Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-01-17
CHRIST CALLED
PHAR|SEES WORST
SINNERS OF ALL
The Rev. DR.. Vance, in Sermon,
Shows How Saviour Scathing-
ly Denounced Hypocrites.

the second of his series of sernlons on
Jesus and Sinners of His Day. at
the North Reformed Church last night
on the subject, Jesus n the Pharisees
or the Hypoerite," from the text: WOE
unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hyno-
critics" Matt. xiii, 10. He said in
part:
There was u blow straight from
The shoulder, repeated seven times in
swift succession. until the victim Of
the assault staggered down in defeat,
beaten, shamed, disgraced and branded
forever with infamy and dishonor.
Jesus dealt the blow. The gentle
Christ said the word. The same Jesus
who said Come unto Me all we that
labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest who uttered the parallels
of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the
prodigal son, and who said to the sin
ming woman Neither do / condemn
thee, go n sin nc more,' thunders out
the fnvective of heaven in this awful
arraignment of a foul heart and a false
life.
He is not talking to the Publicans
now. but to the Pharisees. He is not
speaking to the drunkards and grafters
and gamblers of Jerusalem, to that
crowd at the Publican's feast, at the
bare suggestion Of whose names all
Jerusalem took on a shocked express
sion OF countenance and held up their
Mortified hands in d~isapproval and dis
gust. He is speaking OF the gentleman
who lived on the crest OF the social
wave; the naughty and sclf-satisfed
Pharisee.
who are these Pharisees? They
were the best people in town. accord
ing to the conventional standard. They
stood for decency and were eminently
respectable. They were socially promi-
nent. From q social standpoint,
Zachias. while rich, was quite impossi-'
BILE, while his poor Pharisee neighbor
on the next block had social glory to
burn.
Was tho Patriot Of His Day.
THE Pharisee was the patriot Of his
day. He was the Incorporating poor
idolator, the sin that was responsible for
all the natioEs' trouble, and to the credit
of the Pharisees be 1t said that SO effec-
tive was his protest against idolatry as
to make II athing of the past in the life
of the Israelitish nation.
'sThe Pharisee was a strict moralist
and religionist, so far as outward con-
duct was concerned. He c%onfornaed in
q way that vas entirely accessible to
public observation to oil the ceremo-
malls of religion. He was a marked de-
voice to frills and millinery and poses,
and went through the-whole perform
ancesip way that was unmistakable.
He was the paragon OF the town, the
faultless pattern Of a perfect saint. No
doubt he expected the Messiah to on
suit him before going further. He was
the Kind Of individual whose name any
thing new in Jerusalem would need to
secure before it could hope to succeed.
and Christ was very new.
What did Christ think of the
Pharisee? His attitude was war to the
hilt from the start. He saw in these
proud, cold Journalists the deadliest
fees of the gospel He came to preach.
While society said its prayer to the
Phar.see and hung on his neck and
kissed his hands and begged to be
called his friends, Jesus was contempt
nous and scornful. He declared that
the Righteousness of the. Pharisee was
incomplete. He charged him with
covetousness; He ridiculed him In the
parable of the Pharisee and the pub
lican. and declared that publicans en-
tered the kingdom before him.
Christ took this attitude, not be-
cause he was opposed to respectability
and patriotism and morality, but be-
1unSo IIo t,-ao Annnsnl e. h.eA.so.
This was the one charge that He
brought against, the Pharisee, and 1t
bIased from His lips whenever He faced
those well-dressed scoundrels. The
Pharisee vas a cheat, a deceiver, an
imposter, a ~pretender; his morality was
only a veneer; he wore his virtues to
W his vices. His hypocricy was of
the vilest kind. for 1t was a counter
felt of the best, He wore the livery
of heaven to serve the devil in. Tho
twenty-third chapter according to st.
Matthew is one OF the most terrible
denunciations ever uttered. In it Christ
employs sarcasm, ridicule, irony, In
vective and lashes the Pharisees as
with a scourge Of scorpion. He brands
shem with insincerity and brutality.
In a perfect torrent of invective and
denunciation He pours woe on woe,
pronounces curse after curse, until the
Phariseo is outlawed forever in the
estimation of honest men.
Arc whited sepnichses.
He tells these hypocrites that they
shut up the kingdom to others and go
not in themselves, that they devour
widows houses and for a pretense make
long prayers; that they are proselyters
and make the people they proselyte
two-fold more the children OF hell in
themselves. That they are blind guides
of the blind; that they spend their
time tything mint and anise. but
neglect judgment. mercy and faith;
that while clean outwardly they arc
filthy within and foul Of soul; that they
are white seuplchers and are living q
whited lie. Finally to the herd OF
Pharisee imposters. furious, pallid, de-
moralized, hating Him f1ercely, but not
daring to touch Him for fear of the
people. Jesus sale 'Ye serpents, ye
generation of vipers, how can ye escape
the damnation of hell?
That Is the Bible d~enunciatior OF
hypocrisy. Can there be anything
worse in the sight Of God than a mai
gilded with self-righteousness. veneered
with outward morality. clothed with the
assumption OF virtues he does not
possess, but whose heart is proud and
hard and false. That sort Of sin is not
scarlet. but is black as hell and yet. bad
as he is. the Pharisee can DO saved.
- H