Pharisees and Sadducees
by J. C. Ryle
"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard
against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!" Matthew 16:6
Every word spoken by the Lord Jesus is full of deep
instruction for Christians. It is the voice of the Chief Shepherd. It is the
Great Head of the Church speaking to all its members—the King of kings
speaking to His subjects—the Master of the house speaking to His
servants—the Captain of our salvation speaking to His soldiers. Above all,
it is the voice of Him who said, "I did not speak of my own accord—but the
Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it." (John 12:49)
The heart of every believer in the Lord Jesus ought to burn within him—when
he hears his Master's words, he ought to say, "Listen! It is the voice of My
Beloved!" (Song of Solomon 2:8).
Every word spoken by the Lord Jesus, is of the greatest
value. Precious as gold, are all His words of doctrine and
teaching; precious are all His parables and prophecies;
precious are all His words of comfort and of consolation;
precious, the not least of which, are all His words of caution and of
warning. We are not merely to hear Him when He says, "Come to me—all
who are weary and heavy burdened;" we are to also hear Him when He says, "Be
careful—and be on your guard."
I am going to direct attention to one of the most solemn
and emphatic warnings which the Lord Jesus ever delivered: "Be on your guard
against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." On this text I wish to
erect a beacon for all who desire to be saved, and to preserve some souls,
if possible, from making their lives a shipwreck. The times call loudly for
such beacons: the spiritual shipwrecks of the last twenty-five years have
been deplorably numerous. The watchmen of the Church ought to speak out
plainly now, or forever hold their peace.
I. First of all, I ask my readers to observe WHO are
those to whom the warning of the text was addressed.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was not speaking to men who were
worldly, ungodly, and unsanctified—but to His own disciples, companions, and
friends. He addressed men who, with the exception of the apostate Judas
Iscariot, were right-hearted in the sight of God. He spoke to the twelve
Apostles, the first founders of the Church of Christ, and the first
ministers of the Word of salvation. And yet even to them He addressed the
solemn caution of our text: "Be careful and be on your guard!"
There is something very remarkable in this fact. We might
have thought that these Apostles needed little warning of this kind. Had
they not given up all for Christ's sake? They had. Had they not endured
hardship for Christ's sake? They had. Had they not believed Jesus, followed
Jesus, loved Jesus, when almost all the world was unbelieving? All these
things are true; and yet to them the caution was addressed: "Be careful and
be on your guard!" We might have imagined that at any rate the disciples had
little to fear from the "yeast of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." They
were poor and unlearned men, most of them fishermen or tax collectors; they
had no desire to follow the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees;
they were more likely to be prejudiced against them than to feel any drawing
towards them. All this is perfectly true; yet even to them there comes the
solemn warning: "Be careful and be on your guard!"
There is useful counsel here for all who profess to love
the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. It tells us loudly that the most eminent
servants of Christ are not beyond the need of warnings, and ought to be
always on their guard. It shows us plainly that the holiest of believers
ought to walk humbly with his God, and to watch and pray so that he won't
fall into temptation, and be overtaken with sin. None is so holy,
that he cannot fall—not ultimately, not hopelessly—but to his own
discomfort, to the scandal of the Church, and to the triumph of the world.
None is so strong that he cannot for a time be overcome. Chosen as
believers are by God the Father, justified as they are by the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ, sanctified as they are by the Holy
Spirit—believers are still only men—they are still in the body, and still in
the world. They are ever near temptation. They are ever liable to misjudge,
both in doctrine and in practice. Their hearts, though renewed, are
very feeble; their understanding, though enlightened, is still very
dim. They ought to live like those who dwell in an enemy's land, and every
day to put on the armor of God. The devil is very busy: he never slumbers or
sleeps. Let us remember the falls of Noah, and Abraham, and Lot, and Moses,
and David, and Peter; and remembering them—be humble, and be careful so that
we don't fall.
I may be allowed to say that none need warnings so much
as the ministers of Christ's Gospel. Our office and our ordination
are no security against errors and mistakes. It is true, that the
greatest heresies have crept into the Church of Christ by means of ordained
men! Ordination does not confers any immunity from error and false
doctrine. Our very familiarity with the Gospel often creates in us a
hardened state of mind. We are apt to read the Scriptures, and preach the
Word, and conduct public worship, and carry on the service of God, in a dry,
hard, formal, callous spirit. Our very familiarity with sacred things,
unless we watch our hearts, is likely to lead us astray. "Nowhere," says an
old writer, "is a man's soul in more danger—than in a minister's study." The
history of the Church of Christ contains many dismal proofs that the most
distinguished ministers may for a time fall away. Who has not heard of
Cranmer recanting and going back from those opinions he had defended so
stoutly; though, by God's mercy, raised again to witness a glorious
confession at last? Who has not heard of Jewell signing documents
that he most thoroughly disapproved, and of which signature he afterwards
bitterly repented? Who does not know that many others might be named, who at
one time or another, have been overtaken by faults, have fallen into errors,
and been led astray? And who does not know the mournful fact that many of
them never came back to the truth—but died in hardness of heart, and held
their errors to the end!
