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CHAP. XXVI.

OF HYPOCRITES AND HYPOCRISY: THE

SPIRIT AND PRACTICES OF SUCH WHO

ARE VERY FORMAL AND EARNEST IN

THE EXTERNAL PART OF WORSHIP

AND PROFESSION, AND IN SHEW FOR
GOD; YET HIGH IN THEIR OPPOSI-

sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.-2 Kings x. 15, 16. 31.

Amaziah, &c. did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.-2 Chron. XXV. 1, 2.

What is the hope of the hypocrite? &c. will he delight himself in the TION TO CHRIST, THE TRUTH OF THE Almighty? will he always call upon

GOSPEL, AND POWER OF GODLINESS
IN OTHERS.

Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. -Matt. v. 20. xxi. 31, 32.

The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.-John iv. 23, 24. They are not all Israel which are of Israel; neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children, &c.-Rom. ix. 6, 7.

Abel offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain Cain was therefore angry, and slew his brother.-Gen. iv. 3-8. Heb. xi. 4. Absalom pretended to justice, and to pay a vow which he had vowed to the Lord in Hebron: but he purposed to steal away the hearts of the people, and to rebel against the king, and advance himself into the throne. -2 Sam. xv. 1—11.

Ahaziah the king, when rebuked by Elijah for departing from God, and sending to an idol, gives order to his soldiers to fetch Elijah; and though one company, and another, were consumed with fire, yet he sent again.2 Kings i. 3, 4. 8—13.

Jehu met Jehonadab, and said unto him, Is thine heart right as my heart? &c. and he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord, &c. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the

God?-Job xxvii. 8. 10.

The hypocrites in heart heap up wrath; they cry not when he bindeth them.-Job xxxvi. 13.

his neighbour: with flattering lips, They speak vanity every one with and with a double heart do they speak. —Ps. xii. 2. lxii. 4. Prov. xxiii. 7.

They speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Ps. xxviii. 3. lv. 21.

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When he slew them, then they sought him and they returned and inquired early after God: and they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer ; nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongue: for their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.-Ps. lxxviii. 34-37. Isa. xxvi. 16. Hos. xi. 12.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.-Prov. xii. 15.

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.-Prov. xxx. 12.

This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips they honour me, but have removed their heart far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.-Isa. xxix. 13. xlviii. 1, 2.

Shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins; yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways; as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God; they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God: Wherefore have we fasted, say

they, and thou seest it not? have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labours; behold, ye fast for strife, &c.-Isa. lviii. 1, &c.

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, &c. that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, &c. which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou: these are a smoke in my nose.-Isa. lxv. 2—5.

Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly.-Jer. iii. 10.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, &c. Amend your ways, &c. trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, &c. Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit: will ye steal, murder, &c. and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name? &c.—Jer. vii. 3, 4. 8-10. Ezek. xxiii. 38, 39. Matt. iii. 8-10. Egypt, &c. are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel uncircumcised in heart.-Jer. ix. 26.

Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.-Jer. xii. 2.

Judah said, Pray for us to the Lord thy God, &c. that the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do, &c. We will obey the voice of the Lord, &c. But Jeremiah afterward said, O ye remnant of Judah, &c. Ye dissembled in your hearts (or have used deceit against your souls) when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us, &c. We will do it, &c. but ye have not obeyed the voice of God, nor any thing for which he hath sent me unto you. Jer. xlii. 1-6. 19-21.

And they come unto thee as thy people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people: and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And lo, thou art unto

them as a very lovely song, &c. for they hear thy words, but they do thein not.-Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32. Luke xii. 1, 2.

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I dɔ unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.-Hosea vi. 4.

They have not cried to me with their hearts, &c. they return, but not to the Most High, &c.-Hosea vii. 14. 16.

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire; yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? &c.-Micah iii. 11.

When ye fasted, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? &c. Did not ye eat? &c.-Zech. vii. 5, 6.

Herod sent to seek Christ under pretence of worshipping him: but he designed to kill him.-Matt. ii. 3. 5. 8. 16.

When thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men, &c. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men, &c. Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.-Matt. vi. 2. 5. 16.

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? or, how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, &c. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, &c. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? &c.

then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Matt. vii. 3—5, 21–23. Luke xiii. 26, 27.

John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.Matt. xi. 18, 19.

When the Pharisees saw the disciples plucking corn on the sabbath day, they said, Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. Jesus said, Have ye not read, &c. how that on the sabbath days, the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless &c. They asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him, &c. then he cured the man, &c. Then the Pharisees went out and held a counsel against him, how they might destroy him, &c. They said, This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Matt. xii. 1-5. 10-14. 24. John v. 16. Luke xiii. 14-16.

The stony ground, &c. is one who hath not root in himself, but dureth for awhile; for when tribulation and persecution ariseth, because of the word, by and by he is offended, &c. They said of Christ, Is not this the carpenter's son ? &c. whence then hath this man all these things? and they. were offended in him.-Matt. xiii. 20, 21. 55-57.

