I know that some of us have a tendency to at least think of some of the religious people in the world today as Pharisees, even if we don’t actually call them that. I read something recently, someone said that we shouldn’t call them that, because the real problem with the Pharisees was that they didn’t accept Jesus or His teachings, but the modern-day religious people that we want to call Pharisees have at least accepted Jesus. That’s an interesting point, but…
I have posted before about the seven women who tried to take the name of one man, and that this is prophecy of churches wanting to call themselves Christian, but not being willing to accept the complete teachings of Christ. There are a lot of Christian people that Jesus wouldn’t be willing to claim as His own. I don’t say that to point fingers, but just to provide a warning. If someone tells you that they are a Christian, but there is no evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in that person’s life, then you should check what they say against the Word of God. Really, even if a person seems to be totally Christian, you shouldn’t base your salvation on that person’s word. If I tell you one thing, but the Bible says something different, then who is wrong? Obviously, I am, and if you follow what I say without checking up on me, then you are, too. And if you get to Judgment, and God says, “Why did you…?” and you say, “But, Pete Shepherd said…” He may very well tell you, “I don’t know any Pete Shepherd.” Let’s face it, if I’m teaching false doctrine, He’s not going to know me at Judgment, unless I repent and get right in between. I would hope that if I find out that I’m teaching false doctrine, that I would be able to reach the people that I misled, and get them back on the right path…
The point, though, is that the Pharisees were hypocrites. They were the great teachers of the Law, and yet they didn’t really follow it themselves. Oh, they made a show of obedience, but only the things that people could see. The weightier matters of the Law, they ignored completely. They tried to make everybody else obey the Law (in fact, they tried to get people to do more than what the Law commanded), and they were very quick to mete out punishment for those ‘sinners’ that did not obey, even though they were no better. In fact, frequently they were much worse, because the sinners that they looked down on so much were frequently putting forth more effort to try to fulfill the commandments than the Pharisees themselves were. Does that sound like someone you know? It sounds like a few people that I know, and a couple of televangelists that used to be on television. To be honest, there are probably several people like that preaching on the tube now that I just don’t know about.
Jesus said that all the Law and the prophets hang on just two commandments: Love the Lord thy God with all…, and love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, if one loves one’s neighbor, then one would at least put forth an honest effort to do right by said neighbor. You wouldn’t watch someone that you honestly loved struggle with a burden, if you had any ability at all to help, would you? The Pharisees would, though, and so would a whole lot of religious people. If you knew that your neighbor had a problem, and you could help them with it wouldn’t you? You see where I’m going with this. We should be trying to help people, not criticize them to death (not even the ones that we might consider ‘Pharisees’). Lift them up, and encourage them, keeping in mind that we are going to need some encouragement ourselves, sometimes.
I have posted before about the seven women who tried to take the name of one man, and that this is prophecy of churches wanting to call themselves Christian, but not being willing to accept the complete teachings of Christ. There are a lot of Christian people that Jesus wouldn’t be willing to claim as His own. I don’t say that to point fingers, but just to provide a warning. If someone tells you that they are a Christian, but there is no evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in that person’s life, then you should check what they say against the Word of God. Really, even if a person seems to be totally Christian, you shouldn’t base your salvation on that person’s word. If I tell you one thing, but the Bible says something different, then who is wrong? Obviously, I am, and if you follow what I say without checking up on me, then you are, too. And if you get to Judgment, and God says, “Why did you…?” and you say, “But, Pete Shepherd said…” He may very well tell you, “I don’t know any Pete Shepherd.” Let’s face it, if I’m teaching false doctrine, He’s not going to know me at Judgment, unless I repent and get right in between. I would hope that if I find out that I’m teaching false doctrine, that I would be able to reach the people that I misled, and get them back on the right path…
The point, though, is that the Pharisees were hypocrites. They were the great teachers of the Law, and yet they didn’t really follow it themselves. Oh, they made a show of obedience, but only the things that people could see. The weightier matters of the Law, they ignored completely. They tried to make everybody else obey the Law (in fact, they tried to get people to do more than what the Law commanded), and they were very quick to mete out punishment for those ‘sinners’ that did not obey, even though they were no better. In fact, frequently they were much worse, because the sinners that they looked down on so much were frequently putting forth more effort to try to fulfill the commandments than the Pharisees themselves were. Does that sound like someone you know? It sounds like a few people that I know, and a couple of televangelists that used to be on television. To be honest, there are probably several people like that preaching on the tube now that I just don’t know about.
Jesus said that all the Law and the prophets hang on just two commandments: Love the Lord thy God with all…, and love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, if one loves one’s neighbor, then one would at least put forth an honest effort to do right by said neighbor. You wouldn’t watch someone that you honestly loved struggle with a burden, if you had any ability at all to help, would you? The Pharisees would, though, and so would a whole lot of religious people. If you knew that your neighbor had a problem, and you could help them with it wouldn’t you? You see where I’m going with this. We should be trying to help people, not criticize them to death (not even the ones that we might consider ‘Pharisees’). Lift them up, and encourage them, keeping in mind that we are going to need some encouragement ourselves, sometimes.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment