are ye anxiously concerned about raiment? consider the lilies* of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin: yet Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Therefore if God so adorn the herbage, which may be in the field today and the morrow, be cast into the oven,† how much more you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, inquire not anxiously like the heathen, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or with what shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knows that ye need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness ;‡ and all these things shall be superadded to you. Be ye not therefore, anxious about the morrow; for the morrow will bring its own concerns. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good

* Consider those lilies. Allowing what may be, at least, generally admitted with safety, that our Master drew his illustrations from present and familiar objects, his reference to the lilies and the herbage, at that day in the field, will fix the time of this discourse to that period assigned to it, by the Chronological arrangement adopted in this Harmony: namely in May A. D. 31, between the feasts of the Passover and Pentecost.

+ The inhabitants of the East make use of dry stubble, straw, or withered herbs, to heat their ovens.-Harmer's Observations.

The kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness, imply the reign. or kingdom of Christ, and the pure and perfect system of morality and religion taught by the founder of the Christian Church or kingdom. Micah defines the righteousness of the Lord to be what the Lord requires, Micah vi. 5, 8. Paul contrasts the righteousness of God with that which the Jews sought to establish, Rom. iii. 21, and x. 3. This righteousness of their own was what they had adopted as a moral system consisting of numerous rites and ceremonies, founded, in part, on the letter of the Law, but, more fully, on their own traditions. Oh! Let the reign of Christ or heaven triumph in the human soul, Let all the powers and affections of man be subject to the dictates of this holy religion, and all heaven is bound to make the man happy and provide for his exigencies. Eternal truth shall be maintained in that blessed declaration: They that seek the Lord shall not want any good. Ps. xxxiv. 10.

|| "Sufficient for the day are the present troubles of life, and God would not have us to add to them, by any unreasonable solicitousness for the future."-Samuel Clark,

pleasure to give you the kingdom. Not every one calling me Master,* shall enter the kingdom of the Highest Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in the highest Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Master, have we not taught in thy name, and in thy name cast out demons, and in thy name done many wonderful deeds? Then shall I acknoweldge to them, I never knew you! Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. Why call ye me Master, and do not the things which I say? Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will compare him to a prudent man, who building an house, dug deep and laid the foundation on a rock and the rains descended, and the floods arose, the winds blew, and the streams beat vehemently on that house, but it felt not, nor was it shaken; for it was founded on a rock. But whosoever hears these my words and does them not, shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand without a foundation and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and the storm beat vehemently against that house, and immediately it fell, and great was its ruin.†

The word Master is the most appropriate title to be used by a Jew in addressing a prophet or teacher; when heathens are speakers, the appellation Sir, is then the most suitable. The meaning of our Lord in this place is, that no man, however exalted in privilege, or endowed by gifts, or distinguished for professions, shall obtain the approbation of God, or acceptance in the kingdom of Jesus, if he be not possessed of the spirit and mind of Christ. Nothing but a meck, holy, and obedient mind, is fitted for the kingdom of Jesus.

+ In Judea and all tropical countries, the rain often falls in great torrents, producing rivers which sweep away the soil from the hills; and such houses as are built of brick, imperfectly prepared, by being only dried in the sun, literally melt away before these violent rains. What a perfect picture of a nominal church, founded and built by an unskilful or unholy minister! and of all the unhallowed attempts of men, who imagine they can establish a name or accumulate wealth by unholy and crafty inventions.

SECTION THIRTIETH.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

Then Jesus beholding a great concourse of people, ascended the Mount, and sitting down,* his disciples came to him, and resuming† his discourse, he taught them, saying:

Do not imagine that I am come to subvert the law

*This was the signal of his intention to continue his instructions; for the Jewish teachers generally sat whilst they preached or taught the people. Accordingly the disciples resorted to their Master on perceiving his intention thus manifested by sitting down. The word disciples, here must not be limited to the number twelve, which he had lately selected to be his constant companions, but it must be understood as including all those who believed in Christ's divine commission, and followed him, at least occasionally, to hear his divine instructions.

+ Much diversity of opinion exists among the Harmonists, concerning the chronology of the sermon on the plain and that delivered on the mount. Priestley and Clarke think there is no inconsistency in the supposition, that they are the same; for Jesus might have stood in the plain whilst he healed the sick, and afterward retired to the mount, for the greater convenience of his hearers. Newcome, Lightfoot, Pilkington, Michaelis, Richardson, Priestley and Townsend, are agreed in considering these discourses as the same, notwithstanding some diversity in the narrative of the two Evangelists. Doddridge, Bedford, M'Knight and others maintain the contrary opinion; believing them two distinct events. I have attempted to reconcile both parties in considering the sermon on the plain, as a part of the sermon on the mount, which immediately succeeded. The sermon on the plain I conceive to be peculiarly addressed to the disciples; that on the mount to be adapted to a mixed audience, still keeping in view the instruction of the Pastoral office, and the characteristic features of the Christian religion. Matthew and Luke. have both infringed on each other's narrative, probably on account of some inaccuracy in the memorandums, from which they compiled their history, or a lapsus memoriæ of the order pursued in the discourse. This has been assumed in my efforts to restore order and connexion in the two discourses, of which no candid and intelligent Christian will venture to complain.