These things ought to make us humble and cautious. They
tell us to distrust our own hearts, and to pray to be kept from falling. In
these days, when we are especially called upon to cleave firmly to the
doctrines of the Protestant Reformation, let us be careful that our zeal for
Protestantism does not puff us up, and make us proud. Let us never say in
our self-conceit, "I shall never fall into the errors Roman Catholicism or
any New Theology: those views will never suit me." Let us remember that many
have begun well and run well for a season—and yet afterwards turned
aside out of the right way. Let us be careful that we are spiritual men—as
well as Protestants, and real friends of Christ—as well as enemies of
antichrist. Let us pray that we may be kept from error, and never forget
that the twelve Apostles themselves were the men to whom the Great
Head of the Church addressed these words: "Be careful and be on your guard!"
II. I propose, in the second place, to explain—what were
those DANGERS against which our Lord warned the Apostles.
"Be
careful," He says, "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and
of the Sadducees." The danger of which He warns them is false doctrine.
He says nothing about the sword of persecution, or the love of money, or the
love of pleasure. All these things no doubt were perils and snares to which
the souls of the Apostles were exposed; but against these things our Lord
raises no warning voice here. His warning is confined to one single point:
"The yeast of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." We are not left to
conjecture what our Lord meant by that word "yeast." The Holy Spirit, a few
verses after the very text on which I am now dwelling, tells us plainly that
by yeast was meant the "doctrine" of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Let
us try to understand what we mean when we speak of the "doctrine of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
(a) The doctrine of the PHARISEES
may be
summed up in three words: they were formalists, tradition-worshipers, and
self-righteous. They attached such weight to the traditions of men that
they practically regarded them of more importance than the inspired writings
of the Old Testament. They valued themselves on excessive strictness in
their attention to all the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law. They
thought much of being descended from Abraham, and said in their hearts, "We
have Abraham for our father!" They imagined, because they had Abraham for
their father—that they were not in danger of hell like other men, and that
their descent from him was a kind of title to heaven. They attached great
value to washings and ceremonial purifyings of the body, and believed that
the very touching of the dead body of a fly or gnat would defile them. They
made a great deal about the external parts of religion, and such things that
could be seen by men. They made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the
fringes of their garments. They prided themselves on paying great honor to
dead saints, and garnishing the graves of the righteous. They were very
zealous to make converts. They prided themselves in having power, rank, and
preeminence, and of being called by men, "Teacher, Teacher." These things,
and many things like these, the Pharisees did. Every well-informed Christian
can find these things in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark (See Matthew 15 and
23; Mark 7).
Remember, all this time, they did not formally deny any
part of the Old Testament Scripture. But they brought in, over and above it,
so much of human invention, that they virtually put Scripture aside,
and buried it under their own traditions. This is the sort of religion, of
which our Lord says to the Apostles, "Be careful and be on your guard."
(b) The doctrine of the SADDUCEES
, on the
other hand, may be summed up in three words: free-thinking, skepticism, and
rationalism. Their creed was far less popular than that of the Pharisees,
and, therefore, we find them mentioned less often in the New Testament
Scriptures. So far as we can judge from the New Testament, they appear to
have held the doctrine of degrees of inspiration; at all times they attached
greater value to the Pentateuch [first five Books of the Old Testament]
above all the other parts of the Old Testament, if indeed they did not
altogether ignore the latter.
They believed that there was no resurrection, no angels,
and no spirits, and tried to laugh men out of their belief in these things,
by bringing forward difficult questions. We have an instance of their mode
of argument, in the case which they propounded to our Lord of the woman who
had had seven husbands, when they asked, "At the resurrection, whose wife
will she be of the seven?" And in this way they probably hoped, by rendering
religion absurd, and its chief doctrines ridiculous, to make men altogether
give up the faith they had received from the Scriptures. Remember, all this
time, we cannot say that the Sadducees were downright infidels—this they
were not. We may not say they denied revelation altogether; this they did
not do. They observed the law of Moses. Many of them were found among the
priests in the times described in the Acts of the Apostles. Caiaphas who
condemned our Lord, was a Sadducee. But the practical effect of their
teaching was to shake men's faith in any revelation, and to throw a cloud of
doubt over men's minds, which was only one degree better than infidelity.
And of all such kind of doctrine: free thinking, skepticism, rationalism,
our Lord says, "Be careful and be on your guard!"
Now the question arises—Why did our Lord Jesus Christ
deliver this warning? He knew, no doubt, that within forty years the schools
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees would be completely overthrown. He who
knew all things from the beginning, knew perfectly well that in forty years
Jerusalem, with its magnificent temple, would be destroyed, and the Jews
scattered over the face of the earth. Why then do we find Him giving this
warning about "the yeast of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees"?
