The Ifraelites were a plain, frugal people; abundantly fupplied with all things needful to the convenient support of life, but very fparingly with fuch as come under the notion of ornaments or fuperfluities. They drew their means of fubfiftence chiefly from pafturage, agricul ture, and other rural occupations. Gold and Silver was scarce among the antient Jews; and the lefs neceffary to them, as they had little traffic among themselves, and ftill lefs with their pagan neighbours, the wifdom of their Law having purposely reftrained, and, upon the matter, prohibited, all the gainful ways of commerce.

Now, to a people, thus circumftanced, unfurnished, in a good degree, with arts and manufactures, and but flenderly provided with the means of exchange for the commodities they produce; manage ment, thrift, and what we call good buf bandry, must have been a capital virtue. Householders were especially concerned to hoard up, and keep by them, in readiness,

åll fuch things as might be requifite either to cloath or feed their refpective families. And therefore, as they were continually making fresh additions to their stock, fo they carefully preserved what things they had, provided they were of a nature to be preserved, although time and use had impaired the grace, or diminished the value, of them. Thus, they had things new and old laid up in their store-house, or treasury (for these provifions were indeed their treasure), which, as the text fays, they could bring forth, on any emergency that called for them.

And to this Jewish Houfeholder, thus furnished and prepared for all occafions, our Lord compares the fcribe, inftructed unto the kingdom of heaven, in other words, the minifter, or preacher of the Gofpel. Every fuch feribe was to be fuitably provided with what might be ferviceable to those committed to his charge: And the Text delivers it, as a general inference from the example of Christ himself (who, from a variety

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a variety of topics, fome new, fome old, had been inftructing his difciples in this chapter), that we, the teachers of his religion, fhould likewise have in store a variety of knowledge for the fupply of his church, and that we should not be backward or fparing, as we fee occafion, in the ufe of it. THEREFORE, fays he, that is, for this end that your respective charges may be well and perfectly inftructed by you, as you have been by me, every fcribe, which is inftructed unto the kingdom of beaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treafure things new and old.

It is true, if this inftruction of our Lord and Mafter had concerned only the preachers of the word, I might have found a fitter place and occafion for a difcourfe upon it. But the cafe is much

α διὰ τᾶτο-referring to the good effect of this way

of teaching on the disciples, whom it had enabled, as they confeffed, to underfland the things, which Jefus had taught them.

other

otherwife; and it concerns all the faithful to understand what the duty of those is, who are intrufted to difpenfe the word of life, left they take offence at the ministry, without caufe, and fo deprive themselves of the fruit which they might otherwise reap from it.

Let me therefore lay before you fome plain confiderations on the aphorifm in the text; and submit it to yourselves how far they may deferve the notice of all Chriftians.

It would be ridiculous, no doubt, to torture a meer figure of fpeech;' and to pursue a metaphor through all the minute applications, which an ordinary imagination might find or invent for it. But I fhall not be fufpected of trifling in this fort, when I only conclude, from the comparison of a Chriftian Scribe to the Jewish Householder ;

I. That all the treasures of knowledge, which the MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL

may have laid up in his mind, are de stined, not to the purposes of vanity, but to the use of his charge; for fuch must have been the intention of a reasonable Householder, in the stock of provifions he had fo carefully collected:

II. That fuch ufe must be estimated from the apparent wants of those, to whom this knowledge is difpenfed; for fo the frugal householder expends his provisions on those who evidently stand in need of them: And

III. Laftly, that among these wants, fome, at certain conjunctures, may be more general, or more pressing, than ordinary; and then his firft care must be to relieve thefe, though other real, and perhaps confiderable wants, be, for the prefent, neglected by him: juft, again, as the difcreet householder is anxious to provide against an uncommon diftress that befalls his whole family, or the greater

part