SERMON VIII.

MATT. VI. 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, the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.

and despise

THE passage of my text is taken from our Lord's celebrated Sermon on the Mount, which contains so many beauties, that criticism wearies herself in pointing out the excellences and elegances of this most exquisite piece of composition. Without, then, following the steps of my predecessors, and reiterating praises of beauties long since pointed out, and exhibiting peculiarities already developed, I would direct your attention to some less obvious,

but perhaps more useful criticism. ? quad zem

It has been frequently remarked, that this ser mon of our Lord is rather an unconnected collec tion of didactic truths, than a regular systematic composition. This observation is in some degree true, but not to the extent which some suppose; for, upon an attentive perusal of this discourse, we

shall find a very close connection of ideas, and that one thought strikes out another, according to the justest rules of composition. This circumstance not only materially increases its beauty, but throws considerable light upon the meaning of many passages. I shall therefore not consider my time misemployed in making a few critical remarks on this head, upon the chapter from whence my text is taken, as it will tend much to elucidate its meaning.

The first four verses of this chapter contain a wholesome admonition against ostentation in almsgiving. "Therefore," says our Lord in the 2nd verse, "when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have. glory of men." This idea immediately strikes out the admonitory idea contained in the 5th verse. "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men." The idea of their ostentatiously giving alms in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men, is parallel to and suggests the idea of ostentatiously praying in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Observe here the natural association of ideas.

Again. Our Lord advises how alms ought to be given, enforcing what is right, after having first

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shewn what was wrong. "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly." This is precisely parallel to, and suggests the idea, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Almost the same words are used to express the two parallel ideas. The 7th verse is an improvement upon the ideas which had preceded; "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathens do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Our Lord here cautions his disciples against the supposition of the charm of a voluble repetition of the same prayer, as he had warned them of an equally culpable absurdity of praying in public, to be seen of men.

When he had shewn them how alms ought to be given, and how prayers ought to be offered up, viz. in secret, that in both cases they might be rewarded openly, he then, after having shewn them how they ought not to pray, shews them how they ought, by teaching them the Lord's Prayer. Observe, then, the different links of thought; mark the natural association and train of ideas, There seems, at first, no possible connection of ideas be

tween the 1st verse, containing admonitions respecting alms-giving, and the 9th verse, commencing with the Lord's Prayer, and yet there is the closest possible. The Lord's Prayer closes at the 13th

verse.

The ideas in the 13th and 14th verses are obviously elicited from the 12th verse.

The 16th verse commences with admonitions respecting fasting. Prayer and fasting were inseparably connected among the Jews. So that the train of thought is here again natural and easy. Our Lord, too, speaks of fasting, precisely as he had done concerning praying and alms-giving."Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast: but thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Every idea, sentence, and almost every word, is exactly parallel to the ideas, sentences, and words descriptive of the proper manner of alms-giving and praying.

The connection of ideas between the 19th verse and the foregoing verses, is not so obvious. The words in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," seem to have struck out the idea,"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,

where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."

The whole of the remaining part of the chapter is a developement of the same idea, and as the thought is more clearly unravelled, we have reason to think that the idea in the 19th verse was kindled by the words "Give us this day our daily bread," for in the 25th verse we read, "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:" and again, in ver. 34, "Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

Though it may be rather difficult to trace the association of ideas contained in the 19th verse with any preceding, yet the thread of thought is preserved unbroken throughout the remainder of the chapter. The 22nd and 23d verses," The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light: 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," (i. e. in proportion as our hearts are placed upon earthly or heavenly riches, so in proportion will be our spiritual darkness, or our light,)—are entirely connected with the three preceding verses, more especially the last, "for where your treasure is, there