St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-07-26
SERMON BY RECTOR MILL.
preached Last Sunday at ". Andrews
Church.

For l say unto you, that except
YOUR Righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter
into the kingdom of heaven. Matt.
5: 20.
During our school days when we
studied algebra, we learned that by
having certain quantities given, we
might find other unknown quanti-
ties. But in order to do this, it was
necessary first of all to study and
carefully observe certain definite
rules, and only after observing them
intelligently and accurately could we
expect any reliable and mathemati-
caily correct results. Even so, Christ in
our text for this morning, somewhat
after the same manner, teaches us
what it means to be Christian; not
simply Christian in name, but such
a Christian as will finally enter into
the kingdom of heaven.
There were at this time two
very prominent sects among the
Jews known as the scribes and
Pharisees, noted for both their pat
riotism as well as their religion.
Not only their names. but their teach
ings and manner Of life were all well
known to the people. In his sermon
on the mount, where Christ breaches
to a large multitude, after setting
forth a number of Christian duties,
he uses the words of the text as
kind Of summary or conclusion of
what had preceded: For l say unto
you, that except your righteousness
shall exceed the Righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees, We
shall in no wise enter into the king
dom of heaven" Christ here gives
the known quantity in the lives OF
the scribes and the Pharisees, from
this is to be deduced the unknown,
viz, what it means to be true
Christian.
The scribes "were the copyists OF
the law, and because such minute
acquaintance with it as their bust
ness implied led them to become au-
thorities upon the details of Mosa-
ism, it came to pass that they were
popularity regarded as the teachers
of the law" They were held in
great respect. Some of them were
members of the Sanhedrin. They
were associated with the priests in
some OF the most important religious
matters. They were a regularly or
ganized college and a special exam
nation was required admitting to
membership. And Jesus himsel
speaks Of them as being sent of God
The Pharisees were exceedingly con
spicuous and very powerful.
During the time the Jews were
ruled by foreigners and especially
under the Syrian government, nc
means were left unemployed toward
effecting an amalgamation Of the diff
ferent nationalities. In order to
resist this influence, in order to pre-
serve the national integrity and t.
guard against everything and every
body not Jewish, the Pharisees came
into existence. They were politi
clans representing the home interest:
and true patriotism Of Israel. Seeing
they occupied this position in thu
state according to the Hebrew the
ocracy, they also had to be promi
nent in religious matters since thu
church and the state were INSOFAR
ably united. They were national il
their politics and orthodox in thei
religion. They were exceedingly par
ticular in observing every detail o
the law; they RETAINED from al
things which had not been duly
tithed; they carefully avoided every
thing which the law had declared
uncean; they even went so far as t.
question of what kind of materia
the wick of the Sabbath lamp wa
to be made Of, and whether it wa
permitted to eat an egg which hat
been laid on Sunday. Such fine spur
ideas as these, no doubt, would NEE
with but little favor on the part o
many, and even would be ridicule'
on the part of others, but we mus
not forget that the leading of go ex
acting life as all this, even only tn
outward observance of the mer
material and bodily, must have r
quired a tremendous discipline,
constant crucifying OF the nature
appetites and passions and therefor
deserving of no little recognition an
praise. 1t would have been imposs
BILE for good Pharisee to be an in
moral or incorporate man. He wa
obedient to the law, even to the yer
letter. He not only was active an
Jealous in the discharge OF his relie
ious duties but the main exponent
true orthodoxy and sound faith, a
well.
From all this we learn that tn
scribes and Pharisees not only KEEP
their bodies clean and pure, but tina
they disciplined their minds an
hearts as well. That their manne
of life must have been far in advant
of the times during which they llvet
that they must have been, at leas
in very many respects, almost
model for christianity to patter
after. And yet, in spite OF all the
redeeming and noble traits OF obed
ence and self-sacrfce, our Saviour
His sermon on the mount says yer
II.