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25 - Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse V - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount Discourse five. Think not that I am
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come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy,
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but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and
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earth pass one jot or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the
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law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments
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and shall teach men, so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom
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of Heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be
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called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For verily I say unto you that
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except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall
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in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew five seventeen to twenty.
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Among the multitude of reproaches which fell upon him, who was despised and
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rejected of men, it could not fail to be one that he was a
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teacher of novelties and introducer of a new religion. This might be affirmed with
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the more color because many of the expressions he had used were not common among
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the Jews. Either they did not use them at all, or not in
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the same sense, not in so full and strong a meaning. Add to
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this that the worshiping God in spirit and in truth must always appear a new
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religion to those who have hitherto known nothing but outside worship nothing but the form
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of Godliness. And it is not improbable. Some might hope it was so
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that he was abolishing the old religion and bringing in another one, which they
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might flatter themselves, would be an easier way to heaven. But our Lord
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refutes in these words both the vain hopes of the one and the groundless calumnies
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of the other. I shall consider them in the same order as they lie,
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taking each for a distinct head or discourse. And first think not that
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I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come
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to destroy, but to fulfill the ritual or ceremonial law delivered by Moses to
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the children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances which related to the
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old sacrifices and service of the Temple. Our Lord indeed did come to destroy,
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to dissolve, and utterly abolish. To this bear all the apostles witness,
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not only Barnabas and Paul, who vehemently withstood those who taught that Christians
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ought to keep the Law of Moses, Acts fifteen five. Not only Saint
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Peter who termed the insisting on this on the observance of the ritual law a
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tempting God, and putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which
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neither our fathers saith he nor we were able to bear. All the apostles,
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elders and brethren being assembled with one accord, Acts fifteen twenty two,
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declared that to command them to keep this law was to subvert their souls,
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and that it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to them to lay no
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such burden upon them Acts fifteen twenty eight. This handwriting of ordinances, our
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Lord did blot out, take away and nail to his cross. But the
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moral law, contained in the Ten Commandments and enforced by the prophets, he
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did not take away. It was not the design of his coming to revoke
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any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken,
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which stands fast as the faithful witness in heaven. The moral stands on an
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entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law, which was only designed for
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a temporary restraint upon a disobedient and stiff necked people. Whereas this was from
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the beginning of the world, being written not on tables of stone, but
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on the hearts of all the children of men, when they came out of
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the hands of the Creator. And however, the letters once wrote by the
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finger of God are now in a great measure defaced by sin. Yet can
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they not wholly be blotted out? While we have any consciousness of good and
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evil? Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and
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in all ages, as not depending either on time or place, or any
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other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature
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of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other. I am not come
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to destroy, but to fulfill. Some have conceived our Lord to mean.
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I am come to fulfill this by my entire and perfect obedience to it.
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And it cannot be doubted. But He did, in this sense fulfill every
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part of it. But this that does not appear to be what he intends
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here, being foreign to the scope of his present discourse. Without question,
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his meaning in this place is consistently with all that goes before and follows after,
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I am come to establish it in its fullness, in spite of all
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the glosses of men, I am come to place in a full and clear
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view whatsoever was dark or obscure therein. I am come to declare the true
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and full import of every part of it, to show the length and breath,
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the entire extent of every commandment contained therein, and the height and depth
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the inconceivable purity and spirituality of it in all its branches. And this our
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Lord has abundantly performed in the preceding and subsequent parts of this discourse before us,
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in which he has not introduced a new religion into the world, but
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the same which was from the beginning a religion, the substance of which which
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is without question as old as the creation, being coeval with man, and
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having proceeded from God at the very time when man became a living soul.
