they were not as other men. They "trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and contemned others." They said, in exact correspondence with the appellation they had assumed to themselves, "stand by, we are holier than you."

Such was the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees; and our Lord's assertion is, that the subjects of the kingdom of God must be characterized by a much more elevated kind of religion and morality. Their righteousness must be spiritual and sincere; it must be universal; it must originate in, and be sustained by, pure motives; and it must never be made a ground of confidence before God, or an occasion of self-gratulation, or vain boasting.

The righteousness or religion which characterizes the true subjects of the Messiah, is not, like that of the Scribes and Pharisees, merely external; nor is it, as very generally in the case of the latter, hypocritical. What is external in it, is the expres sion of thought and feeling, and the genuine expression of thought and feeling. Its principle is, "God is a spirit; and they who" would "worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth." "I serve God with my spirit," says the apostle Paul; "we are the circumcision"-that is, the true people of God, the spiritual Israel" who worship God in the spirit."

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Universality, in opposition to partiality, is another distinguishing feature of the righteousness by which the true subjects of the Messiah are characterized. Knowing that every part of the Divine law wears the stamp of supreme authority, they "account its commandments concerning all things to be right, and abhor every wicked way."

In opposition to the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, the righteousness which distinguishes the subjects of the Messiah, originates in, and is sustained by, motives rising out of the character and will of God, and our duty and happiness as connected with these. The rule is, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, to the Lord, and not to men.'

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And, finally, the righteousness of the subjects of the Messiah, unlike that of the Scribes and Pharisees, must never be made a ground of confidence before God, or an occasion of boasting. The man who is under the influence of the views which the Gospel unfolds, cannot place confidence in anything but in the mercy of God manifested in consistency with his righteousness, through the mediation of Jesus Christ. His obedience, even though it were perfect, could not afford him who has already violated the law, and incurred its penalty, any reasonable ground, for hope of pardon and salvation; and knowing, as he does, that his best services are defective and sinful, he sees that they never can deserve to be rewarded, for their own sake, but need to be graciously accepted, for the sake of his Saviour; and well aware that, if his heart and life be more in accordance with the mind and will of God than those of some of his fellow-men, it is owing 69 John iii. 24. Rom. i. 9. Phil. iii. 3.

TU Col. iii. 23.

entirely to the operation of divine influence, he sees that he has great cause of gratitude, but no ground of pride, for that it is by the grace of God, that he is what he is." This characteristic feature of the righteousness of the subjects of the Messiah's kingdom, is beautifully delineated in the following words of one of the holiest of these subjects;-"Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."1

To prevent mistakes-mistakes of vital importance to the interests of the soul-it is necessary again to remark that the design of our Lord is not to state the terms on which men may obtain the Divine favor, but to delineate the characteristics of the religion of those who are in possession of the Divine favor. It is not our Lord's intention to say, 'You must first obtain possession of this righteousness, so far superior to that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and then, as the reward of your exertions in making this acquirement, you shall be made partakers of the blessings of the kingdom of heaven;" but it is his intention to say, 'You have not entered into that kingdom; you are not possessed of its privileges and immunities, whatever may be your external professions, if you are not characterized by this righteousness." The truth is, that the faith of the gospel, by which a man enters into the kingdom, at the same time introduces to the enjoyment of the privileges of the kingdom, and forms the character of a willing, obedient, happy, subject of the kingdom. The answer to the question, How is this righteousness to be obtained? is, Through the faith of "the truth as it is in Jesus." That truth, believed, "purifies the heart;" the manifested "grace of God" through Christ Jesus, and that alone, effectually "teaches to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly.'

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§ 2. The righteousness of Christians, and that of the Scribes ana Pharisees compared, in reference to the life and happiness of others.

Having stated the general principle, our Lord proceeds to illustrate it by a variety of particular instances, in which the righteousness of those who enter into the kingdom of heaven, must exceed that taught by the Scribes, and exemplified by the Pharisees. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment." This is the first specimen of the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees; and it is very good, so far as it goes.

"Phil. iii. 8-9.

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The words rendered "by them of old time," are susceptible of various translations. They may be rendered "in ancient times, or "to the ancients;" or, as our translators have rendered, "by the ancients." or them of old time. It does not matter very much which of these modes of rendering is adopted; though, upon the whole, we consider that of our translators as the preferable one.

By "them of old time," some understand Moses, in whose writings, no doubt, the words, "thou shalt not kill," are to be found: but it seems unnatural to call Moses "them of old time;" we rather think our Lord here quotes the very words of the Scribes and Pharisees, when teaching their disciples. "Ye have heard," is just equivalent to-The Scribes and Pharisees are accustomed, when explaining human duty, to use this language "It is said by them of old time," that is, by the elders in their traditions, "Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.'

In teaching this department of human duty, they confine their attention to the overt act of violence and murder; and they fix the mind on the temporal punishment awarded by the law for this crime, as that which should chiefly or solely operate on the mind as a motive against committing it. The Scribes and the Pharisees teach that men should not take away one another's lives; and, as a motive to induce them to comply with this law, they say that he who violates it is "in danger of the judgment;' or rather, is liable to, is exposed to, the judgment. The judg ment" is here the name of a criminal court. In every city in Judea, according to Josephus, there was a court, consisting of seven judges, who had the power of life and death." That court is here termed "the judgment."

The statement of the Scribes and Pharisees, then, is just as if a person in this country were saying, 'It is the law of the land, that no man commit murder; and if any man violate this law, he is liable to be brought before the High Court of Justiciary, and tried; and, if found guilty, to be punished with death.'