I believe that our Lord delivered this solemn warning for
the perpetual benefit of that Church which He came to earth to establish. He
spoke with a prophetic knowledge. He knew well the diseases to which
human nature is always liable. He foresaw that the two great plagues of His
Church on earth would always be the doctrine of the Pharisees and the
doctrine of the Sadducees. He knew that these would like two large rocks,
between which His truth would be perpetually crushed and bruised until He
came the second time. He knew that there always would be Pharisees in
spirit, and Sadducees in spirit, among professing Christians. He knew that
their succession would never fail, and their generation never become
extinct, and that though the names of Pharisees and Sadducees were no
more, yet their principles would always exist. He knew that during
the time that the Church existed, until His return, there would always be
some who would add to the Word, and some who would subtract
from it, some who would tone it down, by adding to it other things, and some
who would bleed it to death, by subtracting from its principal truths. And
this is the reason why we find Him delivering this solemn warning: "Be
careful and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees!"
And now comes the question, Did not our Lord Jesus Christ
have good reason to give this warning? I appeal to all who know anything of
Church history—was there indeed not a cause? I appeal to all who remember
what took place soon after the apostles were dead. Do we not read that in
the primitive Church of Christ, there rose up two distinct parties; one ever
inclined to err, like the Arians, in holding less than the truth; the other
ever inclined to err, like the relic worshipers and saint worshipers of the
Roman Catholic Church, in holding more than the truth as it is in Jesus? Do
we not see the same thing coming out in later times, in the form of Roman
Catholicism? These are ancient things. In a short paper like this it is
impossible for me to enter more fully into them. They are things well known
to all who are familiar with records of past days.
There always have been these two great parties—the party
representing the principles of the Pharisee, and the party representing the
principles of the Sadducee. Therefore our Lord had good cause to say of
these two great principles, "Be careful and be on your guard."
But, I desire to bring the subject even nearer at the
present moment. I ask my readers to consider whether warnings like this are
not especially needed in our own times. We have, undoubtedly, much to be
thankful for in England. We have made great advances in arts and sciences in
the last three centuries, and have much of the form and show
of morality and religion. But, I ask anybody who can see beyond his own
door, or his own living room, whether we do not live in the midst of
dangers from false doctrine?
We have among us, on the one side, a group of men who,
wittingly or unwittingly, are paving the way to the Church of Rome—a school
that professes to draw its principles from primitive tradition, the writings
of the Fathers, and the voice of the Church—a teaching that talks and writes
so much about the Church, the ministry, and the Sacraments, that it makes
them like Aaron's rod which swallows up everything else in Christianity, a
teaching that attaches vast importance to the outward form and
ceremony of religion—to gestures, postures, bowings, crosses, holy
water, seats of honor for the clergy, altar cloths, incense, statues,
banners, processions, floral decorations, and many other like things, about
which not a word is to be found in the Holy Scriptures as having any place
in Christian worship. I refer, of course, to the school of Churchmen called
Ritualists. When we examine the proceedings of that school, there can
be but one conclusion concerning them. I believe whatever is the meaning and
intention of its teachers, however devoted, zealous, and self-denying, many
of them are, those whom has fallen the cloak of the Pharisees.
We have, on the other hand, a school of men who,
wittingly or unwittingly, appear to pave the way to Socinianism—a school
which holds strange views about the absolute inspiration of Holy Scripture,
and stranger views about the doctrine of sacrifice, and the Atonement of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, strange views about the eternity of
punishment, and God's love to man, a school strong in negatives—but very
weak in positives, skillful in raising doubts—but impotent in removing them,
clever in unsettling and unscrewing men's faith—but powerless to offer any
firm rest for man. And, whether the leaders of this school mean it or not—I
believe that on them has fallen the cloak of the Sadducees.
These things sound harsh. It saves a vast deal of
trouble—to shut our eyes, and say, "I see no danger," and because it is not
seen, therefore not to believe it. It is easy to cover our ears and say, "I
hear nothing," and because we hear nothing, therefore to feel no alarm. But
we know well who they are that rejoice over the state of things we have to
deplore in some quarters of our own Church. We know what the Roman Catholic
thinks: we know what the Socinian thinks. The Roman Catholic rejoices over
the rise of the Catholicism: the Socinian rejoices over the rise of men who
teach such views as those set forth in modern days about the atonement and
inspiration. They would not rejoice as they do if they did not see their
work being done, and their cause being helped forward.
The danger, I believe, is far greater than we are apt to
suppose. The books that are read in many quarters are most
mischievous, and the tone of thought on religious subjects, among many
classes, and especially among the higher ranks, is deeply unsatisfactory.
The plague is abroad! If we love life, we ought to search our own
hearts, and try our own faith, and make sure that we stand on the right
foundation. Above all, we ought to take heed that we ourselves do not drink
the poison of false doctrine, and go back from our first love.