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The substance, I say, for some circumstances of it now relate to man
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as a fallen creature, a religion witnessed to both by the law and by
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the prophets in all succeeding generations. Yet was it never so fully explained,
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nor so thoroughly understood, till the great author of it himself condescended to give
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mankind this authentic comment on all the essential branches of it, at the same
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time declaring it should never be changed, but remain in force to the end
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of the world. For verily I say unto you a solemn preface which denotes
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both the importance and certainty of what is spoken. Till heaven and earth pass
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one jot or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from thee law till
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all be fulfilled one jot. It is literally not one iota, not the
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most inconsiderable vowel, or one tittle mia kiah one corner or point of a
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consonant. It is a proverbial expression which signifies that no one commandment contained in
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the moral law, or the least part of anyone, however inconsiderable it might
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seem, should ever be disannulled, shall in no wise pass from the law.
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Oh may par althee appo to no mo The double negative here used strengthens
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the sense so as to admit of no contradiction, and the word parolthae,
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it may be observed, is not barely future declaring what will be, but
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has likewise the force of an imperative ordering what shall be. It is a
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word of authority, expressing the sovereign will and power of Him that spake of
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Him whose word is the law of heaven and earth, and stands fast forever
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and ever. One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass till heaven
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and earth pass, or, as it is expressed immediately after hughes On Ponta
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GENETI, till all, or rather all things be fulfilled, till the consummation
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of all things. Here is therefore no room for that poor evasion with which
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some have delighted themselves greatly, that no part of the Law was to pass
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away till all the Law was fulfilled. But it has been fulfilled by Christ,
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and therefore now must pass for the Gospel to be established. Not so,
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the word all does not mean all the law, but all things in
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the universe, as neither has the term fulfilled any reference to the law,
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but to all things in heaven and earth. From all this we may learn
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that there is no no contrarity at all between the Law and the Gospel,
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that there is no need for the law to pass away. In order to
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the establishing of the Gospel. Indeed, neither of them supersedes the other,
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but they agree perfectly well together. Yea, the very same words, considered
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in different respects, are parts both of the Law and of the Gospel.
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If they are considered as commandments, they are parts of the Law. If
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as promises of the Gospel, Thus thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
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all thy heart, when considered as a commandment, is a branch of the
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Law. When regarded as a promise, is an essential part of the Gospel,
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the Gospel being no other than the commands of the Law proposed by way
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of promises. Accordingly, poverty of spirit, purity of heart, and whatever
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else is enjoined in the Holy Law of God are no other, when viewed
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in a Gospel light, than so many great and precious promises. There is
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therefore, the closest connection that can be conceived between the Law and the Gospel.
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On the one hand, the Law continually makes way for and points us
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to the Gospel. On the other, the Gospel continually leads us to a
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more exact fulfilling of the Law. The Law, for instance, requires us
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to love God, to love our neighbor, to be meek, humble,
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or holy. We feel that we are not sufficient for these things. Yea
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that with man this is impossible. But we see a promise of God to
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give us that love and to make us humble, meek and holy. We
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lay hold of this gospel, of these glad tidings. It is done unto
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us according to our faith, and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in
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us through faith which is in Christ Jesus. We may yet further observe that
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every command in Holy writ is only a covered promise. For by that solemn
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declaration, this is the covenant I will make after those days, saith the
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Lord. I will put my laws in your minds and write them on your
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hearts. God hath engaged to give whatsoever he commands. Does he command us
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then to pray without ceasing, to rejoice, evermore, to be holy as
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He is holy. It is enough He will work in us this very thing.
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It shall be unto us according to His word. But if these things
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are so, we cannot be at a loss what to think of those who,
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in all ages of the Church have undertaken to change or supersede some commandments
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of God, as they professed by the peculiar direction of his spirit. Christ
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has here given us an infallible rule whereby to judge of all such pretensions.
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Christianity, as it includes the whole moral love of God, both by way
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of injunction and of promise, if we will hear him, is designed of
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God to be the last of all his dispensations. There is no other to
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come after this. This is to endure till the consummation of all things.
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Of consequence, All such new revelations are of Satan and not of God,
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And all pretenses to another more perfect dispensation fall to the ground. Of course,
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heaven and earth shall pass away, but this word shall not pass away.
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Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men,
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so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whosoever
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shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of
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Heaven. Who what are they that make the preaching of the law a character
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of reproach? Do they not see on whom their reproach must fall, on
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whose head it must light? At last? Whosoever on this ground despiseth us,
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despiseth him that sent us. For did ever any man preach the law
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like him, even when he came not to condemn but to save the world,
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when he came purposely to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel?
