SERMON XX.

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.

THERE is a stream of mercy flowing through every part of God's word. The whole intent and design of the Bible is, to teach man, as a fallen, and therefore a miserable creature, the way in which he may be happy. Its object is, the advancement of his everlasting interests; and it unfolds to view such a boundless display of the love of God toward our guilty race, as must fill the soul with wonder. It tells us, that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." The main purpose of the Scripture is to set forth this gracious Saviour, and to persuade men to come to him, in order that they may be saved, and made eternally happy.

1 John iii. 16, 17.

But though this be the prevailing object of divine revelation, yet the temporal suffering and sorrow, attached to human nature by sin, is not passed unnoticed or unpitied. The godliness which the Scriptures enforce, has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come. All our present wretchedness is traced back to sin, and with reference to this, the divine voice says, "do thyself no harm," proceed no further along the road that leadeth to destruction, but be wisebe holy-be happy.

In various parts of Scripture, we have given us lessons of the highest worldly wisdom, inculcated on the authority of God. And in the passage connected with our text, we find our Lord Jesus Christ collecting his disciples around him on the mount, and graciously giving them lessons of heavenly wisdom, mingled with others which were calculated to render them superior to the troubles of this present life. So that we may venture to say, that were this one discourse of our blessed Lord fully attended to, many of the springs of human sorrow and uneasiness would be completely dried up.

Of how many distresses, my brethren, is the disposition to look forward to imaginary future trouble, the fruitful source? We have a burden to bear to-day, yesterday also had its load, and we expect that to-morrow will have its burden also. To-day, our load may, or may not be heavy, at any rate it would be supportable, but not content with

this, we go back to yesterday, and forward to the morrow; and when we have laden ourselves with the burden of several days at once, we complain that our load is heavier than we can bear. But who laid all this upon us? Not He, who bids us "take no thought for the morrow : we act in violation of his command, and therefore we are unhappy. As then, we all seek for comfort, and all are inquiring "who will show us any good? how may we escape the vexation of body and spirit to which we are daily exposed; let us devote a little time to the consideration of the injunction given us in the text, by him who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He says, "Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. the evil thereof."

Sufficient unto the day is

The subject naturally divides itself into two parts for our consideration,

I. THE PRECEPT, and,

II. THE REASON OF IT.

I. Let us consider THE PRECEPT of our text. "Take no thought for the morrow." The passage is well known, and very often referred to. But I apprehend that it is more frequently looked upon as a good maxim, a piece of useful advice, which it is difficult to follow, and which we may attend to or not, as we please, rather than a precept of our Lord and Master, which we are bound

to obey, and to carry out into practice. Such is, however in fact, its real character: and common as are our deviations from it, every one of those deviations ought to be looked on as a sin; a sin which brings indeed present punishment with it, but which needs as much to be repented of, and blotted out by the blood of Christ, as those sins, of which the penalty is looked for only in the eternal world.

Let us view the passage in this light. Man is in reality, wholly destitute of the power of foreseeing any thing. He "knoweth not what shall be on the morrow." "He cannot tell what a day may bring forth." This we all are aware of, and often make it the subject of serious remark; yet how inconsistently do we act! We are looking forward, and anticipating future events; not only for days and weeks, but for months and years to come: sometimes we promise ourselves pleasures, to be enjoyed at a distant period of time, and sometimes we forebode evils, which will probably never occur, or which may occur to others, when our heads are laid low in the dust. Now much, very much of this is forbidden by our Lord and Master in the passage before us. But in order to our rightly understanding this precept, I think it will be necessary, before we inquire what the text prohibits, to consider what it does not forbid.

This is the more necessary, because the words of our translation are apparently very strong, and would seem to forbid all forethought, all prepara

tion for the future. The original word1 does not imply this. It is literally, let not your minds be divided,' be not full of care, be not anxious and solicitous about the morrow. The word is the same as St. Paul uses, when he says, Be careful for nothing, but in " every thing by prayer and supplication, make your requests known unto God." 2 We are not therefore to understand our Lord as forbidding all forethought with respect to the future. We are told that "the prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself." We are told, to "go to the ant, and consider her ways, and be wise, which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." 3 The providential appointments of God, moreover, render it necessary that man should use forethought. The husbandman and the merchant must look forward, they must be making provision for future months and years.

And, as prudent forethought cannot be forbidden in the text, so neither can active exertion and steady diligence in our different callings; these are necessary for the well-being, and almost for the very existence of man: yet they are only necessary in making preparation for the future, a future which we must look forward to, and provide for. Again and again do the Scriptures inculcate this

1 μεριμνήσητε.

2 Philip. iv. 6.

3 Proverbs vi. 6-8 : xxvii. 12.