In this specimen of the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, we see that it is the external conduct only for which they legislate, and that it is temporal punishment alone by which they represent the law respecting murder to be sanctioned.

But let us hear our Lord explain what, on this particular head of moral duty, is that righteousness which exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, and without knowing and exemplifying which, a man cannot be a subject of the Messiah's kingdom:-"But" I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire."""

74 Bell. Jud. Lib. ii. xx. 5; Ant. Jud. Lib. iv. viii. 14.

75 “’Eyw dè Néyw vμïv. Illud ¿yw acute pronunciandum.”—PRICEUS. 76 Matt. v. 22

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The general meaning of these words is plain enough: The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees" speaketh on this wise-Thou shalt not kill, and if thou dost, thou must be tried for thy life; but "the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven" says-Thou shall not cherish malignant feeling towards any man, nor manifest it in any way and if thou dost, thou wilt offend God, and expose thyself to severer punishments than any which man can inflict on man.' But let us look at the words somewhat more closely. Let us see what the righteousness of the kingdom forbids, and then let us see what are the punishments which it denounces on those who commit the crimes it forbids.

It forbids our being " angry with our brother without a cause," that is-it forbids all unreasonable anger,-anger without a sufficient reason; and it, moreover, forbids all immoderate anger, that is, anger in a higher degree, and for a longer time, than is lawful. The lawfulness of anger has been questioned by some christian moralists, but on very insufficient grounds. The very words before us seem to imply, that if it be forbidden to be angry "without a cause," it is, at least, permitted to be angry with a cause. The apostle Paul commands us to "be angry and sin not"-words which seem to intimate, not only that it is possible to be angry without sinning, but that there are circumstances in which we would sin "if we were not angry. The apostle James seems to teach us the same truths when he bids us "be slow to wrath;"" and we know that the perfect Exemplar of holiness in human nature was not incapable of this emotion; for we read, on one occasion, that he was not only "grieved for the hardness of the hearts" of his audience, but "he looked round on them with anger."

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It is obvious, however, that the principal, if not the only cocasion when anger is lawful, is, when it is directed against sin; and then the strong feeling of disapprobation is expressive of zeal for the Divine honor, and is quite compatible with, and ought always to be accompanied by, a sincere wish for the true happiness of him with whom we are angry. Whenever it proceeds from pride and selfishness-whenever it is accompanied with malignant feeling towards its object-it is, undoubtedly, sinful; and when we think of the difficulty of regulating this passion, and the great hazard of its hurrying us into offences against the law of love, we surely should have very good cause, before we venture to indulge in it. It is obvious that all causeless anger is sinful-all anger without a good reason, and all anger which, in degree or continuance, exceeds the reason which may exist.

A second thing forbidden by "the righteousness of the king.

77 Eph. iv. 26 78 Mark iii. 5. solet, sed qui οὓς GROTIUS.

James i. 19.

"Merito Elkй additum. Neque enim iracundus est quisquis irasci οὐ δεῖ, καὶ ἐφ' οἷς οὐ δεῖ, καὶ μᾶλλον ἢ δεῖ, ut Aristoteles for atur."

dom," is the calling our brother "raca." In the dialect gene rally used among the Jews in the time of our Lord, "Raca" was a word of contempt and displeasure which angry persons were in the habit of applying to the objects of their displeasure. It means an empty, insignificant, worthless fellow. The qualifying phrase," without cause," seems intended to extend to all the three statements made here. We are not, without a cause, and without a very sufficient cause, to say of another person, "He is a worthless fellow," nor to say to him, "You are a good-for-nothing miscreant." There may be a good reason. however, for saying this, and a great deal more than this, both of and to men. Our Lord uses worse words than raca both of and to the Scribes and Pharisees; but he does not do it "without a cause." All abusive language is forbidden by the law of the kingdom-all language expressive of malignity and of undue anger or contempt.

A third thing forbidden by this law, is the saying to a brother, "Thou fool," or rather Moreh; for, I apprehend, the word is not a Greek, but a Hebrew one," and, like Raca, should not have been translated-a word expressive of still greater contempt and detestation-signifying a rebel and apostate. This was the worst thing a Jew could say of a Jew. This part of the law of the kingdom prohibits all rash reflections on our neighbor's character, and especially all harsh judgments respecting his spiritual state. There may be cases in which the law of love absolutely requires us to say to a man that he is an apostate, while we use every means in our power to reclaim him. But what is forbidden here is the using such terms without sufficient reason, and as an expression of malignant feeling.

Let us now attend to the punishment to which, according to the law of the kingdom of God, these offences expose him who is guilty of them. "He who is angry with his brother without a cause is in danger," is liable to be exposed to "the judgment." I have already stated that "the judgment" was the name of those inferior law courts, one of which was to be found in every Jewish city, which took cognizance of ordinary crimes, such as murder, and had the power of life and death. These words are not to be interpreted literally, for certainly Messiah the Prince has not erected any court similar to that which the Jews termed "the judgment," by which persons who are guilty of causeless anger are to be tried and punished. The meaning is, 'He who is causelessly angry with his brother is, in my estimation, not less worthy of punishment than he who, on account of a crime committed by him, is dragged before "the judgment," and is by the assessors condemned.'

79 "The word, here used by the evangelist, differs only in number from , the compellation by which Moses and Aaron addressed the people of Israel, when they said (Numb. xx. 10), with manifest and indecent passion, as rendered in our English Bible, 'Hear now, ye rebels;' and were, for their punishment, not permitted to enter the land of Canaan."-Vide CAMPBELL, Pref. to Matthew's Gospel, 25. PAULUS, a respectable authority on such a subject, adopts this exegesis, and refers to Psal. xxviii. 8. See Note C.