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Can any preach the law more expressly more rigorously than Christ does in these
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words? And who is he that shall amend them? Who is he that
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shall instruct the Son of God how to preach? Who will teach him a
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better way of delivering the message which he hath received of the Father. Whosoever
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shall break one of these least commandments, or one of the least of these
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commandments these commandments we may observe is a term used by our Lord as equivalent
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with the law or the law and the prophets, which is the same thing,
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seeing the prophets added nothing to the law, but only declared, explained,
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or enforced it as they were by the Holy Ghost. Whosoever shall break
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one of these least commandments, especially if it be done wilfully or presumptuously one.
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For he that keepeth the whole law and thus offends in one point is
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guilty of all the wrath of God abideth on him, as surely as if
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he had broken every one, so that no allowance is made for one darling
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lust, no reserve for one idole, no excuse for refraining from all besides
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and only giving way to one bosom sin. What God demands is an entire
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obedience. We are to have an eye to all His commandments. Otherwise we
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lose all the labor we take in keeping some and our poor souls. Forever
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and ever one of these least, or one of the least of these commandments,
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here is another excuse cut off, whereby many who cannot deceive God miserably
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deceive their own souls. This sin saith the sinner. Is it not a
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little one? Will not the Lord spare me in this thing? Surely he
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will not be extreme to mark this, since I do not offend in the
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greater matters of the law. Vain hope, speaking after the manner of men,
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we may term these great and those little commandments, but in reality they
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are not so. If we use propriety of speech, there is no such
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thing as a little sin, every sin being a transgression of the Holy and
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perfect Law and an affront on the great majesty of Heaven. And shall teach
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men so in some sense it may be said that whosoever openly breaks any commandment
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teaches others the same. For example, speaks and many times louder than precept.
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In this sense, it is apparent every open drunkard is a teacher of
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drunkenness. Every sabbath breaker is con teaching his neighbor to profane the day of
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the Lord. But this is not all. An habitual breaker of the law
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is seldom content to stop here. He generally teaches other men to do so
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too, by word as well as example, especially when he hardens his neck
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and hateth to be reproved. Such a sinner soon commences an advocate for sin.
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He defends what he is resolved not to forsake. He excuses the sin
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which he will not leave, and thus directly teaches every sin which he commits.
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He shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, that is,
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shall have no part therein. He is a stranger to the Kingdom of Heaven
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which is on earth. He hath no portion in that inheritance, no share
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of that righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Nor by consequence,
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can he have any part in the glory which shall be revealed. But
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if those who even thus break and teach others to break one of the least
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of these commandments shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven, shall have
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no part in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. If even these shall
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be cast into outer darkness, where is wailing and gnashing of teeth, then
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where will they appear? Whom our Lord chiefly and primarily intends in these words,
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They who, bearing the character of teachers sent from God, do nevertheless
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themselves break his commandments YEA, and openly teach others so to do, being
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corrupt both in life and doctrine. There are of several sorts. Of the
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first sort, are they who live in some wilful habitual sin. Now,
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if an ordinary sinner teaches by his example, how much more a sinful minister,
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even if he does not attempt to defend, excuse, or extenuate his
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sin. If he does, he is a murderer. Indeed, YEA,
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the murderer general of his congregation. He peoples the regions of death. He
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is the choicest instrument of the Prince of Darkness. When he goes, thence
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Hell from beneath is moved to meet him at his coming, nor can he
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sink into the bottomless pit without dragging a multitude after him. Next to these
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are the good natured, good sort of men who live an easy, harmless
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life, neither troubling themselves with outward sin nor with inward holiness. Men who
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are remarkable neither one way nor the other, neither for religion nor irreligion,
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who are very regular in both public and private, but do not pretend to
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be any stricter than their neighbors. A minister of this kind breaks not one
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or a few only of the least of the commandments of God, but all
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the great and weighty branches of his law, which relate to the power of
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Godliness, and all that require us to pass the time of our sojourning in
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fear, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, to have our
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loins always girt and our lights burning, to strive or agonize to enter in
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at the straight gate. And he teaches men so by the whole form of
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his life and the general tenor of his preaching, which uniformly tends to soothe
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those in their pleasing dream who imagine themselves Christians, and are not to persuade
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all who attend upon his ministry to sleep on and take their rest. No
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marvel therefore, if both he and they that follow him wake together in everlasting
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burnings. But above all these, in the highest rank of the enemies of
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the Gospel of Christ are they who openly and explicitly judge the law itself and
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speak evil of the law. Who teach men to break, lie, say,
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to dissolve, to loose, to untie the upbla neation of not one
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only, whether of the least or of the greatest, but all the commandments
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at a stroke, Who teach without any cover in so many words, what
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did our Lord do with the law? He abolished it? There is but
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one duty, which is that of believing all commands are unfit for our times.
