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<p>'''Man is a strange compound.''' A sinner, and <br />
    the worst of sinners, and yet a Pharisee! <br />
    <br />
    A wretch, and the vilest of wretches, and <br />
    yet plumbing himself on his good works! <br />
    <br />
    Did not experience convince us to the contrary, <br />
    we would scarcely believe that a monster like man, <br />
    a creature, as someone has justly said, <strong>&quot;half beast <br />
      and half devil,&quot;</strong> should dream of pleasing God by his <br />
    obedience, or of climbing up to heaven by a ladder <br />
    of his own righteousness.<br />
    <br />
    <strong>Pharisaism</strong> is firmly fixed in the human heart. <br />
    Deep is the root, <br />
    broad the stem, <br />
    wide the branches, <br />
    but poisonous the fruit, <br />
    of this gigantic tree, planted by pride <br />
    and unbelief in the soil of human nature. <br />
    <br />
    <strong>Self-righteousness</strong> is not peculiar to only certain <br />
    individuals. It is interwoven with our very being. <br />
    It is the only religion that human nature . . .<strong><br />
      </strong>understands,<br />
    relishes, or <br />
    admires.<br />
    <br />
    Again and again must the heart be ploughed up, <br />
    and its corruptions laid bare, to keep down the <br />
    growth of <strong>this pharisaic spirit. <br />
      <br />
      It is a creature of many lives!</strong> It is not one blow, <br />
    nor ten, nor a hundred that can <strong>kill</strong> it. <strong>Stunned</strong> it <br />
    may be for a while, but it revives again and again! <br />
    <br />
    Pharisaism can live and thrive under any profession.<br />
    Calvinism or Arminianism is the same to it. It is not <br />
    the garb he wears, nor the mask he carries, that<br />
    constitutes the man.
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