I feel deeply the painfulness of speaking out on these
subjects. I know well that speaking plain about false doctrine is very
unpopular, and that the speaker must be content to find himself being
thought of as very uncharitable, very troublesome, and very narrow-minded.
Most people can never distinguish differences in religion. To the
bulk of men a clergyman is a clergyman, and a sermon is a
sermon, and as to any difference between one minister and another, or one
doctrine and another, they are utterly unable to understand it. I cannot
expect such people to approve of any warning against false doctrine. I must
make up my mind to meet with their disapproval, and must bear it as I best
can. But I will ask any honest-minded, unprejudiced Bible reader, to turn to
the New Testament and see what he will find there. He will find many plain
warnings against false doctrine:
"Watch out for false prophets!" (Matthew 7:15).
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow
and deceptive philosophy!" (Colossians 2:8).
"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange
teachings!" (Hebrews 13:9).
"Do not believe every spirit—but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God." (1 John 4:1).
He will find a large part of several inspired epistles
taken up with elaborate explanations of true doctrine, and warnings against
false teaching. I ask whether it is possible for a minister who takes the
Bible for his rule of faith—to avoid giving warnings against doctrinal
error?
Finally, I ask any one to mark what is going on in
England at this very day. I ask whether it is not true that hundreds have
left the Established Church and joined the Church of Rome
within the last thirty years? I ask whether it is not true that hundreds
remain within our boundaries, who in heart are little better than Romanists?
I ask again whether it is not true that scores of young men, both at Oxford
and Cambridge, are spoiled and ruined by the withering influence of
skepticism, and have lost all positive principles in religion? Sneers at
religious newspapers, loud declarations of dislike to "denominations,"
high-sounding, vague phrases about "deep thinking, broad views, new light,
free handling of Scripture, and the barren weakness of certain schools of
theology," make up the whole Christianity of many of the rising generation.
And yet, in the face of these notorious facts, men cry out, "Hold your peace
about false doctrine. Let false doctrine alone!" I cannot hold my peace.
Faith in the Word of God, love to the souls of men, the vows I took when I
was ordained, all alike constrain me to bear witness against the errors of
the day. And I believe that the saying of our Lord is eminently a truth for
the times: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees!"
III. The third thing to which I wish to call attention
is—the peculiar NAME by which our Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the doctrines
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
The words which our Lord used were always the wisest and
the best that could be used. He might have said, "Be careful and be on your
guard against the doctrine, or of the teaching, or of the
opinions of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." But He does not say so:
He uses a word of a peculiar nature—He says, "Be careful and be on your
guard against the 'yeast' of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Now
we all know what is the true meaning of the word "yeast." The yeast is added
to the lump of dough in making a loaf of bread.
This yeast bears but a small proportion to the
lump into which it is mixed; just so, our Lord would have us know, the first
beginning of false doctrine is but small, compared to the body of
Christianity. It works quietly and silently; just so, our Lord
would have us know, false doctrine works secretly in the heart in which it
is once planted. It insensibly changes the character of the whole mass with
which it is mingled; just so, our Lord would have us know, the doctrines of
the Pharisees and Sadducees turn everything upside down, when once admitted
into a Church or into a man's heart. Let us mark these points: they throw
light on many things that we see in the present day. It is of vast
importance to receive the lessons of wisdom that this word "yeast" contains
in itself.
False doctrine does not meet men face to face, and
proclaim that it is false. It does not blow a trumpet before it, and
endeavor openly to turn us away from the truth as it is in Jesus. It does
not come before men in broad day, and summon them to surrender. It
approaches us secretly, quietly, insidiously, plausibly, and in such
a way as to disarm man's suspicion, and throw him off his guard. It is the
wolf in sheep's clothing, and Satan in the garb of an angel of
light, who have always proved the most dangerous foes of the Church of
Christ.
I believe the most powerful champion of the Pharisees is
not the man who bids you openly and honestly come out and join the Church of
Rome: it is the man who says that he agrees on all points with you in
"doctrine." He would not take anything away from those evangelical views
that you hold; would not have you make any changes at all; all he asks you
to do is to "add" a little more to your belief, in order to make your
Christianity perfect. "Believe me," he says, "We do not want you to give up
anything. We only want you to hold a few more clear views about the Church
and the sacraments. We want you to add to your present opinions, a little
more about the office of the ministry, and a little more about the authority
of Bishops, and a little more about the Prayer-book, and a little more about
the necessity of order and of discipline. We only want you to add "a little
more" of these things to your system of religion, and you will be quite
right.
But when men speak to you in this way, then is the time
to remember what our Lord said, and to "Be careful and be on your guard!"
This is the, yeast of the Pharisees, against which we are to stand upon our
guard. Why do I say this? I say it because there is no security against the
doctrine of the Pharisees—unless we resist its principles in their
beginnings!
