all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the mors row fhall take thought for the things of itfelf fufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. As this difcourfe was written many years after it was spoken by our Lord; fo, probably, through a defect of memory in the Hiftorian, what our Lord faid immediately before it, which introdu ced it, and was made the ground or reafon of it was forgotten; and therefore was not related by him. This difcourfe, as it now ftands in the hiftory, begins thus. Therefore take no thought for your life, &c. which words fuppofe something to have been faid before, to which they were re lated, and from which they follow as a con fequence or conclufion; whereas the words that im mediately precede them, they have no conne ction with, nor dependence upon. Verse 24. No man can ferve two masters: for either be will bate the one, and love the other or else he will bold to the one, and defpife the other. Ye cannot ferve God and Mammon. Therefore take no thought for your life, &c. Here I obferve, that though a man cannot ferve God and Mammon; yet it does not follow that therefore he ought to take no thought for his life; the latter of thefe propofitions does not follow as a natural confequence, or as a juft conclufion from the former; and therefore, as I faid before, the Hiftorian muft have dropped that part of our Lord's difcourfe, which immediately preceded the difcourfe I now refer to, and which was made the ground or reafon of it. However, the defign of this dif courfe of our Lord, (imperfectly related by the Hiftorian,) appears plainly to be this, wizyto

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warn his difciples and followers against an anxi ous and needless care and folicitude for the things of this life, when no good purpose can be anfwered by it. This is an inftance of the weaknefs and folly which too too often takes place, a mong men, by which they increase and multiply troubles to themfelves. It is true, that many natural evils take place, as they are the result of the prefent conftitution of things, man being. fo conftituted as that he cannot partake of pleafure without being liable to pain. But then, a wife man will take care not to multiply those evils, nor trouble and perplex his mind about what may never happen; he will be no farther folicitous about the things of this life, than as that folicitude is neceffary towards the attaining the conveniencies and comforts of it; and this is that wisdom which our Lord here advised his difciples and followers to make themselves masters of.

Verse 25. Take no thought for your life, what ye fhall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for the body, what ye shall put on is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment. In this verse are two things to be confidered. First, the advice and counfel given by our Lord: Secondly, the argument he used to render that advice efficacious upon the minds of the people.

The advice is expreffed in these words, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye fhall drink; nor yet for the body, what ye shall put on. The argument ufed to back this advice is expreffed in the following words, is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment. First, as to the advice, it is to be obferved, that thofe words take no thought for your

life are not to be understood in their utmost Latitude, but are to be limited and confined to all anxious and unneceffary thoughtfulness for the things of this life. Man is a creature who depends, not only upon the bountiful hand of providence for his fubfiftence, but also he depends upon his own application and industry, for the partaking of thofe benefits that God, in the courfe of his providence, has prepared for him. So that it is fo far from being blameable in a man to take all proper and neceffary thought and care for the things of this life, that, on the contrary, it is his duty fo to do. But then, this thought and care is not to be extended be yond its proper bounds; it must lead a man to plow and fow, that is, to make, ufe of all pro per means for the procuring the comforts, and guarding against the evils, of life; and when that is done there he muft ftop; he must not needlessly perplex and diftrefs his mind about futurity, about what may, or may not, happen, a bout evils that are wholly out of his power either to prevent, or remedy, he muft do his own duty, and leave the event to providence, it is God that must give the increafe. The thoughtfulness therefore that is here prohibited, is not fuch as is neceffary towards the procuring the conveniencies and comforts of life; but it is fuch an unneceflary and anxious thought and care for the things of this world as answers no good end, but is in itself a fore evil. Having confidered the advice, I come fecondly, to take notice of the argument ufed by our Lord, to ren der that advice efficacious upon the minds of his people. Is not the life more than meat, and the

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body than raiment. Which is the fame as if he had faid, hath God in the course of his providence given life and being to us, hath he given us bodies naturally expofed to want and neceffity, and will he not in the courfe of his provi dence provide whatever is neceffary for the fupport of both? yes furely. All unneceffary thoughtfulness for the things of this life is therefore blameable, and ought to be avoided, as it reflects great difhonour upon the common parent of mankind.

1 Verfe 26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they for not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they. In this verfe our Lord purfues the argument mentioned in the preceding verfe, by appealing to experience and common obfervation for the proof of it. Be hold the fowls of the air, which are free from all thought and concern for futurity, and there fore make no provision for it; they neither fow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet God, in the courfe of his providence, makes provifion for them; and will he not much more do fo for you, who not only are to ufe your own industry, but also are intended to act a better part, and to answer a more noble defign in the creation than they? And the answer to this question is here fuppofed and implied, viz. that he moft certainly will.

Verfe 27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his ftature. Our Lord here ufes another argument to back and enforce the advice that he had before given, by obferving that the thoughtfulness he condemned was fruitless and vain, that it anfwered no good purpose, that it

makes no alteration in the cafe to which it is applied, but leaves things juft as it finds them; and therefore fuch thoughtfulness ought to be dif carded; which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his ftature.

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Verfes 28, 29, 30. And why take ye thought for raiment? confider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I fay unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of thefe. Wherefore if God fo clothe the grafs of the field, which to day is, and to-morrow is caft into the oven, fhall be not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Our Lord in thefe verfes re-affumes the argument he had before used, taken from the divine providence, to diffwade his followers from that unneceffary thoughtfulness he condemned; and as he had before applied it to the cafe of food; fo he here applies it to that of raiment. And why take ye thought for raiment ? confider those inanimate creatures the lilies of the field, that contribute nothing towards the continuation, or the ornament of their being; they grow, tho they neither toil, nor fpin; and yet fhew forth more real beauty than Solomon in all his glory could do. Wherefore if God, in the courfe of his providence, fo clothes the lilies of the field, that are to answer an inferior purpose, and that are to continue as it were but for a day, fhall he not much more do the fame by his creature man, whom he hath defigned to answer a much nobler end in the creation, and to have a much longer continuance in it than they? And the answer to this question is alfo here fuppofed and implied, viz. that he most affuredly will.