50 Characteristics of Pharisees- Part 2

"And Moses indeed [was] faithful in all his house, as a ministering servant, for a testimony of the things to be spoken after; but Christ, as Son over his house, whose house are we, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end." Hebrews 3:5-6

"Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end." Hebrews 3:12-15

I just want to take a moment and make it clear that these posts are not to point the finger nor condemn anyone or any group of people, ironically that would be Pharisaical. Also I am, for the most part, only listing/summarizing what Poonen himself says in this series, any side notes by me are italicized. I am simply sharing what the Holy Spirit has been using to reveal Himself to me over the past several months in hopes to, if nothing else, provoke my brothers and sisters in Christ to further love and good works for the glory of the Father. Things such as these, and many more, are so easy to let slip in our lives. Even out of our pure heart and pursuit for righteousness and Truth we can find ourselves facing our biggest issue, our SELF. My prayer is that God will continue to open up our eyes, that we may see and that our whole bodies will be full of Light. Maturity and perfection are never ending processes. May we be found faithful, humble and ever bearing fruit worthy of repentance.

Here are my promised notes for Part 2 of Zac Poonen's sermon~

The mark of God's blessing in the lives of His children is the ability to see the things in us that do not line up with the Father and cleanse ourselves, being conformed to His nature. If you are not getting light on the un-Christ-likeness things in yourself, God is NOT blessing you. We should be moving on the perfection. So many of us are earth bound simply because we don't ask the Lord, "show me the Pharisee in ME".

Matthew 23 (what we should be lead out of) is the opposite of 1 Corinthians 13 (what we should be lead into). Love is the opposite of Law.

Mat 23:3 "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, [that] observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do."
17. Has knowledge without obedience

• They sit in the chair of Moses- they have a lot of knowledge and authority but they do not do anything they say.
• knowledge + obedience = life
• knowledge - obedience = death
• The people who stink the most are those who have maximum knowledge and minimum obedience. The sad part is, these people don't realize they stink.

Mat 23:3-4  "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."

18. They preach things without practicing them first.

• Matthew 23:3 is opposite of Acts 1:1 "Jesus did and then preached". 
• With these two opposites you see how to build Babylon and how to build Jerusalem. 
• Jesus preached what he had already practiced.
• If you preach it without living it you're just seeking honor, the Word must become flesh in you.
• Do not speak on something you have not done, speak on what you know and have lived.
• Be patient and wait so you can speak with authority.
• You don't appoint an English teacher to teach Chemistry. Atheists in our schools know it but elder brothers in our churches don't. This is how Phariseeism infiltrates our churches.

Mat 23:4  "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."

19. Bind heavy burdens on others

• Like a speaker who says "tithe your time like you tithe your money" but when asked if he spent 2.4 hours with the Lord a day he said "no brother". Hypocrisy.
• They build Babylon and and destroy the work of God in people's lives.
• From The Message, "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals."
• How do you preach God's Word? The Word can be presented in two different ways.
• Jesus preached from the same old testament the Pharisees preached from but He liberated people. The Pharisees took the same old testament and bound people up.

Mat 23:5 "But all their works they do to be seen by men..."

20. Seek honor from men.

• Praying to get honor, watching how you pray to get a reaction. You aren't praying to God but men.
• Many people are boring till the day they die because they never judge themselves, they think everything is okay.
• If you work on yourself God will show you what to cleanse out.
• It doesn't matter than men know what you do for Him (in your family, relationships, education, ministry), it only matters that He knows. 
• The more you cleanse yourself from seeking honor the more you'll be able to build the true church of God, otherwise it will only be Babylon.

Mat 23:5 "...They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments."

21. Think holiness is in the dress.

• We have so many ideas which are completely the opposite of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We've got these ideas in our heads from Babylonian Christianity that we've grown up in and they don't change because we don't meditate on Scripture.
• We're afraid of what people will think of us.
• Pharisees are not only looking for honor but they are always observing others. "what are they doing? what are they wearing?"
• They have eyes like owls and then go talk about others "can you believe...". 
• You should not have time to talk about what other people are doing or spending their money on.

Mat 23:6-7  "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.'"

22. Love position and titles of honor.

• Do you feel proud that you're now an elder brother? This is saturated Phariseeism. 
• They like to sit at the head table.
• Don't seek honor if you want to build the church. 
• They like to control others. Don't let anyone control you.
• Don't let people put you on a pedestal. We all have one teacher which is Christ and we are all classmates.
• Don't let people set you up as experts.
• Don't allow them to tell you what to do. Save that authority only for the Lord and let Him tell you what to do.
• If you're a leader don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of their lives, let God take charge of their lives.
• There is only ONE leader, Jesus Christ.
• A big part of why their churches are not becoming better and they are failing as elder brothers, They don't know the freedom of the Spirit. (We have to 1. stop depending on people for our direction from the Lord. There is a difference between counsel from men and obedience to God. Each one of us is responsible for the Word that is spoken to us. 2. let go of people and allow them to walk out THEIR walk with the Holy Spirit on their own, even if they make a mistake and even if they fall. We have to trust the Holy Spirit in them enough to believe all things. 3.be humble to admit our faults or errors and take personal responsibility for them.)

Mat 23:13  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."

23. They corrupt others.

• This is the great tragedy in Christendom. 
• Young people are lead astray. They lack role models.

Mat 23:14  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”

24. Take advantage of poor people.

• They exploit widows.
• They swipe money from these poor people to live in grandness themselves. 
• Not just about money but in all manner of life. 
• Elder brothers should not take advantage of others. 
• If someone wants to go someway, do not stop them...even if you don't agree with it. 

 Mat 23:14  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”

25. Pray long prayers in public

• Major problem today, people do not pray at home.
• If people do not heed this just leave them alone.

Mat 23:15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."

26. Make people feel they are born again when they are not. 

• Their converts are twice the sons of hell.
• They try and convince people they are filled with the Holy Spirit when they are not. 
• It's not about a prayer or a matra, this will insulate someone from the actual gospel (the power of God unto salvation).
• We must be God-fearing and humble, without that it is just Babylon in a different color.
• Godliness doesn't equal poverty.

Mat 23:5 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."

27. Interpret scripture without revelation from God.

• They add their own modifications to the Word.
• This is inconsistency. They don't realize that they are doing the same things that they are trying to prove that others are doing.

Mat 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."

28.Sticklers for the letter of the law.

• They often neglect mercy.
• They major on minor issues.
• What did Jesus speak on? Concentrate on the major things.

Mat 23:23  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."

29. Have no justice, mercy, faithfulness.

• Deal with the things that need to be dealt with.

Mat 23:24  "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"

30. Strains out mosquito's and swallows camels.

• They concentrate on the small things.
• Don't write a life story that is wrong from start to finish and all you do is focus on the commas and periods. 
• We need to judge OURSELVES first.
• The commas are important but you can't leave love out.

Mat 23:26  "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

31. Cleanse the outside life.

• Inside they are self-indulgent, selfish. 
• It's not about other people but they make sure they look right.

Mat 23:30  "and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets."

32. They say things conscerning what others do, "I would never have done that".

• He doesn't realize the corruption in his own flesh.
• The only difference between you and them if you didn't do what they did is the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. 
• Squeeze out all the puss from the boil of Phariseeism that has infected the church for years. 

Mat 23:34-36  "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.."

33. Persecute God's prophets.

• Get's offeneded when he hears a prophet. 
• He gets disturbed. 
• Doesn't like to feel like he's being corrected and don't like to hear what the prophet says. 
• Takes it personal.