cannot be hurt by time, and which death, instead of taking from us, shall by the power of the Redeemer, give us to be entirely our own. And while we live, give us grace to trust thee for all we need, to be careful only that we are faithful to serve thee in all our duties. Give us to learn from every bird and flower, that thou who carest for them wilt also care for us; so shall we be able, with free hearts, to seek first thy kingdom and thy righteousness. Amen.

XLVIII.

The Lord Jesus Christ knew the heart of man; He knew how sharp-sighted we are to see the faults of others; how blind we are to see our own. He went on to say

MATTHEW VII. 1, 2. "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

To find fault with our neighbours, to see and wonder at their * Eph. i. 17; iv. 19.

failings, is so common, that we seldom talk together for any time without falling into this sin.* It seems as though we put it instead of doing right ourselves, and that to see the bad that is in them, in some way made up for the bad that is in ourselves. Instead of this, it is adding sin to sin. If we know so well what other people should do, why do we ever commit sin ourselves? By our own rule we shall be judged; by our own measure of what is right and kind, shall we be measured in our dealings with men, who will surely treat us as we treat them; for there are but few in the world, who, taking Christ for their pattern, return good for evil. But not only by men shall we be judged as we judge. God himself, though He bear long with us, in the end will so judge us; for if we die with hard, uncharitable, and unforgiving hearts, we are none of his -we are not fit to dwell with him.† If it is sin we hate,—and if we love God we shall surely hate sin-let us fight against it in ourselves; let us bring all our sharpness of sight against the evil that is in ourselves: this is the way to find favour with God.‡

The Jews had a proverb, which the Lord Jesus here put them in mind of, making use of it, to shew them the folly of crying out against the faults of others, while they cared little or nothing for their own faults.§

* Leighton.

+ Rom. viii. 9.

1 Cor. xi. 31; xiii.

§ Talmud, as quoted by Olshausen. The Talmud is a book written some time after Christ, in which the Jews have collected the writings of the Old Testament, and their own traditions and sayings, with their thoughts upon them, by which, as our Lord himself said, "they made the word of God of none effect."

In this book it is written-"If a man say to any one, cast out the splinter from thine eye, he straightway answereth, do thou also cast out the beam from thine own eye." The saying was a good one, and the Lord Jesus brought it forward, as He often did the other proverbs in use among the Jews, to show them the clearness of the truths He taught. In the Talmud were collected many sayings of the good and wise Rabbi Hillel, the father of that Simeon who took our infant Lord in his arms in the temple. And Simeon was the father of the wise Gamaliel, at whose feet the Apostle Paul was brought up. See Olshausen on the Gospels, Vol. i. page 262.

Verses 3-5. "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 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? 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."

How great is the difference between a beam and a mote! The more sin there is in a man's self, the more busy he will be to mark the sins of others, the more blind to his own sins. It is a good rule by which we may judge of our state before God. Are we very sharp-sighted to the faults of our neighbours? then we may be sure we are very blind to our own.

When the temptation to be hard-judging of other people comes across us, we should do wisely in that very moment to raise this prayer to God-" Lord! open my eyes to see my own sins." Though the Lord Jesus warns us not to be busy about the faults of our neighbours, but to turn our thoughts to getting rid of our own,' * he nevertheless will have us to know the

* No man can fairly judge another, for he does not know what are his trials. That which is a great temptation to one man, is none at all to another. We do not all come into the world with minds and bodies framed alike. The man of strong nerves, and a firm, sound mind and body, may judge harshly him whose weak head and unstable mind makes him an easy prey to every temptation; but how does the judger himself stand before God? "To whom much is given, of him shall much be required. Does he bring all the powers of his sound mind and body to the service of his God?

I once knew a child, who, as she passed from childhood into youth, much distressed her friends by her occasional want of truth. There were times when she denied every thing; yet, in other respects, she was a good and religious child. She died; and her body was examined, to find out what was the cause of her death. The surgeons found that there was a disease which affected the circulation of her blood; and, from time to time, must have caused a pressure on the brain. They asked if sometimes she had not entirely lost her memory!!!

What a lesson not to judge! God only can know the secrets of his creature's minds and bodies. And He does know. He pities where sinful man often con