-1644-11656]

But take a nearer survey, and the deception vanishes. The book which seemed to be before him is discovered to be a punch-bowl, into which the wretch is all the while in reality only squeezing a lemon. How lively a representation of a hypocrite!

VI. TWO CHIEF SORTS OF HYPOCRISY.

[11645] There are two sorts of hypocritesone that are deceived by the outward morality and external religion, and the other are those that are deceived with false discoveries and elevations which often cry down works, and men's own righteousness, and talk much of free grace; but at the same time make righteousness of their discoveries, and of their humiliation, and exalt themselves to heaven with them.J. Edwards.

VII. ITS VARIOUS FORMS.

[11646] His zeal may be zeal for himself. Of course a man is zealous for religion when religion is a help to his business. The sellers of silver shrines are always devoted to the goddess. Hypocrites make again even of godliness.

[11647] A covetous father condemns the prodigality of his extravagant son, and the son again cries out against the avarice of his niggardly father, and thus both seem to condemn sin, but the truth is, neither do it; it is only two extreme sins fighting together, neither of them regarding the rule which God hath laid down.— Abp. Leighton.

[11648] Catherine of Russia, when she travelled through her waste dominions, caused painted villages to be raised along her route, that she might be enabled to give way to the imagination that her country was flourishing and populous. It is in such a delusion that mankind in general pass through life, raising up around them, by the power of their own imaginations, a host of supposed good qualities, in the midst of which they walk, as the statues of the gods walk in the processions, listening to a constant hymn in their own praise.

The hypocrite is commonly supposed to be the most profound of all characters. But there is a deeper and more dangerous deceit. There are persons who come to act the hypocrite to themselves. The man who has been deluded by his neighbour for years is not more astonished when his eyes are opened than are the persons now referred to, when their own character stands fully revealed to them.

[11649] Some painters have had such a gift in the lively expressing of the forms of birds and other beasts that true birds and living beasts have been deceived in taking them for their mates. But the hypocrite puts down the painter; for by his glowing and glittering shows in all outward works he doth so perfectly resemble the true Christian, that he deceiveth, not as the painter, silly birds, but reasonable men;

[HYPOCRISY.

yea, learned and experienced Christians.Dyke, 1629.

VIII. ITS NATURE AND MOTIVES.

[11650] It is not that the hypocrite despises a good character that he is not one himself, but because he thinks he can purchase it at a cheaper rate than the practice of it, and thus obtain all the applause of a good man merely by pretending to be so.-Fielding.

[11651] The hypocrite serves God for gain. He looks at the emoluments and profits which come in by religion; 'tis not the power of godli. ness the hypocrite loves, but the gain of godliness; 'tis not the fire of the altar, but the gold of the altar which he adores. This is a religious wickedness. Hypocritical Christians who make an interest of religion, and serve some worldly design by it. These are concerned to understand religion more than ordinary, that they may counterfeit it handsomely, and may not be at a loss when they have occasion to put on the garb of it. And this is one part of the character which the apostle gives of those persons, who, he foretells, would appear in the last days (2 Tim. iii. 2); he says they should be "lovers of their own selves, covetous, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it."—Abp. Tillotson.

IX. ITS INDICATIONS AND TESTS.

[11652] It is very suspicious that that person is a hypocrite that is always in the same frame, let him pretend it to be never so good.-Traill. X. ITS FOLLY.

[11653] Hypocrisy a folly; for it is much easier, safer, and pleasanter to be the thing which a man seems to appear, than to keep up the appearance of being what he is not.-Lord Burleigh.

[11654] It is the greatest madness to be a hypocrite in religion. The world will hate thee because a Christian even in appearance, and God will hate thee because so only in appearance; and thus, having the hatred of both, thou shalt have no comfort in either.-S. Hall.

XI. ITS EXTREME GUILT.

[11655] Of all the forms of infidelity hypocrisy is the form the most infidel, because the hypocrite lies both to heaven and earth, and his life is crime in perfidy and atheism in action. -R. Glover.