1. Beginning with a "little more about the Church"—You
may one day put the Church in the place of Christ.
2. Beginning with a "little more about the ministry"—You
may one day regard the minister as "the mediator between God and man."
3. Beginning with a "little more about the
sacraments"—You may one day altogether give up the doctrine of justification
by faith without the deeds of the law.
4. Beginning with a "little more reverence for the
Prayer-book"—You may one day place it above the Holy Word of God itself.
5. Beginning with a "little more honor to Bishops"—You
may at last refuse salvation to everyone who does not belong to an Episcopal
Church.
I only tell an old story—I only mark out roads that have
been trodden by hundreds of members of the Church of England in the last few
years. They began by faultfinding at the Reformers, and have ended by
swallowing the decrees of the Roman Catholic church. They began by crying
about the way things were, and have ended by formally joining the Church of
Rome. I believe that when we hear men asking us to "add a little more" to
our good old plain Evangelical views, we should stand upon our guard. We
should remember our Lord's caution: "Be on your guard against the yeast of
the Pharisees!"
I consider the most dangerous champion of the Sadducee
school, is not the man who tells you openly that he wants you to lay aside
any part of the truth, and to become a free-thinker and a skeptic. It is the
man who begins with quietly insinuating doubts as to the position that we
ought to take up about religion, doubts whether we ought to be so positive
in saying "this is truth, and that falsehood," doubts whether we ought to
think men wrong who differ from us on religious opinions, since they may
after all be as much right as we are. It is the man who tells us we ought
not to condemn anybody's views, lest we err on the side of the lack of
love. It is the man who always begins talking in a vague way about God
being a God of love, and hints that we ought to believe perhaps that all
men, whatever doctrine they profess, will be saved. It is the man who is
ever reminding us that we ought to take care how we think lightly of men of
powerful minds, and great intellects (though they are deists and skeptics),
who do not think as we do, and that, after all, "great minds are all more or
less, taught of God!" It is the man who is ever harping on the difficulties
of inspiration, and raising questions whether all men may not be found saved
in the end, and whether all may not be right in the sight of God. It is the
man who crowns this kind of talk by a few calm sneers against what he is
pleased to call "old-fashioned views," and "narrow-minded theology," and
"bigotry," and the "lack of liberality and love," in the present day. But
when men begin to speak to us in this kind of way, then is the time to stand
upon our guard. Then is the time to remember the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and "Be careful and be on your guard against the yeast!"
Once more, why do I say this? I say it because there is
no security against Sadduceeism, any more than against Phariseeism, unless
we resist its principles in the bud! Beginning with a little vague
talk about "love," you may end in the doctrine of universal salvation, fill
heaven with a mixed multitude of wicked as well as godly, and deny
the existence of hell. Beginning with a few high-sounding phrases about
intellect and the inner light in man, you may end with denying the work of
the Holy Spirit, and maintaining that Homer and Shakespeare were as truly
inspired as Paul, and thus practically casting aside the Bible. Beginning
with some dreamy, misty idea about "all religions containing more or less
truth," you may end with utterly denying the necessity of missions, and
maintaining that the best plan is to leave everybody alone. Beginning with
dislike to "Evangelical religion," as old-fashioned, narrow, and
exclusive—you may end by rejecting every leading doctrine of
Christianity—the atonement, the need of divine grace, and the divinity of
Christ.
Again I repeat that I only tell an old story—I only give
a sketch of a path which scores have trodden in the last few years. They
were once satisfied with such divinity as that of Newton, Scott, Cecil, and
Romaine; they are now fancying they have found a more excellent way in the
principles which have been propounded by theologians of the Broad
school! I believe there is no safety for a man's soul—unless he remembers
the lesson involved in those solemn words, "Be on your guard against the
yeast of the Sadducees!"
Let us be on our guard against the "insidiousness" of
false doctrine. Like the fruit of which Eve and Adam ate, at first sight it
looks pleasant and good, and a thing to be desired. "Poison" is not written
upon it, and so people are not afraid. Like counterfeit coin, it is not
stamped "bad." It passes for the real thing, because of the very likeness it
bears to the truth. Let us be on our guard against the "very small
beginnings" of false doctrine. Every heresy began at one time, with some
little departure from the truth. There is only "a little seed of error"
needed to create a great tree of heresy. It is the little stones
which make up the mighty building. It was the little pieces of lumber,
which made the great ark that carried Noah and his family over a deluged
world. It is the little leaven which the whole lump. It is the
little flaw in one link of the chain cable which wrecks the gallant
ship, and drowns the crew. It is the omission or addition of one little item
in the doctor's prescription, which spoils the whole medicine, and turns it
into poison. We do not tolerate quietly a little dishonesty, or a little
cheating, or a little lying. Just so, let us never allow a little false
doctrine to ruin us, by thinking it is but a "little one," and can do no
harm. The Galatians seemed to be doing nothing very dangerous when they
"were observing special days and months and seasons and years;" yet Paul
says, "I fear for you" (Galatians 4:10, 11).