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From any demand of the law, no man is obliged now to go
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one step, to give away one farthing, to eat, or omit one
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morsel. This is indeed carrying matters with a high hand. This iswithstanding our
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Lord to the face and telling him that he understood not how to deliver the
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message on which he was sent. O Lord, lay not this sin to
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their charge. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
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The most surprising of all the circumstances that attend this strong delusion is that
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they who are given up to it really believe that they honor Christ by overthrowing
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his law, and that they are magnifying his office while they are destroying his
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doctrine. Yea, they honor him just as Judas did when he said,
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Hail Master and kissed him. And he may as justly say to every one
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of them, betrayest thou the son of Man with a kiss. It is
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no other than betraying him with a kiss, to talk of his blood and
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take away his crown, to set light any part of his law under pretense
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of advancing his gospel. Nor, indeed, can any one escape this charge
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who preaches faith in any such manner as, either directly or indirectly, tends
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to set aside any branch of obedience, who preaches Christ so as to disennal
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or weaken in any wise the least of the commandments of God. It is
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impossible, indeed, to have too high in esteem for the faith of God's
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elect. And we must all declare, by grace, are ye saved through
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faith, not of works? Lest any man should boast. We must cry
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aloud to every penitent sinner believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
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be saved. But at the same time we must take care to let all
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men know we esteem no faith but that which worketh by love Galatians five six,
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And that we are not saved by faith unless so far as we are
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delivered from the power as well as the guilt of sin. And when we
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say believe and thou shalt be saved, we do not mean believe and thou
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shalt step from sin to heaven without any holiness coming between faith supplying the place
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of holiness. But believe and thou shalt be holy. Believe in the Lord
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Jesus, and thou shalt have peace and power to gather. Thou shalt have
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power from Him and whom thou believest, to trample sin under thy feet,
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power to love the Lord thy God with hither thy heart, and to serve
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him with all thy strength. Thou shalt have power by patient continuance in well
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doing, to seek for glory and honor and immortality. Thou shalt both do
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and teach all the commandments of God, from the least even to the greatest.
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Thou shalt teach them by thy life as well as thy words, and
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so be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever other way we teach
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to the Kingdom of Heaven to glory, honor, and immortality, be it
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called the way of faith or by any other name, it is in truth
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the way to destruction. It will not bring a man peace at the last.
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For thus saith the Lord. Verily, I say unto you that except
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your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in
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no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. The scribes, mentioned so often
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in the New Testament as some of the most constant and vehement opposers of our
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Lord, were not secretaries or men employed in writing, only, as that
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term might incline us to believe. Neither were they lawyers in our common sense
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of the word, although the word nomi koi is so rendered in our translation.
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Their employment had no affinity at all to that of a lawyer. Among
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us, they were conversant with the laws of God, and not with the
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laws of man. These were their study. It was their proper and peculiar
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business to read and expound the law and the prophets, particularly in the synagogues.
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They were the ordinary stated preachers among the Jews, so that if the
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sense of the original word was attended to, we might render it the divines.