XII. ITS POWER OF PERVERSION.

[11656] Hypocrisy by a cruel invention employs the arms of virtues to destroy the virtues themselves; and thus that evil, or rather that plague, ought well to be guarded against which

11656-11665]

makes a remedy become a poison, which changes the holiest practices into defects and crimes.St. Chrysostom.

XIII. ITS HATEFULNESS.

[11657] Hypocrisy ! thou bane of political and social life! thou God-dishonouring atheist ! thou slayer of human virtue, mean and coward slave! thou comest limping after power, to give it a righteous shove-thou shrivelled elf, canting, shuffling, blearing with thy swollen eye and longdrawn visage to sanctify misrule! I turn from thee with nauseous disgust; I shudder at thy contracted, unseemly aspect; thou flatterest alike the worst passions of power, whether to be found in king or people; to neither wilt thou dare to give a good direction, thou offspring of vanity and cowardice !-Sir R. Maltravers.

XIV. ITS FAILURE AND USELESSNESS, NO MATTER HOW CLEVER THE IMITATION.

[11658] You know there is an artificial ruby, an artificial sapphire, and an artificial emerald. Strauss, of Strasburg, discovered that by taking silex and potash, and borax and red lead, he could make a very good imitation of some jewels; but before that Satan found out that he could imitate the Lord's jewels. A composition of orthodox faith and of good works has made many a child of the devil look like a child of the Lord. Nevertheless, borax, potash, silex, and red lead are not jewels.-Talmage.

[11659] He who takes copper instead of gold wrongs himself most; the counterfeit saint deceives others while he lives, but deceives himself when he dies. To pretend holiness when there is none is a vain thing. What were the foolish virgins better for their blazing lamps when they wanted oil? What is the lamp of profession without the oil of saving grace? what comfort will a show of holiness yield at last? Will painted gold enrich ? painted wine refresh him that is thirsty? will painted holiness be a cordial at the hour of death? A pretence of sanctification is not to be rested in. Many ships that have had the name of the Hope, the Safeguard, the Triumph, yet have been cast away upon the rocks.

[11660] The hope of the hypocrite is like "a spider's web." Like the spider, the hypocrite weaves his web, his hope, his trust, out of his own bowels. It is the creature of his fancy, spun from the materials of self-righteousness. He may call it a garment to hide his shame, but it is a mere web, unfit to cover a naked soul, and easily rent. He may call it a house, but it is unavailable to "hide from the storm, or cover from the tempest." He may hold fast by it, but it shall fall, and he perish in the ruins. There is, there can be, no shelter, safety, nor security, in the cobweb of self-righteousness. If not stripped off in the world, it will be swept away by the first breath of eternity.

[HYPOCK SY.

[11661] Coals of fire cannot be concealed beneath the most sumptuous apparel-they will betray themselves with smoke and flame; nor can darling sins be long hidden beneath the most ostentatious profession-they will sooner or later discover themselves, and burn sad holes in the man's reputation. Sin needs quenching in the Saviour's blood, not concealing under the garb of religion.-Spurgeon.

[11662] There can be no union betwixt God and the hypocrite in regard of the great dissimilitude of dispositions. God is single; and he is double having a heart and a heart, and therefore cannot be as David, a man according to God's heart. The hypocrite is crooked and God is straight: and how will you compact together, and make even straight and crooked? How can there be friendship betwixt them that are every way of contrary dispositions? But where there is likeness of manners, there easily will hearts be glued and riveted together.-D. Dyke, 1642.

XV. HYPOCRISY AND TRUE RELIGION CONTRASTED.

The

[11663] The hypocrite and saint are like. two men at sawing-the hypocrite, like him in the pit, looks high upward, but pulls downward; the saint, like him above, looks low, humbly downward, but pulls upward. hypocrite is like a peach, which covers a ragged, craggy stone under a velvet coat; the saint, like the chestnut, hath a sweet kernel, though the cover be rough. The hypocrite, like Judas, kisses Christ, but betrays Him, and, like ivy, he clasps about Christ, but is not united to Him; he, again, like ivy, derives not sap and nourishment from Him, but from a root of his own. The hypocrite is like a window cushion, fairly wrought without, but stuffed with straw. R. Venning.