Then came to Jesus the scribes and Pharisees, &c. saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, for they wash not their hands when they eat bread? But he answered, and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? for God commanded, saying, Honour thy father, &c. but ye say, &c. thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition: ye hypocrites, well did Isaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draw nigh

unto me with their mouth, &c. but their heart is far from me.-Matt. xv. 1-9. Mark vii. 1, &c. Luke xi. 42-44.

The young rich man had observed much of the law; yet when Christ had said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor; he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions, &c. Many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first.Matt. xix. 16-22. 30.

Those who agree for wages, murmur because those who did not agree, nor do so much work as they, had alike wages freely given them.-Matt. xx. 1-15.

When the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, &c. And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? When Christ had put forth the parable of the vineyard, and the chief priests heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them: but when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared, &c.-Matt. xxi. 15. 23. 33— 37. 45, 46.

Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk, &c. asking him, Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? Jesus said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? &c.-Matt. xxii. 15-18. John viii. 3, &c. Luke vi. 7. 53, 54. XX. 20-22.

xi.

The scribes and Pharisees, &c. they say, and do not; for they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on mens' shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers; but all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their philacteries, and enlarge the borders of

their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi, &c. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering, to go in, &c. Ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers, &c. Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, blind guides! which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor, &c. Ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, &c. Ye blind guides! which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel, &c. Ye may clean the outside of the cup, &c. but within they are full of extortion and excess: ye outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy.-Matt. xxiii. 2-7. 13-17. 23-31.

blood be on us, and on our children, &c. They, mocking him, said, He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him, &c. and notwithstanding all the wonders at his death, which made the Centurion say, Truly this was the Son of God: yet the chief priests and Pharisees came to Pilate, and said, &c. That deceiver said, &c. desired and set a watch upon the sepulchre.-Matt. xxvii. 3, 4. 1720. 24, 25. 41–43. 53, 54. 62—64. 66. Mark xv. 10, 11. 14. 29. 31, 32.

The foolish virgins took their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.-Matt. xxv. 3, 4.

The chief priests and the scribes, &c. consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him, &c. Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss, &c. The chief priests and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death. Matt. xxvi. 3, 4. 49. 59. Luke iv. 28, 29,

Judas said to the chief priests, &c. I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood: and they said, What is that to us? see thou to that, &c. They persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus (when the governor would have released Jesus): they said, His

When they were convinced that Christ was risen, they gave large money to the soldiers to hide it with a lie, and promised the soldiers to secure them.-Matt. xxviii. 11–15.

Herod heard John gladly, and did many things.-Mark vi. 20.

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against (or within) themselves, being not baptised of him.-Luke vii. 30.

Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets: but he shall say, &c. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.-Luke xiii. 26, 27. xv. 7.

Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed, &c.-Luke xvi. 15.

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves, that they were (or as being) righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican: the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, &c. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess.-Luke xviii. 9-12.

When Jesus went unto Zaccheus's house, the Jews murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner: his citizens hated him, and said, They would not have this man reign over them-Luke xix. 6, 7. 14.

The chief priests and scribes would kill Jesus, &c. Judas offered to betray him; and they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. Luke xxii. 2. 4, 5.

They accuse Christ before Pilate, saying, We have found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying, That he himself is Christ, a king.-Luke xxiii. 1, 2.

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?-John v. 43, 44.

Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled, &c. Jesus said, &c. No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.. John vi. 26. 65, 66.

Some said of Christ, He deceived the people: howbeit, no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews, &c. The chief priests and Pharisees said unto the officers, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees believed on him? but this people, who knoweth not the law, are cursed. Nicodemus saith, &c. Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth? And they said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? —John vii. 12, 13. 45-48. 50-52.

This woman was taken in adultery, &c. What sayest thou? This they said tempting him, that they might have to accuse him, &c. We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man, &c. Jesus said, &c. Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin, &c. Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your Father, &c. The Jews said, Say we not well that

thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?-John viii. 3-6.33, 34. 40, 41.48.

The Pharisees said, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day, &c. The Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue, &c. They say of Christ, He is a sinner; we are Moses' disciples: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is, &c. When they were convinced by the man who had been blind, that Christ must be of God; they said to him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach ns? and they cast him out. Christ said to the Pharisees, Ye say, We see, &c.— John ix. 16. 22—24. 28-34. 40, 41.

Some said of Christ, He hath a devil, and is mad, why hear ye him? &c. for good works we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, &c.—John x. 20. 32, 33.

When Lazarus was raised from the dead, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we, for this man doeth many miracles? If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation, &c. from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.John xi. 44. 46–48. 53. 57.

Judas said, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but, because he was a thief, and had the bag, &c. The chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus, &c. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him, &c. Among the chief rulers also, many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved

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