Finally, let us be on our guard against supposing that
"we at any rate are not in danger." "Our views are sound; our feet stand
firm. Others may fall away—but we are safe!" Hundreds have thought the same,
and have come to a dreadful end. In their self-confidence they tampered with
little temptations and little forms of false doctrine; in
their self-conceit they went near the brink of danger; and now they
seem lost forever! They appear given over to a strong delusion, so as to
believe a lie. Some of them are praying to the Virgin Mary, and bowing down
to images. Others of them are casting overboard one doctrine after another,
and are stripping themselves of every sort of religion, but a few scraps of
Deism. Very striking is the vision in Pilgrim's Progress, which describes
the hill Error as "very steep on the farthest side;" and "when
Christian and Hopeful looked down they saw at the bottom, several men dashed
all to pieces by a fall they had from the top." Never, never let us forget
the caution to beware of "yeast;" and if we think we stand, let us "be
careful that we don't fall!"
IV. I propose in the fourth and last place, to suggest
some SAFEGUARDS and treatment against the dangers of the present day—the
yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of the Sadducees.
I feel that we all need more and more, the presence of
the Holy Spirit in our hearts, to guide, to teach, and to keep us sound in
the faith. We all need to watch more, and to pray to be held up, and
preserved from falling away. But still, there are certain great truths,
which, in a day like this, we are specially bound to keep in mind. There are
times when some common epidemic invades a land, when medicines, at all times
valuable, become of special value. There are places where a uncommon
malaria prevails, in which remedies, in every place valuable, are more than
ever valuable in consequence of it.
So I believe there are times and seasons in the Church of
Christ when we are bound to tighten our hold upon certain great leading
truths, to grasp them with more than ordinary firmness in our hands, to
press them to our hearts, and not to let them go. Such doctrines I desire to
set forth in order, as the great prescription against the yeast of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees. When Saul and Jonathan were slain by the
archers, David ordered the children of Israel to be taught the use of
the bow.
(a) For one thing, if we would be kept sound in the
faith, we must take heed to our doctrine about the "total corruption of
human nature."
The corruption of human nature is no slight
thing. It is no partial, skin-deep disease—but a radical and universal
corruption of man's will, intellect, affections, and conscience. We are not
merely poor and pitiable sinners in God's sight—we are
guilty sinners; we are blameworthy sinners: we deserve justly
God's wrath and God's condemnation. I believe there are very few errors and
false doctrines of which the beginning may not be traced up to unsound views
about the corruption of human nature. Wrong views of a disease will
always bring with them wrong views of the remedy. Wrong views of the
corruption of human nature will always carry with them wrong views of the
grand treatment and cure of that corruption.
(b) For another thing, we must take heed to our doctrine
about "the inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures."
Let
us boldly maintain, in the face of all the opposers, that the whole of the
Bible is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that all is inspired
completely, not one part more than another, and that there is an entire gulf
between the Word of God and any other book in the world. We need not be
afraid of difficulties in the way of the doctrine of absolute inspiration.
There may be many things about it, which are far too high for us to
comprehend. Scripture inspiration is a miracle, and all miracles are
necessarily mysterious. But if we are not to believe anything until we can
entirely explain it, there are very few things indeed that we shall believe.
We need not be afraid of all the assaults which
criticism brings to bear upon the Bible. From the days of the apostles
the Word of the Lord has been incessantly "tried," and has never failed to
come forth as gold, uninjured, and spotless.
We need not be afraid of the discoveries of science.
Astronomers may sweep the heavens with telescopes, and geologists may dig
down into the heart of the earth—and never shake the authority of the Bible!
"The voice of God, and the work of God's hands—never will be
found to contradict one another." We need not be afraid of the researches of
travelers. They will never discover anything which contradicts God's Bible.
I believe that if a man were to go over all the earth and dig up a hundred
buried Ninevehs, there would not be found a single inscription which would
contradict a single fact in the Word of God.
Furthermore, we must boldly maintain that this Word of
God is the only rule of faith and of practice—that whatever is not
written in it— cannot be required of any man as needful of salvation; and
that however plausibly new doctrines may be defended, if they are not in the
Word of God—they cannot be worth our attention. It matters nothing who
says a thing, whether he be bishop or minister; pastor or pope. It
matters nothing that the thing is well said, eloquently,
attractively, forcibly, and in such a way as to turn the laugh against you.
We are not to believe it except it is proved to us by Holy Scripture.
Last—but not least, we must use the Bible as if we
believed it was given by inspiration. We must use it with reverence, and
read it with all the tenderness with which we would read the words of an
absent father. We must not expect to find no mysteries in a book
inspired by the Spirit of God. We must rather remember that in nature
there are many things we cannot understand; and that as it is in the book
of nature, so it will always be in the book of Revelation.