XVI. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WORSHIP OF AN UNREAL AND A REAL CHRISTIAN. [11664] What a weariness is it to serve the Lord! The chrysolite (which is of a golden colour) in the morning is very bright to look on, but towards noon it grows dull, and hath lost its splendour; such are the glistering shows of hypocrites. True delight, like the fire of the altar, never goes out; affliction cannot extirpate it. Psa. cxix. 143: "Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me, yet Thy commandments are my delight."

XVII. THE BIGOTRY AND CRUELTY OF HYPOCRITES.

[11665] He which professeth the ways of God falsely or formally is ordinarily more bitter, violent, and cruel to a true Christian than pagans and professed opposites. Pilate was more pitiful and kind unto Christ than the Pharisees; Felix more favourable and friendly

[11666] In their early stage of growth, tares, like other grasses or grains, resemble wheat. In this state they can be distinguished by the practised botanist; but if one attempted to separate them, it would be a difficult matter, and there would be great risk of pulling up some young plants of wheat also. When, however, the fruit or grain is produced, that is, at the time of harvest, the characters of the two plants are easily seen, and there is no difficulty in separating the one from the other.

Robinson during his travels in Palestine saw splendid fields of wheat containing these tares, and it is stated that wheat imported from the Continent is often mixed with darnel. How well, then, do these tares represent those who make a false profession, who appear among God's people, who draw near with their mouth, and honour God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him! Both grow together and may seem alike. Man cannot accurately distinguish between the true and the false. But at the great harvest day the Lord will separate them.-Prof. Balfour.

XIX. CONNECTION BETWEEN DISPOSITION OF CHARACTER AND HYPOCRISY. [11667] He who is passionate and hasty is generally honest; it is your cool dissembling hypocrite of whom you should be aware. There is no deception in a bull-dog; it is only the cur that sneaks up and bites you when your back is turned.-B. Bensly.

25 PHARISAISM.

I. ITS CONTRACTED SPHERE.

[11668] True religion has an outside as well as Pharisaism-an outside which differs from the latter not only in that it is more scriptural, but also in that it is broader, more complete. It may be narrower in a merely ritual direction, but, in all other respects, it is more extensive (Matt. v. 16; Titus ii. 14). The Pharisees, in

[PHARISAISM.

losing internal piety, narrowed the field of external religion; they placed it altogether in ceremonial observances; in tithing, mint, anise, and cummin (which was a duty), and in other uncommanded rites, and ignored the weightier matters of the law (Matt. xxxiii. 23). They omitted not merely the internal graces of judg ment, mercy, and faith, but the actions proceeding from these graces. The mark of a decaying church is not an external zeal for works, but a zeal for works in a contracted, often an uncommanded field, whilst the broad surrounding territory of Christian duty is left uncultivated.-E. R. Craven.

II. ITS SOURCE.

[11669] The pharisaical spirit, the love of outward and traditional things, hath afflicted every age, and afflicted this present age in no small degree; and I question whether, in this state, we shall ever have it extinguished. For there is an opinionativeness which seems almost inseparable from faith, and which yet is not of the essence of faith. If indeed our faith cometh from hearing of men, or from tradition, or from any other source than the fruits of the Spirit wrought in our heart and life, this dogmatism will continue to attend it; but if it spring from the proof of the thing, from the inbred conviction of its holy fruits, from the growth of heavenly temper, then that charity riseth up within the breast which thinketh no evil, is the death of all divisions and of all evil-speakings, and the true form of Christ's discipleship is manifested within us.-Edward Irving.

