whosoever openly breaks any commandment, teaches others to do the same:
for example speaks, and many times louder than precept. In this sense
it is apparent every open drunkard, is a teacher of drunkenness: every
sabbath-breaker is constantly teaching his neighbour, to profane the
day of the Lord. But this is not all: an habitual breaker of the law,
is seldom content to stop here. He generally teaches other men to do so
too, by word as well as example: especially when he hardens his neck,
and hateth to be reproved. Such a sinner soon commences an advocate for
sin: he defends what he is resolved not to forsake. He excuses the sin
which he will not leave, and thus directly teaches every sin which he
commits.
_He shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven_: that is, shall
have no part therein. He is a stranger to the kingdom of heaven which
is on earth; he hath no portion in that inheritance; no share of that
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Nor by consequence
can he have any part, in the glory which shall be revealed.
4. But if those who even thus _break and teach_ others to break,
_one of the least of these commandments, shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven_, shall have no part in the kingdom of _Christ_ and
of God; if even these shall be cast into _outer darkness, where is
wailing and gnashing of teeth_: then where will they appear, whom our
Lord chiefly and primarily intends in these words? They who bearing the
character of teachers sent from God, do nevertheless themselves break
his commandments, yea and openly teach others so to do: being corrupt
both in life and doctrine.
5. *These are of several sorts. Of the first sort are they, who live
in some wilful, habitual sin. Now if an ordinary sinner teaches by his
example, how much more a sinful minister? Even if he does not attempt
to defend, excuse or extenuate his sin. If he does, he is a murderer
indeed, yea, the murderer-general of his congregation. He peoples
the regions of death. He is the choicest instrument of the prince
of darkness. When he goes hence, _Hell from beneath is moved to meet
him at his coming_. Nor can he sink into the bottomless pit, without
dragging a multitude after him.
6. *Next to these are the good-natured, good sort of men: who live an
easy, harmless life, neither troubling themselves with outward sin, nor
with inward holiness: men who are remarkable neither one way nor the
other; neither for religion nor irreligion: who are very regular both
in public and private; but don’t pretend to be any stricter than their
neighbours. A minister of this kind breaks, not one, or a few only of
the least commandments of God; but all the great and weighty branches
of his law, which relate to the power of godliness: and all that
require us to _pass the time of our sojourning in fear_, to _work
out our salvation with fear and trembling_; to have our _loins always
girt and our lights burning_; to strive or _agonize to enter in at the
strait gate_. And he _teaches men so_, by the whole form of his life,
and the general tenor of his preaching: which uniformly tends to sooth
those in their pleasing dream, who imagine themselves Christians and
are not; to persuade all who attend upon his ministry, to sleep on and
take their rest. No marvel therefore if both he and they that follow
him, wake together in everlasting burnings.
7. *But above all these, in the highest rank of the enemies of the
gospel of _Christ_, are they who openly and explicitly _judge the law_
itself, and _speak evil of the law_: who teach men to break (λῦσαι· to
dissolve, to loose, to untie the obligation of) not one only, whether
of the least, or of the greatest, but all the commandments at a stroke:
who teach, without any cover, in so many words, “What did our Lord
do with the law? He abolished it.” “There is but one duty, which is
that of believing.” “All commands are unfit for our times.” “From any
demand of the law no man is obliged now to go one step, to give away
one farthing, to eat or omit one morsel.” This is indeed carrying
matters with a high hand. This is withstanding our Lord to the face,
and telling him, that he understood not how to deliver the message on
which he was sent. O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge! Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do!