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For these were the men who made divinity their profession, and they were
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generally, as their name literally imports, men of letters, men of the
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greatest account for learning, that were then in the Jewish nation. The Pharisees
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were a very ancient sect or body of men among the Jews, originally so
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called from the Hebrew word for rash, which signifies to separate or divide.
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Not that they made any formal separation from or division in a national church.
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They were only distinguished from others by greater strictness of life, by more exactness
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of conversation, For they were zealous of the law in the minutest points,
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paying tithes of mint annis and cumen, and hence they were had in honor
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of all the people, and generally esteemed the holiest of men. Many of
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the scribes were of the sect of the Pharisees. Thus Saint Paul himself,
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who was educated for a scribe, first at the University of Tarsus and after
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that in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the most learned scribes
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or doctors of the law, that were then in the nation, declares of
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himself before the council, I am a pharisee, the son of a pharisee,
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Acts twenty three, verse six. And before King Agrippa, after the
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straightest sect of our religion, I lived a pharisee, Acts twenty six five.
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And the whole body of the scribes generally esteemed and acted in concert with
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the pharisees. Hence we find our saviors so frequently coupling them together, as
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coming in many respects under the same consideration. In this place they seem to
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be mentioned together as the most eminent professors of religion, the former of whom
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were accounted the wisest, the latter the holiest of men. What the righteousness
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of the scribes and pharisees really was is not difficult to determine. Our Lord
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has preserved an authentic account, which one of them gave of himself, and
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he is clear and full in describing his own righteousness, and cannot be supposed
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to have omitted any part of it. He went up, indeed, into
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the temple to pray, but was so intent upon his own virtues that he
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forgot the design upon which he came. For it is remarkable he does not
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properly pray at all. He only tells God how wise and good he was.
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God. I thank THEE that I am not as other men are,
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extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice
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in the weak. I give tithes of all that I possess. His righteousness
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therefore consisted of three parts. First, saith he I am not as other
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men are. I am not an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer,
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not even as this publican. Secondly, I fast twice in the week.
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And thirdly, I give tithes of all that I possess. I am
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not as other men are. This is not a small point. It is
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not every man that can say this. It is as if he had said,
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I do not suffer myself to be carried away by that great torrent custom.
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I live not by custom, but by reason, not by the examples
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of men, but the word of God. I am not an extortioner,
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not unjust, not an adulterer. However common these sins are even among those
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who are called the people of God. Extortion, in particular a kind of
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legal injustice not punishable by any human law, the making gain of another's ignorance
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or necessity, having filled every corner of the land. Nor even as this
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publican not guilty of any open or presumptuous sin, not an outward sinner,
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but a fair, honest man, of blameless life and conversation. I fast
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twice in the week. There is more implied in this than we may at
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first be sensible of all the stricter Pharisees observed the weekly fasts, namely,
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every Monday and Thursday. On the former day they fasted in memory of Moses
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receiving on that day, as their tradition taught the two Tables of Stone written
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by the finger of God, on the latter, in memory of his casting
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them out of his hand when he saw the people dancing round the golden calf.
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On these days they took no sustenance at all till three in the afternoon,
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the hour at which they began to offer up the evening sacrifice in the
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temple. Till that hour, it was their custom to remain in the temple
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in some of the corners, apartments, or courts thereof, that they might
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be ready to assist at all the sacrifices, and to join in all the
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public prayers. The time between they were accustomed to employ partly in private addresses
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to God, partly in searching the scriptures, in reading the law, in
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the prophets, and in meditating thereon. Thus much is implied in I fast
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twice in the week, the second brand of the righteousness of a Pharisee,
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I give tithes of all that I possess. This the Pharisees did with the
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utmost exactness. They would not accept the most inconsiderable thing, No, not
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mint Annis and Kumen. They would not keep back the least part of what
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they believed properly to belong to God, but gave a full tenth of their
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whole substance yearly, and of all their increase whatsoever it was, yea the
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stricter Pharisees, as has been often observed by those who are versed in the
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ancient Jewish writings, not content with giving one tenth of their substance to God
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in his priests and levites, gave another tenth to God in the poor,
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and that continually they gave the same proportion of all they had in alms as
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they were accustomed to give in tides, And this likewise they adjusted with the
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utmost exactness, that they might not keep back any part, but might fully
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render unto God the thing which were gods. As they accounted this to be,
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so that upon the whole they gave away, from year to year an
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entire fifth of all that they possessed. This was the righteousness of the Scribes
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and Pharisees, a righteousness which in many respects went far beyond the conception which
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many have been accustomed to entertain concerning it. But perhaps it will be said
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it was all false and feigned, for they were all a company of hypocrites.
