be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. 27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. : 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from the for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I say unto yon, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Our Lord says, he came to fulfil the law, not to destroy it-the moral law, and we see in every line of this passage, the length and breadth of its extent. Inward purity, and nothing less is to be aimed at, and a readiness to forsake all sin, to part from the dearest idol, are enforced by the strongest motive, even that we may not be cast into hell. What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness? VERSES 38--48. 38 Ye have heard that it hath been said. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. In the remaining verses, the law of love is set before us more distinctly than in the Old Testament: and so we should have expected that he, whose love brought him down to this earth to offer forgiveness to his enemies, and everlasting happiness for eternal misery, at the cost of his own. life, should, as it were, disclose to us a vision of heaven, to allure us by the vivid contrast, from earth to heaven. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. CHAPTER VI. VERSES 1-18. TAKE heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore 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. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth : 4 That thine alms may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hyprocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to the Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be ye not therefore like unto them for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before yo ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : For thine is the kingdom,and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you : "Take Heed." How should the injunction lead us to take heed, as our Lord bids us, of our motives in our acts of charity, to our spirit in prayer and in fasting. How much that the world admires as splendid charity, to the eye of God, when thus tested, would be offensive; how much of prayer would be condemned as vain repetitions; how much hypocrisy in abstinence ! What is the empty approbation of men, to the being rewarded openly by our heavenly Father? We should do well to study closely the beautiful model of prayer our Lord has given us in this passage, and search our hearts to see that we are in charity with all men, that we ask not in vain for the forgiveness of our sins, and that self is being denied, whilst we are outwardly fasting. VERSES 19-25. 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal : 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where theives do not break through or 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. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkIf therefore the light that ness. 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. 25 Therefore I say uuto you, 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 ? These words would have no weight from a fellow mortal, but coming from him who left the glories of his Father's throne, how should they affect us! Judging by what we see and feel we might almost have thought such commands had never been given. Lord open our eyes! Let our eye be single, that our whole body may be full of light, for how great is our darkness! Let us cease the endeavor to reconcile what God has pronounced impossible. Let us love and serve him only, for we cannot serve two masters. VERSES 26-34. 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. 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 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? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? 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. 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. In every object around us, let us realise the power and love of God, and commit ourselves wholly to his keeping. How much careful anxiety would be avoided, could we exercise this trust in God, and receive these admonitions as from him, who spake as never man spake, as God manifest in the flesh. CHAPTER 7. VERSES 1-12. JUDGE not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye inete, 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? 5 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. 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 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? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to those that ask him? 12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is thelaw and the prophets. How much mercy is mingled with our Lords commands, how much to induce us to obey them! Judgment no doubt means here, condemn not, that we be not condemned, and that the measure, whether good or bad, shall be returned to us again. Well did the Saviour know what was in man; and how does he bring to light the hidden evil of our hearts! What a forcible appeal he makes to our consciences when we are correcting others, it ought to teach us to refrain from harsh censures, and first to forsake the sin that blinds our own eye. The remaining verses of this passage seem to imply, that without aid from our heavenly Father, we cannot obey these commands, or without the gift of the Holy Spirit do to others as we would they should do to us. But how encouraging, how intelligible to all, the commands, ask, seek, knock; and the added promises shall be fulfilled. Our Father in heaven will not do less for us than an earthly parent, and only good things will he bestow. |