8. *The most surprizing of all the circumstances, that attend this
strong delusion, is that they who are given up to it really believe,
that they honour _Christ_, by overthrowing his law, and that they are
magnifying his office, while they are destroying his doctrine! Yea,
they honour him just as _Judas_ did, when he _said, Hail, Master, and
kissed him_. And he may as justly say, to every one of them, _Betrayest
thou the Son of man with a kiss_? It is no other than betraying him
with a kiss, to talk of his blood and take away his crown: to set light
by any part of his law, under pretence of advancing his gospel. Nor
indeed can any one escape this charge, who preaches faith in any such
manner, as either directly or indirectly tends, to set aside any branch
of obedience: who preaches _Christ_ so as to disannul, or weaken in any
wise the least of the commandments of God.
9. It is impossible indeed to have too high an esteem for _the faith
of_ God’s _elect_. And we must all declare, _By grace ye are saved
through faith:――not of works, lest any man should boast_. We must cry
aloud to every penitent sinner, _Believe in the_ Lord Jesus Christ,
_and thou shalt be saved_. But at the same time we must take care to
let all men know, we esteem no faith but that _which worketh by love_:
and that we are not _saved by faith_, unless so far as we are delivered
from the power as well as the guilt of sin. And when we say, _Believe
and thou shalt be saved_; we do not mean, “Believe and thou shalt
step from sin to heaven; without any holiness coming between; faith
supplying the place of holiness:” but, believe and thou shalt be holy:
believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt have peace and power together.
Thou shalt have power from him in whom thou believest, to trample sin
under thy feet; power to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and to serve him with all thy strength. Thou shalt have power, _by
patient continuance in well-doing_, to _seek for glory and honour and
immortality_. Thou shalt both _do and teach_ all the commandments of
God, from the least even to the greatest. Thou shalt teach them by thy
life as well as thy words, and so _be called great in the kingdom of
heaven_.
IV. 1. Whatever other way we teach to the kingdom of heaven, to glory,
honour and immortality, be it called the way of faith, or by any other
name, it is in truth, the way to destruction. It will not bring a man
peace at the last. For thus saith the Lord, _Verily I say unto you,
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven_.
_The Scribes_, mentioned so often in the New Testament as some of the
most constant and vehement opposers of our Lord, were not secretaries,
or men, employed in writing only, as that term might incline us to
believe. Neither were they _lawyers_, in our common sense of the word
(altho’ the word νομικοί is so ♦rendered in our translation.) Their
employment had no affinity at all, to that of a lawyer among us. They
were conversant with the laws of God, and not with the laws of man.
These were their study: it was their proper and peculiar business,
to read and expound the law and the prophets; particularly in the
synagogues. They were the ordinary, stated preachers among the _Jews_.
So that if the sense of the original word was attended to, we might
render it, the divines. For these were the men who made divinity their
profession; and they were generally (as their name literally imports)
men of letters; men of the greatest account for learning that were then
in the Jewish nation.
2. The Pharisees were a very antient sect, or body of men, among
the _Jews_: originally so called from the _Hebrew_ word פרש, which
signifies, to separate or divide. Not that they made any formal
separation from, or division in the national church. They were only
distinguished from others, by greater strictness of life, by more
exactness of conversation. For they were zealous of the law in the
minutest points; paying tithes of mint, anise and cummin. And hence
they were had in honour of all the people, and generally esteemed the
holiest of men.
Many of the Scribes were of the sect of the Pharisees. Thus St. _Paul_
himself, who was educated for a Scribe, first at the university of
_Tarsus_, and after that in _Jerusalem_, at the feet of _Gamaliel_
(one of the most learned Scribes or doctors of the law that were then
in the nation) declares of himself before the council, [93]_I am a
Pharisee the son of a Pharisee_: and before king _Agrippa, [94]After
the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee_. And the whole
body of the Scribes generally esteemed and acted in concert with
the Pharisees. Hence we find our Saviour so frequently coupling them
together, as coming in many respects under the same consideration.
In this place they seem to be mentioned together, as the most eminent
professors of religion: the former of whom were accounted the wisest,
the latter the holiest of men.
