Pharisees.—These are of different kinds, and under various orders—some in a profession of gospel truth, sit under its sound, obey its external precepts as far as it relates to bodily exercise; others are inimical to the very sound of it altogether, yet pride themselves upon following the religion they were brought up in; that they are as good as they wish to be, and not half so bad as their neighbours. Thus in heart they are all alike; those in a profession and those out of it, are all upon a level. The Gospel Pharisees thank God they are not so bad as those vile Antinomians, who talk about free grace, and perform no works. Others thank God they are not quite so bad, nor indeed nothing like, other people; they have good hearts, they mean well and wish well to all. Hence our dear Lord spake a parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. The Pharisee stood, and prayed, _God I thank thee I am not as other men_—so they vainly think, and so they declare: their works are of themselves; they wear Spider’s webs, they make a covering, but not of God’s Spirit; they are stretching themselves upon a bed which is too short, and so all will find who reject the plan of salvation, by Jesus alone.—These make a noise about holiness, and good works—these sound a trumpet and proclaim their own goodness; and they have their reward—this is but sounding brass and the tinkling of a cymbal—it is feeding on wind; all the works they do, are to be seen of men: but the Saviour says to his disciples, _Be ye not like to them_. These will give nothing away, without their names are published, printed, or put up in the front of an alms house, or on the walls of a church or hospital—on these things they feed—a good name among men; a refutation in the world: this is the foundation of their hope, and this is said to be in dust—_His foundation is in the dust_; _but the hail will sweep away their refuge of lies_, _and the waters will overflow their hiding places_, what they build on, that they enjoy; and thus dust is their meat—and if they do not absolutely declare that all their hopes are laid on what they do, they conclude their good works will either help forward their salvation, or are grand essences of it—whereas nothing that the brightest saint can do, externally, is any evidence of his new birth, none at all; for any man, destitute of divine teaching can do the same. He may hear, read, commune, speak well, relieve the poor, and be found in every external ordinance; so says Isaiah xlviii, and Ezekiel xxiii. And should this little Pamphlet fall into the hands of any man or woman, who has been building on such evidences, I pray God that the scales may drop from their eyes, that they may see their danger, and be brought, as poor sinners, to the Lord Christ for all they want.