Matt. vi. 1 — 4. Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reioard. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth : that thine alms may be in secret : and thy Father which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.
THERE are some duties so plain and obvious, that it is scarcely necessary to insist upon men's obligation to perform them. Amongst these is the duty of re- lieving our fellow-creatures in distress, and making
our abundance instrumental to the supply of their necessities. Our blessed Lord takes it for granted that all his disciples will be found observant of the duty itself; and therefore does not stop to inculcate the necessity of it ; but merely gives directions re- specting it, that it may be performed most beneficially to themselves, and most honourably to God. Instead of the word, which in the first verse is translated " alms," there is, in the margin of our Bibles, the word *' righteousness ;" which, on the whole, is the prefer- able reading ; as it avoids the tautology which there manifestly is in the passage as it now stands. The passage according to this reading requires, first, that our righteousness in general should be devoid of ostentation ; and, next, that we should guard against ostentation, more especially in those several duties, which, as Christians, we are bound to perform. We are called to serve God with our souls, our bodies, and estates; and we must do the first by prayer, the second by fasting, and the third by alms.
Whichever reading we adopt, our subject will be the same : we shall be led to consider the directions which our Lord gives us in reference to alms. He tells us,
L What we are to avoid —
A very principal feature in the character of the Pharisees was, ostentation: "they did all their works in order to be seen of men." Against this in par- ticular our Lord cautions us —
1. It is an evil to which we are prone —
[Whilst the caution itself implies this, (" Take heed,") the experience of every individual attests it. Who does not feel a desire after the applause of man ? Who does not consult in too great a degree the opinion of those around him ? The more decent amongst the unconverted seem to be actuated by no other motive : whilst even the godly themselves are by no means exempt from its influence. It is not, however, without much self-knowledge and self-examination that we can discern the workings of this principle within us. We give ourselves credit for better motives and better principles, at the time that impartial observers mark distinctly the obliquity of our disjjosi- tions and conduct.]