3. What _the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees_ really was,
it is not difficult to determine. Our Lord has preserved an authentic
account, which one of them gave of himself. And he is clear and full
in describing his own righteousness; and cannot be supposed to have
omitted any part of it. He _went up_ indeed _into the temple to pray_:
but was so intent upon his own virtues, that he forgot the design upon
which he came. For ’tis remarkable, he does not properly pray at all.
He only tells God, how wise and good he was. God, _I thank thee, that
I am not as other men are; extortioners, unjust, adulterers; or even
as this Publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that
I possess._ His righteousness therefore consisted of three parts, first,
saith he, _I am not as other men are_. I am not an _extortioner_, not
_unjust_, not an _adulterer_; not _even as this Publican_. Secondly,
_I fast twice in the week_; and thirdly, _give tithes of all that I
possess_.
_I am not as other men are._ This is not a small point. It is not every
man that can say this. It is as if he had said, I do not suffer myself
to be carried away by that great torrent, custom. I live not by custom,
but by reason; not by the examples of men, but by the word of God. _I
am not an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer_: however common
these sins are even among those who are called the people of God:
(extortion, in particular, a kind of legal injustice: not punishable
by any human law, the making gain of another’s ignorance or necessity,
having filled every corner of the land) _nor even as this Publican_;
not guilty of any open or presumptuous sin: not an outward sinner: but
a fair, honest man, of blameless life and conversation.
4. _I fast twice in the week._ There is more implied in this, than
we may at first be sensible of. All the stricter Pharisees observed
the weekly fasts; namely, every _Monday_ and _Thursday_. On the former
day, they fasted in memory of _Moses_ receiving on that day (as their
tradition taught) the two tables of stone written by the finger of
God: on the latter, in memory of his casting them out of his hand,
when he saw the people dancing round the golden calf. On these days,
they took no sustenance at all till three in the afternoon; the hour
at which they began to offer up the evening sacrifice in the temple.
Till that hour it was their custom to remain in the temple, in some
of the corners, apartments or courts thereof; that they might be ready
to assist at all the sacrifices, and to join in all the public prayers.
The time between, they were accustomed to employ, partly in private
addresses to God, partly in searching the scriptures, in reading the
law and the prophets, and in meditating thereon. Thus much is implied
in, _I fast twice in the week_, the second branch of the righteousness
of a Pharisee.
5. _I give tithes of all that I possess._ This the Pharisees did with
the utmost exactness. They would not except the most inconsiderable
thing, no, not mint, anise and cummin. They would not keep back the
least part of what they believed properly to belong to God; but gave a
full tenth of their whole substance yearly, and of all their increase,
whatsoever it was.
Yea, the stricter Pharisees (as has been often observed, by those who
are versed in the ancient _Jewish_ writings) not content with giving
one tenth of their substance to God, in his priests and Levites, gave
another tenth to God in the poor, and that continually. They gave
the same proportion of all they had in alms, as they were accustomed
to give in tithes. And this likewise they adjusted with the utmost
exactness, that they might not keep back any part, but might fully
render unto God the things which were God’s, as they accounted this
to be. So that, upon the whole, they gave away, from year to year, an
entire fifth of all that they possest.
6. This was _the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees_: a
righteousness, which in many respects, went far beyond the conception
which many have been accustomed to entertain concerning it. But perhaps,
it will be said, it was all false and feigned; for they were all a
company of hypocrites.――Some of them doubtless were; men who had really
no religion at all; no fear of God, or desire to please him: who had
no concern for the honour that cometh of God, but only for the praise
of men. And these are they whom our Lord so severely condemns, so
sharply reproves on many occasions. But we must not suppose, because
many Pharisees were hypocrites, therefore all were so. Nor indeed
is hypocrisy by any means essential to the character of a Pharisee.
This is not the distinguishing mark of their sect. It is rather this,
(according to our Lord’s account) _They trusted in themselves that
they were righteous, and despised others_. This is their genuine badge.