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Some of them, doubtless, were men who had really no religion at
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all, no fear of God or desire to please Him, who had no
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concern for the honor that cometh of God, but only for the praise of
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men. And these are they whom our Lord so severely condemns, so sharply
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reproves on many occasions. But we must not suppose because many Pharisees were hypocrites,
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therefore all were so, nor indeed as hypocrisy by any means essential to
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the character of a Pharisee. This is not the distinguishing mark of their sect.
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It is rather this, According to our Lord's account, they trusted in
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themselves that they were righteous and despised others. This is their genuine badge.
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But the pharisee of this kind cannot be a hypocrite. He must be,
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in the common sense sincere. Otherwise he would not trust in himself that he
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is righteous. The man who was here commending himself to God unquestionably thought himself
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righteous. Consequently, he was no hypocrite. He was not conscious to himself
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of any insincerity. He now spoke to God just what he thought, namely
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that he was abundantly better than other men. But the example of Saint Paul,
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were there no other, is sufficient to put this out of all question.
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He could not only say when he was a Christian herein de do I
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exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men,
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Acts twenty four sixteen. But even concerning the time when he was a
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pharisee, men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God
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until this day Acts twenty three, verse one. He was therefore sincere when
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he was a Pharisee as well as when he was a Christian. He was
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no more a hypocrite when he persecuted the church than when he preached the faith
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which once he persecuted. Let this then be added to the righteousness of the
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scribes and Pharisees, a sincere belief that they are righteous and in all things
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doing God's service. And yet except your righteousness, saith, our Lord shall
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exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Ye shall in no case enter
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into the Kingdom of Heaven. A solemn and weighty declaration, and which it
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behooves all who are called by the name of Christ seriously and deeply to consider.
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But before we inquire how our righteousness may exceed theirs, let us examine
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whether at present we come up to it. First, a Pharisee was not
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as other men are in externals. He was singularly good? Are we so?
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Do we dare to be singular at all? Do we not rather swim
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with the stream? Do we not many times dispense with religion and reason together
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because we would not look particular? Are we not often more afraid of being
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out of the fashion than of being out of the way of salvation? Have
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we courage to stem the tide, to turn counter to the world, to
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obey God rather than man. Otherwise the Pharisee leaves us behind at the very
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first step. It is well if we overtake him anymore. But to come
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closer, can we use his first plea with God, which is in substance.
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I do no harm, I live in no outward sin. I do
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nothing for which my own heart condemns me. Do you not? Are you
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sure of that? Do you live in no practice for which your heart condemns
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you? If you are not an adulterer, if you are not unchaste,
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either in word or deed, are you not unjust? The grand measure of
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justice, as well as of mercy is do unto others as thou wouldst they
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should do unto thee. Do you walk by this rule? Do you never
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do unto any what you would not they should do unto you? Nay?
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Are you not grossly unjust? Are you not an extortioner? Do you not
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make a gain of anyone's ignorance or necessity, neither in buying nor selling.
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Suppose you are engaged in trade, do you demand do you receive no more
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than the real value of what you sell? Do you demand? Do you
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receive no more of the ignorant than of the knowing of a little child,
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than of an experienced trader. If you do, why does not your heart
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condemn you? You are a bare faced extortioner. Do you demand no more
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than the usual price of goods of any who is in pressing want, who
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must have, and that, without delay the things which you only can furnish
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him with. If you do, this is also flat extortion. Indeed,
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you do not come up to the righteousness of a pharisee. A pharisee,
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secondly, to express his sense in our common way, used all the means
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of grace, as he fasted often, in much twice in every week.