We should draw near to the Word of God in that spirit of
piety recommended by Lord Bacon many years ago. "Remember," he says,
speaking of the book of nature, "that man is not the master of that book—but
the interpreter of that book." And as we deal with the book of nature, so we
must deal with the Book of God. We must draw near to it, not to teach—but
to learn; not like the master of it—but like a humble
scholar, seeking to understand it.
(c) For another thing, we must take heed to our doctrine
respecting "the atonement and priestly office of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ."
We must boldly maintain that the death of our Lord on
the cross was no common death. It was not the death of a martyr. It
was not the death of one who only died to give us a mighty example of
self-sacrifice and self-denial. The death of Christ was an offering up to
God of Christ's own body and blood, to make an atoning sacrifice for man's
sin and transgression. This sacrifice was typified in every offering of the
Mosaic law—a sacrifice of the mightiest influence on all mankind. Without
the shedding of that blood there could not be, there never was to
be—any remission of sin.
Furthermore, we must boldly maintain that this crucified
Savior evermore sits at the right hand of God, to make intercession for all
who come to God by Him; that He there represents and pleads for those who
put their trust in Him; and that He has delegated His office of Priest and
Mediator to no man, or set of men on the face of the earth. We
need none besides. We need no Virgin Mary, no angels, no saint, no priest,
no person ordained or unordained—to stand between us and God—but the one
Mediator, Christ Jesus.
Furthermore, we must boldly maintain that peace of
conscience is not to be bought by confession to a priest, and by receiving a
man's absolution from sin. It is to be had only by going to the great High
Priest, Christ Jesus; by confession before Him, not before man. Absolution
can come from Him who alone can say, "Your sins are forgiven! Go in peace."
Last—but not least, we must boldly maintain that peace
with God, once obtained by faith in Christ, is to be kept up, not by mere
outward ceremonial acts of worship, not by receiving the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper every day—but by the daily habit of looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith, eating by faith His body, and drinking by faith His
blood; that eating and drinking of which our Lord says that he who eats and
drinks shall find His "body to be food indeed—and His blood to be drink
indeed."
Godly John Owen declared, long ago, that if there was any
one point more than another that Satan wished to overthrow, it was the
Priestly office of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "Satan knew well," he
said, that it was the "principal foundation of faith and consolation of the
Church." Right views about Christ's office, are of essential importance in
the present day, if men would not fall into error.
(d) One more remedy I must mention. We must take heed to
our doctrine about "the work of God the Holy Spirit."
Let us
settle it in our minds, that His work is no uncertain invisible operation on
the heart—and that where He is, He is not hidden, not unfelt, not
unobserved. We believe that the rain, when it falls, can be felt. We
believe that where there is life in a man—it can be seen and observed
by his breath. So is it with the influence of the Holy Spirit. No man has
any right to lay claim to it—except its fruits, its experimental
effects, can be seen in his life. Where He is, there will ever be
a new creation, and a new man. Where He is, there will ever be new
knowledge, new faith, new holiness, new fruits in the life, in the family,
in the world, in the church. And where these new things are not seen, we may
well say, with confidence, that there is no work of the Holy Spirit in that
person. These are times in which we all need to be on our guard about the
doctrine of the work of the Spirit. One said, long ago, that the time would
perhaps come when men might have to be martyrs for the work of the Holy
Spirit. That time seems not far distant. At any rate, if there is one truth
in religion which seems to have more contempt showered upon it than
another, it is the work of the Spirit.
I desire to impress the immense importance of these four
points upon all who read this paper:
(a) clear views of the sinfulness of human nature.
(b) clear views of the inspiration of Scripture.
(c) clear views of the Atonement and Priestly office of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(d) clear views of the work of the Holy Spirit.
I believe that false doctrines about the church, the
ministry, and the Sacraments, about the love of God, the death of Christ,
and the eternity of punishment—will find no foothold in the heart which is
sound on these four points. I believe that they are four great safeguards
against the yeast of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
I will now conclude this paper with a few remarks by way
of PRACTICAL APPLICATION. My desire is
to make the whole subject useful, to those into whose hands these pages may
fall, and to supply an answer to the questions which may possibly arise in
some hearts. What are we to do? What advice have you got to
offer for these times?
(1) In the first place, I will ask every reader of this
paper to find out whether he has "saving personal religion for his own
soul."
This is the principal thing, after all. It will profit no
man to belong to a sound visible church—if he does not himself belong to
Christ. It will avail a man nothing to be intellectually sound in the faith,
and to approve sound doctrine—if he is not himself sound at heart. Is
this the case with you? Can you say that your heart is right in the sight of
God? Is it renewed by the Holy Spirit? Does Christ dwell in it by faith? O,
rest not, rest not—until you can give a satisfactory answer to these
questions! The man who dies unconverted, however sound his views—is as truly
lost forever as the worst Pharisee or Sadducee that ever lived!
