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God," without sinking under "the burden and "heat of the day." When the floors are full of wheat, so that they can eat in plenty, and be satisfied, they will indeed gladly bear witness to His goodness, who is replenishing their bodies with good things, that they may live and glorify Him in the world. But, the gratitude and devotion of persons who are partakers of the bread of life, depend not on fruitful seasons. The man who has that bread in store, will continue "strong in faith, giving glory to God," no less during days of dearth, than of abundance. His principal hope and stay are, not from beneath, but from above. He will, accordingly, always be able to determine with the Prophet,

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Although the fields shall yield no meat; the "flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there "shall be no herd in the stalls: yet will I re"joice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my "salvation." (Habakkuk iii. 17, 18.)

SERMON XV.

MATTHEW vi. 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.

THE good counsel contained in these words, is eminently worthy of remembrance and observation. It was spoken immediately by our Lord himself, and on that account should be kept always in our minds. But, besides that, the nature and subject of the precept are such as should render it universally interesting. It gives direction how we should daily order our minds and conduct, with a view to the morrow, or succeeding day. Hence, the text appears in many respects suitable to every description of persons; and, in a special manner, it seems adapted to men of an honest and sober character, who possess little, or nothing in store, for their subsistence. None indeed, be their means and provision the most ample, may reckon themselves absolutely secure concerning the morrow, and be thus free from all temptation to take thought

for it. Yet, the many who possess scarcely enough for it's probable wants, are most strongly tempted to do so, in a manner unbecoming their profession. Let me, accordingly, solicit your attention to this counter injunction, or advice; and, first, while I endeavour clearly to state it's legitimate meaning and extent.

"Take no thought," said Jesus, " for the mor"row." Against this commandment, in an unqualified sense, much objection, which it would be difficult to remove, has been raised by men of disobedient hearts. In fact, Holy Scripture has many passages of a similar kind, liable to be misrepresented and mistaken by such characters:—for example, Jesus said, in a former part of His discourse," Resist not evil: but "whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, "turn to him the other also. And if any man "will sue thee at the law, and take away thy "coat, let him have thy cloke also. Give to "him that asketh thee, and from him that "would borrow of thee turn not thou away." (Matt. v. 39, 40, 42.) These, perhaps even more than the text, are open to the ridicule and profane contradiction of perverse men; but scarcely ever hath an honest-minded person, piously disposed to walk in the truth, been misled by, or offended at them. Persons thus minded, apprehend, without much difficulty, the proper

drift of such like sayings, and observe them with a reasonable discretion. They consider themselves, being disciples of Christ, thereby instructed, in very forcible terms, to exercise patience and forbearance under injuries, to overcome evil with good, rather than have recourse to contention, to be merciful and liberal without a hope of receiving any thing in return, and, by the passage which I am about explaining, to abstain from fruitless cares and anxieties, as men who can trust in Divine Providence, for a supply of the necessaries of life, in time of need.

However, concerning the text, I will venture to remark, that it is rendered somewhat too strongly and absolutely in our English version. According to the original language, instead of saying take no thought, Jesus said, "Be not "distracted with care-do not anxiously dis"turb yourselves-about the morrow." Such, undoubtedly, is a more accurate signification of the words addressed, by our Divine Master, to His disciples, then collected around Him. And the difference is far from immaterial; since thus, He will seem, not to have indiscriminately prohibited any providential thought on the part of man, but only a degree of it amounting to fretfulness and mistrust. The interpretation, which common sense and honesty should teach us to

put on the admonition, as it now stands, is thereby shewn to be neither less, nor more, than what His words were originally adapted to express.

Be not distracted, then,-be not anxiously careful about the morrow, is the proper meaning of my text. Such an exhortation leaves sufficient room for the necessary measure of forethought, and prudent exertion. It does not forbid a man to consider, one day, how he shall maintain himself the next, to provide in summer what he shall require in winter, or to sow in the present, that he may reap in the succeeding year. A Christian is certainly permitted, yea, commanded, to make these, and other like preparations for his future subsistence, notwithstanding the verses under consideration, and some few more of a similar character. Only, because the tendency of the human mind is to be too thoughtful, in a temporal sense, for the days to come; because men are apt to postpone, or entirely to forget, amid their carefulness for the morrow, things of infinitely more importance, and to be solicitous about the future time, almost in proportion as solicitude must be useless; therefore, our worldly thoughts and counsels are, by the gospel, placed under a salutary restraint. We are advised to seek, with a due sense of it's primary value, the everlasting good