UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. DISCOURSE VIII. MATT. vi. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.
_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:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is within thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!_
1. FROM those which are commonly termed _religious actions_, and which are real branches of true religion, where they spring from a pure and holy intention, and are performed in a manner suitable thereto, our Lord proceeds to the actions of _common life_, and shews that the same purity of intention, is as indispensably required in our ordinary business, as in giving alms, or fasting, or prayer.
And without question the same purity of intention, “which makes our alms and devotions acceptable, must also make our labour or employment, a proper offering to God. If a man pursues his business, that he may raise himself to a state of figure and riches in the world, he is no longer serving God in his employment, and has no more title to a reward from God, than he who gives alms that he may be _seen_, or prays that he may be _heard_ of men. For vain and earthly designs are no more allowable in our employments, than in our alms and devotions. They are not only evil when they mix with our good works,” with our religious actions, “but they have the same evil nature when they enter into the common business of our employments. If it were allowable to pursue them in our worldly employments, it would be allowable to pursue them in our devotions. But as our alms and devotions are not an acceptable service, but when they proceed from a pure intention, so our common employment cannot be reckoned a service to him, but when it is performed with the same piety of heart.”
2. This our blessed Lord declares in the liveliest manner, in those strong and comprehensive words which he explains, inforces and inlarges upon, throughout this whole chapter. _The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light: but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness._ The eye is the intention: what the eye is to the body, the intention is to the soul. As the one guides all the motions of the body, so does the other those of the soul. This eye of the soul is then said to be _single_, when it looks at one thing only; when we have no other design, but to _know_ God, _and_ Jesus Christ _whom he hath sent_: to know him with suitable affections, loving him as he hath loved us: to please God in all things: to serve God (as we love him) with all our heart and mind and soul and strength: and to enjoy God in all and above all things, in time and in eternity.
3. _If thine eye be_ thus _single_, thus fixed on God, _thy whole body shall be full of light. Thy whole body_,――All that is guided by the intention, as the body is by the eye. All thou art: all thou dost: thy desires, tempers, affections; thy thoughts and words and actions. The whole of these _shall be full of light_: full of true, divine knowledge. This is the first thing we may here understand by light. _In his light thou shalt see light. He which_ of old _commanded light to shine out of darkness, shall shine in thy heart_. He shall enlighten the eyes of thy understanding, with the knowledge of the glory of God. His Spirit shall reveal unto thee the deep things of God. The inspiration of the Holy One shall give thee understanding, and cause thee to know wisdom secretly. Yea, _the anointing_ which thou receivest of him, _shall abide in thee and teach thee of all things_.
How does experience confirm this? Even after God hath opened the eyes of our understanding, if we seek or desire any thing else than God, how soon is our foolish heart darkened? Then clouds again rest upon our souls. Doubts and fears again overwhelm us. We are tossed to and fro, and know not what to do, or which is the path wherein we should go. But when we desire and seek nothing but God, clouds and doubts vanish away. We _who were sometime darkness, are now light in the_ Lord. The night now shineth as the day; and we find, _the path of the upright is light_. God sheweth us the path wherein we should go, and _maketh plain the way before our face_.