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SERMON XVIII.

TREASURES.

S. MATT. vi. 19, 20.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

THE Providence of God has so ordered the world that the constant effort of all men should be to acquire something for themselves. It may be said, on the whole, that no man is ever quite satisfied, but finds something on which he may wish to lay hold beyond the things which he has already obtained and passed. To this principle of men's nature the passage of the teaching of our LORD just read, is addressed. We will see how completely

the teaching meets the want of our minds; I mean how plainly it is directed to supply the strength which is naturally so little likely, rather is so certain not to be called out.

It is very clear that the necessity of making provision for families and for relations justifies the laying up something on earth, for their use when those who lay up will not be here to aid them, or while the persons to be benefited are unable to lay up for themselves. The tenor of Christian teaching is clear that great tenderness should be felt of the wants of all, and if of all, then chiefly of those who are closest to us, by the ties of kindred and we know that we cannot show our tenderness for their wants, except by prudence and forecast, by denying ourselves and consulting for them, by taking from our present abundance to give to them hereafter; in short, by laying up for them something, as something has been laid up for us in time past.

So then this sort of laying up is not forbidden to us; that is, it is not included

in the prohibition of our LORD to laying up treasures upon earth. His forbidding applies to "treasures."

Now here it is necessary to mention, that the word "treasures," in the Greek, the language in which the Holy Evangelist wrote, means, " things laid up for tomorrow," and that if the sentence were translated quite literally, it would be read thus, "Do not lay up for yourselves things for to-morrow." This meaning of the word treasures being understood, will much help us in seeing the force of what we are intended to learn; for we shall now understand distinctly what things do and what do not deserve to be called treasures, and how to some men some things are treasures, which are not treasures to others.

The chief riches of the Jews to whom our LORD was speaking, consisted in garments, corn or fruits, gold and silver; which would be spoiled from them by the moth, by the rust or blight, and by the thieves who broke through and stole. Gehazi, you recollect, received from Naa

garments

man the Syrian, two changes of and two shekels of silver; and corn, wine, and oil are constantly mentioned in Holy Writ as things in which wealth consisted. These things were to be obtained, and were to be obtained in sufficiency, but they were not to be laid up. They were lawful to be had, but not lawful objects of that inordinate desire which leads men to provide, not only sufficiently for their wants, but looking forward to long continued future indulgence.

The wealth of our country consists still very much in the same kind. We still have garments of great splendour, corn and fruits of fine quality, and gold and silver and other precious metals, for our use and pleasure. We have besides other good gifts of our FATHER: the conveniencies and comforts of life have increased tenfold, and the multitude of objects which man may now set his heart upon, has increased the temptation to which he is prone, of making those things treasures which God has given to be used only as His gifts.

We may be satisfied that as our LORD spoke to the Jews in such terms as to apply to all the articles which they could thus improperly lay up, so the spirit of His teaching to us now is that nothing whatever is to be to us a treasure, a thing on which we are to build hopes of future enjoyment, to the exclusion of those better hopes which He has given and has assured to us. Take no thought, says HE, for the morrow; and, when giving the sacred form of prayer which the Church takes such holy delight in often repeating, He bids us pray to our FATHER to give us day by day our daily bread.

He has however here condescended to give us His reasons; I say condescended to give them, because, whether He had given them or not, His teaching would have been still binding upon us, still have had no shadow of doubt to the true faithful son or daughter of the one True Church of which CHRIST is the Head. There are heights we can never reach, depths of Christian truth we never can fathom, mysteries through the veil of

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