But the Pharisee of this kind cannot be a hypocrite. He must be, in
the common sense, sincere: otherwise he could not _trust in himself
that he is righteous_. The man who was here commending himself to
God, unquestionably thought himself righteous. Consequently, he was
no hypocrite: he was not conscious to himself of any insincerity. He
now spoke to God just what he thought, namely, that he was abundantly
better than other men.
But the example of St. _Paul_, were there no other, is sufficient,
to put this out of all question. He could not only say, when he was a
Christian, [95]_Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience
void of offence, toward_ God _and toward men_: but even concerning the
time when he was a Pharisee; [96]_Men and brethren, I have lived in all
good conscience before_ God _until this day_. He was therefore sincere
when he was a Pharisee, as well as when he was a Christian. He was no
more an hypocrite when he persecuted the church, than when he preached
the faith which once he persecuted. Let this then be added to _the
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees_, a sincere belief that they
are righteous, and in all things _doing_ God _service_.
7. And yet, _Except your righteousness_, saith our Lord, _shall exceed
the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
enter into the kingdom of heaven_. A solemn and weighty declaration!
And which it behoves all who are called by the name of _Christ_,
seriously and deeply to consider. But before we enquire, how our
righteousness may exceed theirs, let us examine, whether at present we
come up to it?
*First, a Pharisee was _not as other men are_. In externals he was
singularly good. Are we so? Do we dare to be singular at all? Do we
not rather swim with the stream? Do we not many times dispense with
religion and reason together, because we would not _look particular_?
Are we not often more afraid of being out of the fashion, than being
out of the way of salvation? Have we courage to stem the tide? To run
counter to the world? _To obey_ God _rather than man_? Otherwise the
Pharisee leaves us behind at the very first step. ’Tis well if we
overtake him any more.
But to come closer. Can we use his first plea with God, which is in
substance, “I do no harm. I live in no outward sin; I do nothing, for
which my own heart condemns me.” Do you not? Are you sure of that?
Do you live in no practice, for which your own heart condemns you?
If you are not an adulterer, if you are not unchaste, either in word
or deed, are you not unjust? The grand measure of justice, as well
as of mercy, is, Do unto others as thou wouldest they should do unto
thee. Do you walk by this rule? Do you never do unto any what you would
not they should do unto you? Nay, are you not grossly unjust? Are you
not an extortioner? Do you not make a gain of any one’s ignorance or
necessity? Neither in buying nor selling? Suppose you were engaged in
trade, do you demand, do you receive no more than the real value of
what you sell? Do you demand, do you receive no more of the ignorant
than of the knowing; of a little child, than of an experienced trader?
If you do, why does not your heart condemn you? You are a barefaced
extortioner. Do you demand no more than the usual price of goods, of
any who is in pressing want? Who must have, and that without delay,
the things which you can only furnish him with? If you do, this also
is flat extortion. Indeed you do not come up to the righteousness of
a Pharisee.
8. A Pharisee, secondly, (to express his sense in our common way) used
all the means of grace. As he fasted _often and much, twice in_ every
_week_, so he attended all the sacrifices. He was constant in public
and private prayer, and in reading and hearing the scriptures. Do you
go as far as this? Do you fast _much and often_? Twice in the week?
I fear not. Once, at least; “on all _Fridays_ in the year?” (So our
church clearly and peremptorily enjoins all her members to do: to
observe all these, as well as the vigils and the forty days of lent,
as “days of fasting or abstinence.”) Do you fast twice in the year?
I am afraid, some among us cannot plead even this!――Do you neglect
no opportunity of attending and partaking of the Christian Sacrifice?
