The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-08-18

Christians heart is beautifully depicted.
Pastor Russell preached today from
the text Woe unto you, lawyers! for
We have taken away the Key of
knowledge; We entered not in your
selves, and them that were entering
In ye hindered" duke .11:52.) He
said in part:
In the New Testament the word
lawyer has a very different meaning
from our general usage. 1t applied to
those religious teachers of the Jews
who made special professions of sane
tity and earnest desire to know Gods
will, as expressed in the Mosaic Law.
and to teach the same to the people.
The corresponding class of today are
designated Doctors of Divinity. Our
text. therefore, with this correction
reads. WOE unto you, Doctors of Di-
vinity. for We have taken away the
Key of Knowledge; ye entered not in
yourselves, and them that were enter
ing In We hindered."
Common People Heard Jesus Gladly.
1t was the custom amongst the Jews
that lessons from the Law and the
Prophets should be read every day in
their synagogues The people were
thus familiar with the letter of the
Divine Law and promises. The ma
jority of them were, of course, Hitter
ate; for educational facilities were not
then what they are now. AS result,
only a few claimed to have a knowl-
edge of the spiritual part Of the Law
and the Prophets. These were chiefly
Of the literary and wealthy classes.
To these the common people looked for
guidance respecting Gods will and plan.
As an illustration: When the common
people heard Jesus gladly, they were
unwilling to trust their own judg-
ments. but inquired, Have any Of the
Scribes and Pharisees believed on
HimY Have the Doctors Of the Law,
the Doctors of Divinity, endorsed Him?
They have made study of these
things, and we would rely more upon
their judgment than upon our own.
But not one of the Scribes and the
Pharisees endorsed Him, and hence
few of the people believed on Him and
became His disciples.
The common people were hungry for
the Message which Jesus brought. 1t
is recorded that they said Of Jesus
teachings, "Never man spake like this
man." The nation would have gone
over promptly to Jesus had the Scribes
and the Pharisees, Doctors of the Law.
set the example and given the word.
Moreover, the teachings of Jesus har-
monized the message of the Law and
the Prophets, over which the Scribes
and Pharisees and the Sadducees had
long wrangled and disputed Had the
Doctors of the Law been as hungry for
the Truth as were the people, undoubt-
eddy all of their differences of inter-
probation of the Old Testament Scrip
lures would have been speedily remov-
: ed In the light of the then Present
Truth and knowledge of God, which
was shining upon the Bible through
the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the Apos-
ties being Jehovah's mouthpieces.
The Key of knowledge Buried.
In our text Jesus charged the Jew
ish Doctors of Divinity with the re-
sponsibility of having taken away the
Key Of knowledge, refusing to use it
themselves to enter into appreciation
Of the great blessings due, and hiding
1t from the common people. who trust
ed them implicitly. We charge that
the same thing is true today.
Not only were the Jewish people
typical of Spiritual Israel. and their
Age typical of this Age. and their
Harvest typical of the Harvest, or
closing time, of this Age, but addi-
tionally. now as then. Gods people
perish for lack Of knowledge. Hosea
4:6l Now. as then. the Doctors of Di-
vinity will not use the Key of Knowl-
edge themselves. to enter heartily into
the wonderful privileges and blessings
now due. and additionally they have
buried the Key of Knowledge. hiding
1t from the people under mass of
forms and ceremonies.
But Is knowledge necessary
In our Lords aay the Jewish Doc
tors Of Divinity. or Rabbits. contented
litctuSttttc VIII tclilnE tbt PCOlbC
what they should do and what they
should not do. but did not teach the
people-did not help them to any un-
Outstanding Of the deep meaning Of
the Law and the Prophets. In our
context Jesus said to them, You bind
heavy burdens upon the people. griev-
GUS to be borne. but you do not at
tempt to carry them yourselves.
So is it today with the Jewish Rab-
bis. as well as with other ministerst
for instance minister stands as
representative and mouthpiece of the
church creed. which in roundabout
terms declares that whoever does not
live sanity life will suffer an eter-
nifty of torment. Is not this grievolis
burden to put upon any conscientious
soul? Has it not caused unreliable
anguish to many of Gods true peoplei
Has it not driven away from God and
the Bible thousands of the most intel
ligent minds in the world?
AS the Jewish Doctors of Divinity
carried no such burdens. neither do
the Doctors of Divinity of Christen-
dom. In private they acknowledge
that they carry no such burdens In
public they give the inference that they
d0--not SO much by positive terms as
by implication. tone and infection of
the voice. and by the general fact that
they stand for and are representatives
of the creeds which so teach 1t does
not excuse these influential teachers
for them to claim that in their official
capacity they lose their personal re-
sponsibility and shift it upon those
who made the creeds and those who
adopt them. The people are no longer
trusting the creeds They realize that
the creeds contain many Inconsistent
cies, and that greater light is shining
today from one page of the Bible upon
another than shone in the days when
those creeds were formulated
The common people trust the Bible
Jesus, the Apostles and the Prophets.
They know that all the creeds of
Christendom claim to be built upon
the inspired Record. They understand
the Scribes and Pharisees of today. the
Doctors of Divinity of Christendom, TO
give assurances that those creeds prop
erly present the teachings of the BIZ
Bile. The creedal chains would become