III. CONTRAST BETWEEN THE SCHOOL OF CHRIST AND THE SCHOOL OF THE PHARISEES.

[11670] In looking upon the outward, visible church, it hath always appeared to me divided into two classes-one which held Christ in all charitableness, and another which held Him in all uncharitableness; the former lying open to light, and trying every spirit with a kind experiment, and hoping the best, and hard to be convinced of evil-the latter, doubting and distrusting every one, weighing his every word with a critical exactness, and with all their ears listening to the report of evil; the former intelligible, by their simplicity and singleness of heartthe latter most confused and unapproachable, by reason of their bigotry to their church and favourite pastors, and their forms and other credentials; the former most soft and touching, by their tender pity of your frailties, and their kind counsels of your waywardness-the latter most repulsive by their firm and constrained fellow. ship, into which you can enter as a party only through the needle's eye of their prejudices. In the one class you will find the school of Christ, in the other the school of the Pharisees; and I do exhort those who listen to my unworthy exhortations to become of the foriner, Christians in heart.-Ibid.

11671-11676]

IV. QUESTION RAISED: HOW FAR SIN-
CERITY IN RELIGION IS CONSISTENT
WITH THE LOVE OF PUBLICITY AND
THE TOO ARDENT DESIRE FOR RE-
COGNIZED SERVICE.

[11671] Even in the public recognition of religious men there is a danger which ought to haunt the soul that is living for hereafter. Each man must ask himself, Is my reward being had now is there any left to be given to me by and by by the hand of Christ? On the other hand, it does not follow that all good works rewarded now forfeit a reward hereafter, for He who said, "They have their reward," said also, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Some Christians have to act not merely in the view of God, but to set an example to men. This is true of rulers, of clergy, of parents, of landowners, of the masters of schools, of heads of families-these are all bound to works of mercy and self-denial, and are bound to let others see them. Yet all will be well for these too if they are sure of the purity of their intention to give the glory to God instead of to get glory from men. There is no harm in doing a kindness in public, in saying prayers in a great crowd if the publicity is put up with instead of being sought for, if the true intention be to do service to the Father which seeth in secret. Public notice is not fatal to loyalty to the precept, "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," because God may imperatively require that man should confess Christ before men, and then the intention to glorify God transfigures the act just as a beautiful soul lights up an ugly countenance. What it comes to is this, that the good intention to serve God is the soul of the good act, just as an act which is good in its outward form may be utterly vitiated by its motive, and may resemble the man of whom tradition speaks, who was beautiful to look upon, and yet was possessed by a devil, who was fair and glorious in the eyes of men, and yet was dishonoured by having the trade-mark of the enemy upon him. The love of praise makes all worthless. It is only too easy now as it was eighteen centuries ago to enjoy the reward here and now, and to have no part in the expectation of future glory. On the other hand, a sincere desire to glorify God, although it cannot make an act such as murder, which is intrinsically bad, anything but what it is, it does make acts, which are in themselves trivial, of the highest value. A bit of paper, which by itself is worthless, when signed by a man of credit becomes a thousand pounds, and there are hundreds of acts of Christians which would be utterly insignificant, if the intention to glorify the all-glorious God in the infinite merits of the Lord Jesus Christ did not confer upon them a lustre altogether independent of their intrinsic worth.

26

[SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

SANCTIMONIOUSNESS.

I. ITS REPULSIVENESS.

[11672] With many a bright child, many a high-minded youth, restive under Puritanical guardianship, it would seem, I fear, no bad news that the "godly" were ceasing (Psa. xii. 1); and his suppressed feeling would be that they could very well be spared. For the phrase has become appropriated to a type of character far from lovely in even its best aspects, and so adverse to natural joy and dreary in its idea of perfectness as to repel all large and genial minds.-James Martineau.

II. ITS RIDICULOUSNESS.

[11673] My father, in speaking of the mannerisms which are affected by some who belong to a certain school of thought-the subdued air, the artificial tone, and other forms adopted as indications of sanctity—once said something that greatly impressed me it was this, "Let us be natural until we are divine."-Aitken.