How many are they, who call themselves Christians, and yet are utterly
regardless of it? Yet do not eat of that bread, or drink of that cup,
for months, perhaps years, together? Do you every day, either hear the
scriptures, or read them and meditate thereon? Do you join in prayer
with the great congregation? Daily, if you have opportunity: if not
whenever you can, particularly on that day, which you _remember, to
keep it holy_? Do you strive to _make_ opportunities? Are you _glad
when they say unto you, we will go into the house of the_ Lord? Are
you zealous of, and diligent in private prayer? Do you suffer no day
to pass without it? Rather, are not some of you so far, from spending
therein (with the Pharisee) several hours in one day, that you think
one hour full enough, if not too much? Do you spend an hour in a day,
or in a week, in praying to your Father which is in secret? Yea, an
hour in a month? Have you spent one hour together in private prayer
ever since you was born? Ah poor Christian! Shall not the Pharisee rise
up in the judgment against thee and condemn thee? His righteousness is
as far above thine, as the heaven is above the earth.
9. The Pharisee, thirdly, _paid tithes_ and gave alms _of all that he
possest_. And in how ample a manner? So that he was (as we phrase it)
“a man that did much good.” Do we come up to him here? Which of us
is so abundant as he was, in good works? Which of us gives a fifth of
all his substance to God? Both of the principal, and of the increase?
Who of us, out of (suppose) an hundred pounds a year, gives twenty to
God and the poor: out of fifty, ten; and so in a larger or a smaller
proportion? When shall our righteousness, in using all the means
of grace, in attending all the ordinances of God, in avoiding evil
and doing good, equal at least the righteousness of the Scribes and
Pharisees?
10. Although if it only equalled theirs, what would that profit?
_For verily I say unto you except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter
into the kingdom of heaven._ But how can it exceed theirs? Wherein does
the righteousness of a Christian exceed that of a Scribe or Pharisee?
Christian righteousness exceeds theirs, first, in the extent of it.
Most of the Pharisees, though they were rigorously exact in many
things, yet were emboldened by the traditions of the elders to dispense
with others of equal importance. Thus they were extremely punctual
in keeping the fourth commandment; they would not even _rub an ear
of corn_ on the sabbath day: But not at all in keeping the third,
making little account of light, or even false swearing. So that
their righteousness was partial: whereas the righteousness of a real
Christian is universal. He does not observe one, or some parts of the
law of God, and neglect the rest; but keeps all his commandments, loves
them all, values them above gold or precious stones.
11. It may be indeed, that some of the Scribes and Pharisees,
endeavoured to keep all the commandments, and consequently were,
as touching the righteousness of the law, that is, according to the
letter of it, blameless. But still the righteousness of a Christian
exceeds all this righteousness of a Scribe or Pharisee, by fulfilling
the Spirit as well as the letter of the law, by inward as well as
outward obedience. In this, in the spirituality of it, it admits of
no comparison. This is the point which our Lord has so largely proved,
in the whole tenor of this discourse. Their righteousness was external
only: Christian righteousness is in the inner man. The Pharisee
_cleansed the outside of the cup and the platter_; the Christian is
clean within. The Pharisee laboured to present God with a good life;
the Christian with a holy heart. The one shook off the leaves, perhaps
the fruits of sin; the other _lays the axe to the root_: as not being
content with the outward form of godliness, how exact soever it be,
unless the life, the Spirit, the power of God unto salvation, be felt
in the inmost soul.
Thus, to do no harm, to do good, to attend the ordinances of God, (the
righteousness of a Pharisee) are all external: whereas, on the contrary,
poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst after
righteousness, the love of our neighbour, and purity of heart, (the
righteousness of a Christian) are all internal. And even peace-making
(or doing good) and suffering for righteousness sake, stand intitled
to the blessings annext to them, only as they imply these inward
dispositions, as they spring from, exercise and confirm them. So that
whereas the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was external
only, it may be said, in some sense that the righteousness of a
Christian is internal only: all his actions and sufferings being as
nothing in themselves, being estimated before God only by the tempers
from which they spring.
12. *Whosoever therefore thou art, who bearest the holy and venerable
name of a Christian, see, first that thy righteousness fall not short
of the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. Be _not_ thou _as
other men are_. Dare to stand alone, to be
“Against example, singularly good?”