(2) In the next place, let me entreat every reader of
this paper who desires to be sound in the faith—to study the Bible
diligently.
That blessed book is given to be a light to our feet,
and a lantern to our path. No man who reads it reverently, prayerfully,
humbly, and regularly—shall ever be allowed to miss the way to heaven! By it
every sermon, and every religious book, and every ministry ought to be
weighed and proved.
Would you know what is truth? Do you feel confused and
puzzled by the war of words which you hear on every side about religion? Do
you want to know what you ought to believe, and what you ought to be and do,
in order to be saved? Take down your Bible—and cease listening to
man! Read your Bible with earnest prayer for the teaching of the Holy
Spirit; read it with honest determination to obey its lessons. Do so
steadily and perseveringly, and you shall see light—you shall be kept from
the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and be guided to eternal life. The
way to do a thing is to do it. Act upon this advice without
delay!
(3) In the next place, let me advise every reader of this
paper who has reason to hope that he is sound in faith and heart, to "take
heed to the PROPORTION of truths."
I mean by that, to impress the
importance of giving each truth of Christianity the same place and position
in our hearts—which is given to it in God's Word. The first things
must not be put second—and the second things must not be put first in
our religion. The church must not be put above Christ.
Ministers must not be exalted above the place assigned to them by
Christ. Means of grace must not be regarded as an end instead of a
means. Attention to this point is of great consequence: the mistakes
which arise from neglecting it are neither few nor small. Here lies the
immense importance of studying the whole Word of God, omitting
nothing, and avoiding partiality in reading one part more than another. Here
again lies the value of having a clear system of Christianity in our
minds.
(4) In the next place, let me entreat every true hearted
servant of Christ "not to be deceived by the superficial disguise" under
which false doctrines often approach our souls in the present day.
Beware of supposing that a teacher of religion is to be trusted, because
although he holds some unsound views—that he yet "teaches a great deal of
truth." Such a teacher is precisely the man to do you harm! Poison is always
most dangerous when it is given in small doses and mixed with wholesome
food. Beware of being taken in by the apparent earnestness of many of
the teachers and upholders of false doctrine. Remember that zeal and
sincerity and fervor—are no proof whatever, that a man is
working for Christ, and ought to be believed.
Peter no doubt was in earnest—when he told our Lord
to spare Himself, and not go to the cross; yet our Lord said to him, "Get
behind Me, Satan." Saul no doubt was in earnest—when he went to and
fro persecuting Christians; yet he did it ignorantly, and his zeal was not
according to knowledge. The founders of the Spanish Inquisition no
doubt were in earnest—in the burning alive of God's people. They thought
they were doing God's service—yet they were actually persecuting Christ's
members and walking in the steps of Cain!
It is an dreadful fact, that "Satan himself masquerades
as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). Of all the delusions prevalent
in these latter days, there is none greater than the common notion that "if
a man is in serious about his religion—he must be a good man!" Beware of
being carried away by this delusion; beware of being led astray by
"serious-minded men!" Seriousness is in itself an excellent thing; but it
must be seriousness in behalf of Christ and His whole truth—or else it is
worth nothing at all. The things that are highly esteemed among men—are
often abominable in the sight of God.
(5) In the next place, let me counsel every true servant
of Christ—to "examine his own heart" frequently and carefully as to his
state before God.
This is a practice which is useful at all
times—it is especially desirable at the present day. When the great plague
of London was at its height, people marked the least symptoms that appeared
on their bodies in a way that they never marked them before. A spot here, or
a spot there, which in time of health men thought nothing of, received close
attention when the plague was decimating families, and striking down one
after another! So it ought to be with ourselves, in the times in which we
live. We ought to watch our hearts with double watchfulness. We ought to
give more time to meditation, self-examination, and reflection. It is a
hurrying, bustling age—if we would be kept from falling, we must make time
for being frequently alone with God.
(6) Last of all, let me urge all true believers "to
contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."
We have no cause to be ashamed of that faith. I am firmly persuaded that
there is no system so life-giving, so calculated to awaken the sleeping,
lead on the inquiring, and build up the saints—as that system which is
called the Evangelical system of Christianity. Wherever it is
faithfully preached, and efficiently carried out, and consistently adorned
by the lives of its professors—it is the power of God. It may be spoken
against and mocked by some; but so it was in the days of the Apostles. It
may be weakly set forth and defended by many of its advocates; but, after
all, its fruits and its results are its highest praise.
No other system of religion can point to such fruits.
Nowhere are so many souls converted to God—as in those congregations where
the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached in all its fullness, without any
mixture of the Pharisee or Sadducee doctrine. We are not called upon to be
nothing but controversialists; but we never ought to be ashamed to testify
to the truth as it is in Jesus, and to stand up boldly for Evangelical
religion. We have the truth, and we need not be afraid to say so. The
judgment-day will prove who is right—and to that day we may boldly appeal!