Lessons of the fields.
God has so constituted the natural world that it furnishes apt similes to illustrate spiritual things.
I. THE FIELDS TEACH US TO BLESS GOD.
1. They serve admirable material uses.
2. They soothe and delight the sense.
3. They serve high moral purposes.
II. THE FIELDS TEACH US TO TRUST PROVIDENCE.
1. As they illustrate our dependence.
2. As they illustrate God's thoughtful care.
III. THE FIELDS TEACH US TO DESIRE DIVINE CLOTHING.
1. There is a laudable attention to dress.
(4) How this vanity is rebuked in the clothing of the lily that goes into the oven, and by the plumage of insignificant birds! When Croesus sat upon his throne in all the glory of his ornaments, and asked Solon whether he had ever seen a fairer spectacle, the philosopher replied, "Pheasants and peacocks; for they are clothed with a natural splendour and exceeding beauty."
2. We should be clad in virtues rather than in velvets.
3. We should look for the clothing of the resurrection.