III. ITS UNDERLYING ERROR.

[11674] Men confound earnestness and solemnity. A man may be very much in earnest and not be very solemn; or he may be awfully solemn without a particle of earnestness. À solemn nothing is just as wicked as a witty nothing.-Beecher.

27 SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I. ITS PREVALENCE.

[11675] This is of all vices the most common, so deeply radicated in our nature, and so generally overspreading the world, that no man thoroughly is exempted from it, most men are greatly tainted with it, some are wholly possessed and acted by it.

II. ITS DESCRIPTION.

[11676] Phidias, the great sculptor, was employed by the Athenians to make a statue of the goddess Diana, and he produced a chef d'œuvre. But the artist became enamoured of his own work, and was so anxious that his name should go down to posterity that he secretly engraved his name in one of the folds of the drapery; which, when the Athenians discovered, they indignantly banished the man who had polluted the sanctity of their goddess. would self-righteous sinners art with the pure spotless robe of Him who knew no sin. Let them beware!-Bowes.

11677-11691]

III. ITS DEFINITION.

[11677] Self-righteousness is the feeling that our character is such that we deserve well at the hands of God-a feeling common to all unconverted men ; sinners wonder why they should be lost, but saints why they should be saved.A. Ritchie.

IV. ITS CONNECTION WITH OTHER SINS.

[11678] Self-righteousness is the root from which all other vices do grow, and without which hardly any sin could subsist; the chief vices especially have an obvious and evident dependence thereon.

V. ITS ABSOLUTE UNPROFITABLENESS.

[11679] Self-righteousness is no righteousness.-Hare.

[11680] Self-righteousness is like bad debts, the more a man has the worse he is off.-Seba Smith.

VI. ITS FOLLY.

[11681] You trust in your own doings to appease God for your sins, and to incline the heart of God to you. Though you are poor, worthless, vile, and polluted, yet you arrogantly take upon you that very work for which the Son of God became man, and in order to which God employed four thousand years in all the great dispensations of His providence, aiming chiefly to make way for Christ's coming to do this work. This is the work that you foolishly think yourselves sufficient for; as though your prayers and performances were excellent enough for this purpose. Consider how vain is the thought which you entertain of yourself; how much such arrogance appears in the sight of Christ, whom it cost so much! was not to be obtained even by Him, so great and glorious a person, at a cheaper rate than His wading through a sea of blood, and passing through the midst of the furnace of God's wrath.-Jonathan Edwards.

It

[11682] A Chinese convert once said: "How can a man trust in his own righteousness? It is like seeking shelter in his own shadow: we may stoop to the very ground, and the lower we bend we still find that our shadow is beneath us. But if a man flee to the shadow of a great rock or a wide-spreading tree, he will find shelter from the noonday sun. That rock, that tree is Christ."-Medhurst.

VII. ITS DANGERS.

[11683] Many who have escaped the rocks of gross sins have been cast away on the sands of self-righteousness.-Dyer.

[11684] More have lost their own souls by hinking to carry some of their own stuff with

[SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

them to heaven, which they, like lingering Lot, have been loth to leave, and have themselves perished.—Gurnal.

VIII. ITS FATAL CONSEQUENCES.

[11685] Any man who trusts so much as a single hair's breadth to his works is a lost soul. He who trusts to the least atom of works, though it be so small that he himself cannot discern it, will be lost.

[11686] Suppose it needful for you to cross a river over which two planks are thrown. One is new; the other rotten. How will you go? If you walk upon the rotten one, you are sure to fall into the river. If you put one foot on the rotten plank and the other on the new one, it will be just as bad; you will fall through and perish. The rotten plant is your own righteousness; the new, sound one is the righteousness which is of God through faith.

[11687] While a man rests in any degree on his own merits for acceptance with God, it is of little consequence whether he be a pagan idolater or a proud, ignorant Pharisee; both go about to establish their own righteousness; neither submits to righteousness of God; and know not which of the two is more distant from the kingdom of God.-Milner.