Chapter 7: Religion of Public Opinion pharisees hypocrites, and he tells us that except our righteousness shall exceed theirs, we can in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. What a bad spirit he has."
A large part of the church at the present day have the same spirit, and every effort to open the eyes of the church and to make Christians see that they live so low, so worldly, so much like hypocrites, that it is impossible the work of the Lord should go on, only excites ill will and occasions reproach. "O," they say, "what a bad spirit he shows, so censorious, and so unkind, surely that is anything but the meek, and kind, and loving spirit of the Son of God." They forget how Jesus Christ poured out his anathemas, enough to make the hills of Judea shake, against those that had the reputation of being the most pious people in that day. Just as if Jesus Christ never said anything severe to anybody, but just fawned over them, and soothed them into his kingdom. Who does not know that it was the hypocritical spirit exhibited by professors of religion, that roused his soul and moved his indignation, and called forth his burning torrents of denunciation.
He was always complaining of the very people who were set up as patterns of piety, and called them hypocrites, and thundered over their heads the terrible words, "How can ye escape the damnation of hell!"
It is not wonderful, when so many love the praise of men more than the praise of God, that there should be excitement when the truth is told. They are very well satisfied with the standard of piety as it is, and think that while the people are doing so much for Sabbath schools, and missions, and tracts, that is doing pretty well, and they wonder what the man would have. Alas! alas! for their blindness! They do not seem to know that with all this the lives of the generality of professing Christians are almost as different from the standard of Jesus Christ as light is from darkness.
3. They make a distinction between those requirements of God that are strongly enforced by public sentiment and those that are not thus guarded.
They are very scrupulous in observing such requirements as public sentiment distinctly favors, while they easily set at naught those which public sentiment does not enforce. You have illustrations of this on every side. I might mention the temperance reformation. How many there are who yield to public sentiment in this matter what they never would yield to God or man. At first they waited to see how it would turn. They resisted giving up ardent spirits. But when that became popular, and they found they could do very well with other alcoholic stimulants, they gave it up. But they are determined to yield no farther than public sentiment drives them. They show that it is not their object, in joining the temperance society, to carry out the reform, so as to slay the monster Intemperance; but their object is to maintain a good character. They love "the praise of men more than the praise of God."
See how many individuals there are, who keep the Sabbath, not because they love God, but because it is respectable. This is manifest, because they keep it while they are among