Many visionaries have arisen in different ages of the Christian church, who, notwithstanding this solemn and plain declaration of our blessed Master, have ventured to affirm and teach that the law of Moses is abolished, merely from a supposition that it was too grievous a burden to be borne. But there never existed a stricter

and the prophets; I come not to abrogate but to fulfil. Verily I say to you, heaven and earth may as soon pass away, as one yood or point* pass from the law till all be accomplished. Therefore, whosoever

shall violate the least of these commandments and teach men accordingly, shall be least in the kingdom of the highest heaven: but whosoever will both do and teach them, shall be great† in the kingdom of the

system of morality delivered by God to man, than that contained in this sermon. Alas! for those who take liberty to sin because grace abounds, and use the Christian liberty as a cloak for maliciousness. Jesus, the Wisdom of God, no doubt foresaw this disposition, and therefore on the very first step to found the new dispensation, he takes occasion to caution his followers against such a grievous deception, and thereby disperse the evil surmises of his Jewish hearers.

The yood is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and a point is either a vowel point in Hebrew, or one of those points used to distinguish certain letters, such as resh and daleth, he and cheth, which have a great resemblance to each other. Capellus in Arcano Punct, and several other writers, have largely discussed this passage, in the controversy about the authority of the Hebrew vowel points. The opinion that these points existed in the time of Christ, and that the allusion is here made to them, is as probable as any other view of the subject. Our Lord's meaning, however, cannot be mistaken. Not even a particle of that holy law of the Lord given to man through Moses and the Prophets, shall fail to be accomplished, nor suffer abrogation by any subsequent communication from the same unchangeable God. Those writers who are so much addicted to expatiate on the dissimilarity of the law of Moses and Christ, as to continually diffuse the sentiment, that the former has been supplanted by the latter, cannot have reflected on the support they give to the enemies of Revelation, who have always urged this supposed disagreement, as an argument against the doctrine which assigns their origin to the same unchangeable Jehovah,

Here, as well as in many other passages of the New Testament, the doctrine of diversity of rank and degrees in spiritual attainments and happiness in the future kingdom of God, is clearly indicated, When the mother of John and James entreated Christ to give the chief rank in his kingdom to her two sons, Jesus did not inform her that no such distinction would there subsist; on the contrary, the opinion being admitted, Christ assures her and all others, that elevation in rank is not by grace, nor attainable by favour, but destined by eternal justice for those alone, who have qualified themselves to be the righteous recipients of so great rewards. Matt. xx. 23; and Mark x. 37, 40.

highest heaven. For I say to you: Except your righteousness* exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in nowise enter the kingdom of the highest heaven.

Ye have heard what was saidto the ancients: Thou shalt do no murder, and whosoever shall commit murder, shall be liable to the sentence of the Judges. But I tell you: Whosoever shall be unjustly angry with his brother, shall be accountable to the Judges; and whosoever shall call his brother vile man, shall be exposed to the sentence of the Sanhedrim; but whosoever shall say apostate wretch, shall be held a bond slave in the fiery Gehenna.† Therefore, if

* The Pharisees affirmed that only the outward action was commanded or forbidden in the law, and interpreted all its precepts accordingly. On this principle, they boasted of having performed every thing that was required of them. Nay, they were so arrogant as to think they could do even more than was required. This pernicious morality, destructive of all virtue, Jesus loudly condemned, as was fit, in the beginning of his ministry.-M'Knight.

Hence we see that all that devotedness of soul, and purity of intention, which constitute the very foundation of the Christian morality, were utterly disregarded by the Pharisees, as making no part of their moral system.

† For the illustration of this obscure passage, which has long puzzled the Commentators and spread terror in the ranks of the superstitious, there appears nothing more needed, than to simply state the facts to which our Lord alludes. Here are three degrees of crime mentioned, and three degrees of punishment respectively annexed to each, proportionate to the powers invested in the three courts of Judicature, held among the Jews. The crimes are ; 1, causeless anger; 2, anger accompanied with expressions of insult and contempt; 3, hatred and detestation accompanied with execration. The two first are threatened with temporal punishment, or the animadversions of the Jewish tribunals; and it is highly analogous to our Master's reasoning, that the punishment annexed to the last, should be also temporal, seeing the crime was the same in nature, as the second, though somewhat aggravated. On the contrary, to suppose with many commentators, that for the little difference of saying fool instead of simpleton, our Lord should pass from such a sentence as a Jewish court could pronounce, to the awful doom of eternal punishment in hell-fire, is what cannot be reconciled to any rational rule of faith, or known measure of justice. This opinion will be found untenable from attention to the construction of the Greek.