Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1888-01-25
&eadimaf pr the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
[Original.

CONDOC1ED ID
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
[original.]
EXCLUDERS.
At the time our Saviour was here on
earth, there were in the land of Palestine
a number of religious sects. There were
the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essences and
Hcrodians. The Sadducees were a set OF
infdels, who denied the existence OF an
gels and spirits. They denied the i'm.
mortality of the soul, and, OF course, dld
not believe the doctrine of the resurrec-
tion. The Essences are not mentioned in
the Scriptures, but it is probable that ref
erence is made, in several places, to some
| of their peculiar customs. They are gen.
erally believed to have been the best of
the sects, but keeping themselves aloof
from the people generally, NO direct men
ton is made of them. The Herodians
were, as the Syriac version calls them, the
| domestics of HerOd the Great. The most
numerous and most powerful of the four
sects was the Pharisees. Very frequently
the Pharisees are mentioned in connection
with the Scribes. These were individuals
who occupied high and honorable posi-
tons in the ancient church. At first, the
Scribes seem to have been, as the word
indicates, persons who transcribed or made
copies of the law. AfterWard these
Scribes began to interpret, or expound the
difficult passages of the law. They are
called sometimes, in the New Testament,
lawyers.
Of the origin of the Pharisees we have
no certain account. tits generally thought
by Biblical scholars that the sect did not
exist prior to the Babylonish captivity.
TLo~o Avn ny no 500 rnC hnNylVlr IN
Isaiah which seem to indicate that there
were in the days of that prophet, persons
who entertained the peculiar notions of
the Pharisees. The word means separated
or the separated. Isaiah. speaks of a class
of persons in his day, who said to others,
"Stand by thyself, come not near me, for
T am holier than thou" This is exactly
the views which the Pharisees entertained
of themselves. At the time of our Sa-
viour, the Pharisees were the most
Gus and the most influential of all the
Jewish sects. What little piety there was
at that time among the Jews, was among
the Pharisees; but they held a great many
doctrines which are not only not taught
in the Scriptures, but are Numerically
opposed to all the precepts of the Bible.
They were a set of notorious hypocrltes.
AS a class, they did everything to be seen
of men. They were affected with a mania
to be regarded by their fellow men as eX-
traordinarily pious. This was especially
the case with their leaders. They made
long prayers in public, wore broad phylac,,
teries, paid tithes Of garden herbs and
tasted often, alto be regarded or esteemed
by their fellow men as remarkably pious.
To the precepts of the Bible they added
the traditions of the elders. These tradi-
lions, many of which were senseless alb
surdities, they regarded of equal authori-
ty with the precepts of the Bible, and in
the majority of cases, of greater authority
than the word of God.
With all their external array of devo-
ton, they were, according to the descrip-
ton given of them by our Saviour, a set
of consummate hypocrites, without a spark
of heartfelt piety. In the t~wenty-third
chapter of the gospel by Matthew. we have
a life-sized picture of the Scribes II
Pharisees.
1t is worthy of note that these Scribes
and Pharisees are so often mentioned in
connection by our Saviour, and when so
mentioned, never, so far as is now remem-
bered, favorably. Not u%nfrequently our
Saviour premises what he has to say about
them with a Genunciation, expressed by
the word woe.
When our Saviour speaks of the Scribes
and Pharisees, although only the class is
mentioned, it is the leaders that are prin,
cipally meant. There were some good
men, no doubt many, among the Scribes
and Pharisees. Of the sect of the Phari-
sees were many, perhaps the majority, of
the apostles and early converts to Chris
tianity. Paul was a Pharisee, and SO
were all the apostles. Very few of the
leading men of the sect, however, attached
themselves to the Saviour.
From the frequency that the cribes and
Pharisees are mentioned by our Saviour,
we readily conclude that they were repre-
sentative characters; not simply of the
Old Testament church in its corrupt state
at the time of our Saviour, but in some
sense representatives Of the whole human
family. It is this fact that make their
history interesting and the study of their
. religious characteristics profitable. Let US
at single outone single characterize
ic of these Scribes and Pharisees and con-
slider it in its applicability to the New les
lament church. Are there in the New
Testament church Scribes and Pharisees?
In one sense there are not, and in another
sense there are. Human nature is the
same in all countries and at all times. On
this fact is founded the proverbial express
SlUl I1lSlOIy ItpSdlS llSClls IN hiah
nerS and customs, the mere eXternals OF a
people may change but the nature of the
people remains unchanged, and cannot be
changed except by Gods Holy Spirit.
The name, Scribe and Pharisee, has for
centuries ceased to be applied to any re-
ligious sect, but this is far from saying that
there are no persons in the world-in the
New Observation-Disclosures are accurate
ly described by our Saviour in the twenty
third chapter Of Matthew's gospel.
One of the characteristics of the Scribes
and Pharisees, as stated by our Saviour,
was that they were ercluSi0nistS. Or, to
state the language of the Saviour himself,
''They shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men," The Saviour adds that
they would neither enter the kingdom of
heaven themselves, nor suffer them that
were entering to enter. BY kingdom of
heaven is meant the kingdom of the Mes
siah-the kingdom of grace. 1t was sure
ly bad enough not to enter this kingdom
which is to develop into the kingdom of
glory, but it was far worse to prevent those
who were entering this kingdom from en-
tering in. 1t is Indicative of moral STU
pidity to refuse to accept of mercy freely
offered, but to prevent or hinder others
from accepting it, is an evident manifesto
ton of righteousness.
Now the Scribes were nominally in the
kingdom of heaven-the kingdom of
grace, as established under the former dis
pensation. Notonly so, but they occupied
the chief positions in that organization.
Still, they were not in the kingdom of
heaven, would not enter it, and prevented,
as far as they were able, others from enter
ing it.
The practical inquiry is, care there any
nominally in the New Testament church
who are not in the kingdom of the Mes
siah, who are unwilling to enter that king