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So he attended all the sacrifices. He was constant in public and private prayer,
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and in reading and hearing the scriptures? Do you go so far as
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this? Do you fast much and often twice in the week? I fear
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not once at least on all Fridays in night. So our Church clearly and
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peremptorily enjoins all her members to do to observe all these, as well as
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the vigils and the forty days of lent as days of fasting or abstinence?
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Do you fast twice in the year? I am afraid some among us cannot
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plead even this. Do you neglect no opportunity of attending and partaking of the
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Christian sacrifice? How many are they who call themselves Christians and yet are utterly
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regardless of it? Yet do not eat of that bread or drink of that
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cup? For months perhaps years together? Do you every day either hear the
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scriptures or read them and meditate thereon? Do you join in prayer with the
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Great congregation daily if you have opportunity, if not, whenever you can,
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particularly on that day which you remember to keep it holy? Do you strive
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to make opportunities? Are you glad when they say, unto you, we
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will go into the house of the Lord? Are you zealous of and diligent
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in private prayer? Do you suffer no day to pass without it? Rather,
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are not some of you so far from spending therein with the Pharisee several
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hours in one day that you think one hour full enough, if not too
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much? Do you spend an hour a day or in a week in praying
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to your Father which is in secret? Yea an hour in a month have
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you spent one hour together in private prayer? Ever since you was born?
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Ah, poor Christian, shall not the Pharisee rise up in the judgment against
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thee and condemn thee? His righteousness is far above thine, as the heaven
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is above the earth. The Pharisee thirdly paid tithes and gave alms of all
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that he possessed, and in how ample a manner, so that he was,
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as we phrase it, a man that did much good up to him
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here? Which of us is so abundant as he was in good works?
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Which of us gives a fifth of all his substance to God, both of
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the principle and of the increase, Who of us, out of suppose and
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hundred pounds a year gives twenty to God and the poor out of fifty ten?
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And so in a larger or a smaller proportion. When shall our righteousness,
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in using all the means of grace, in attending all the ordinances of
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God, in avoiding evil and doing good, equal at least the righteousness of
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the scribes and Pharisees, Although if it only equaled theirs, what would that
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profit? For? Verily, I say unto you, except your righteousness shall
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exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter
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into the Kingdom of heaven. But how can it exceed theirs? Wherein does
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the righteousness of a Christian exceed that of a scribe or fair pari? Christian
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righteousness exceeds theirs first in the extent of it. Most of the Pharisees,
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though they were rigorously exact in many things, yet were emboldened by the traditions
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of the elders to dispense with others of equal importance. Thus they were extremely
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punctual in keeping the fourth commandment. They would not even rub an ear of
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corn on the Sabbath day, but not at all in keeping the third,
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making little account of light or even false swearing, so that their righteousness was
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partial. Whereas the righteousness of a real Christian is universal. He does not
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observe one or some parts of the Law of God and neglect the rest,
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but keeps all his commandments, loves them, all, values them above gold
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or precious stones. It may be, indeed, that some of the scribes
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and Pharisees endeavored to keep all the commandments, and consequently were as touching the
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righteous leusness of the law, that is, according to the letter of it,
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blameless. But still, the righteousness of a Christian exceeds all this righteousness
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of a scribe or pharisee, by fulfilling the spirit as well as the letter
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of the law, by inward as well as outward obedience. In this,
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in the spirituality of it, it admits of no comparison. This is the
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point which our Lord has so largely proved in the whole tenor of this discourse.
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Their righteousness was external. Only Christian righteousness is in the inner man.
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The pharisee cleansed the outside of the cup in the platter, the Christian is
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clean within. The pharisee labored to present God with a good life, the
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Christian with a holy heart. The one shook off the leaves, perhaps the
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fruits of sin. The other lays the axe to the root, as not
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being content with the outward form of Godliness, how exactsoever it be, unless
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the life, the spirit, the power of God unto salvation be felt in
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the inmost soul. Thus, to do no harm, to do good,
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to attend the ordinances of God, the righteousness of a pharisee are all external,
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whereas on the contrary, poverty of spirit, mourning, weakness, hunger
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and thirst after righteousness, the love of our neighbor, and purity of heart,
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the righteousness of a Christian are all internal, and even peacemaking or doing
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good and suffering for righteousness sake stand entitled to the blessings annexed to them only
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as they imply these inward dispositions, as they spring from exercise and confirm them.
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So that, whereas the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was external only,
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it may be said in some sense that the righteousness of a Christian is
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internal only, all his actions and sufferings being as nothing in themselves, being
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estimated before God only by the tempers from which they spring. Whosoever, therefore
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thou art, who bearest the holy and venerable name of a Christian, see
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first that any righteousness fall not short of the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.
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Be not thou, as other men are, dare to stand alone to
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be against example, singularly good. If thou follow a multitude at all,
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it must be to do evil. Let not custom or fashion be thy guide,
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but reason and religion. The practice of others is nothing to thee.
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Every man must give an account of himself to God. Indeed, if thou
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canst save the soul of another, do but at least save one thy own.
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Walk not in the path of death, because it is broad, and
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many walk therein. Nay, by this very token thou mayest know it is
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the way wherein thou now walkest a broad, well frequented, fashionable way.
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Then it infallibly leads to destruction. O be not thou damned for company.
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Cease from evil, fly from sin as from the face of a serpent.
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At least do no harm. He that committeth sin is of the devil.
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Be not thou found in that number touching outward sins. Surely the grace of
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God is even now sufficient for thee herein at least exercise thyself to have a
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conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Secondly, let not thy
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righteousness fall short of theirs with regard to the ordinances of God. If thy
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labor or bodily strength will not allow of thy fasting twice in the week,
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however, deal faithfully with thy own soul, and fast as often as thy
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strength will permit omit no public no pride, that opportunity of pouring out thy
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soul in prayer, Neglect no occasion of eating that bread and drinking that cup,
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which is the communion of the body in the blood of Christ. Be
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diligent in searching the scriptures, read as thou mayest, and meditate therein day
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and night. Rejoice to embrace every opportunity of hearing the word of reconciliation declared
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by the ambassadors of Christ, the stewards of the mysteries of God, in
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using all the means of grace, in a constant and careful attendance on every
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ordinance of God, live up to at least till thou canst go beyond the
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righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Thirdly, fall not short of a pharisee
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in doing good. Give alms of all thou dost possess. Is any hungry,
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feed him, is he a thirst Give him drink naked, cover him
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with a garment. If thou hast this world's good goods, do not limit
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thy beneficence to a scanty proportion. Be merciful to the uttermost of thy power.
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Why not, even as this Pharisee. Now make thyself friends, while
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the time is of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when thou failest, when
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this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, they may receive THEE into everlasting habitations. But
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rest not here. Let thy righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
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Be not thou content to keep the whole law and offend in one point.
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Hold thou fast to all His commandments and all false ways. Do thou
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utterly abhor do all the things whatsoever he hath commanded, And that with all
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thy might thou canst do all things through Christ, strengthening THEE, though without
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Him thou canst do nothing. Above all, Let thy righteousness exceed theirs in
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the purity and spirit victuality of it. What is the exactest form of religion
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to thee, the most perfect outside righteousness. Go thou higher and deeper than
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all this. Let thy religion be the religion of the heart. Be thou
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poor in spirit, little and base and mean and vile in thine own eyes
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amazed and humbled to the dust at the love of God which is in Christ.
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Jesus, thy Lord, be serious. Let the whole stream of thy
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thoughts, words, and works be such as flows from the deepest conviction,
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that thou standest on the edge of the great gulf. Thou and all the
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children of men, just ready to drop in, either into everlasting glory or
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everlasting burnings, be meek. Let thy soul be filled with mildness, gentleness,
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patience, long suffering toward all men. At the same time that all
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which is in thee is athirst for God, the Living God, longing to
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awake up after his life likeness and to be satisfied with it. Be thou
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a lover of God and of all mankind. In this spirit, do and
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suffer all things thus exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and thou
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shalt be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. End of Section twenty five.