January 8, 2009

Hypocrisy - Leaven Of The Pharisees

Not all Pharisees were hypocrites. Many sought out Christ and He dined with them. He had lasting friendships among them. However "Pharisaical" has become synonymous with hypocritical. Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

We all sin daily and fall short of God's glory. We are normally remorseful and seek forgiveness. This sin so often springs from ignorance and failures to exercise diligence. Sin is inexcusable and yet seemingly unavoidable. Our common lot is a daily miserable state of wretchedness! Like the apostle we seek deliverance from this "body of death." "A just man falleth seven times and rises up again." Proverbs 24:16

There is a condition of sinfulness which is not the result of accident or ignorance. It is a willful construction, intentional and purposeful from a calloused heart. It is taught and mentored. It is rooted in pride and self glory rather than seeking the glory of others. While we are taught that the blessed life is found in poverty of spirit this condition is never remorseful nor repentant.
It exacts the law in ways that Christ warned, "ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin".
It is pressing, forcible and and urgent, efforts to obtain the desirable and appropriate demand for self fulfillment. To rise above the common lot of men and be seen as successful and self determined. Often this is seen in efforts to achieve victorious Christian living and an absorption with the overcoming life.

The end of the last century and the beginning of this century we saw a revival of Phariseeism in the form of John Darby and C. I. Scofield's dispensationalism. "Ye exact the Bible for the scientific and precise meaning of every word," Christ would surely say. Not content to see through a glass darkly with our "fragmented and disconnected" words and our utter dependency on the Holy Spirit to be progressively sanctified, we were given a glorified form of the Word. Perfection had come in the form of a Bible, not a translation but a reference Bible that gives the "vital reality" "wholly lacking...in expository novelties and merely personal views and interpretations." "The last fifty years have witnessed an intensity and breath of interest in Bible Study unprecedented in the history of the Christian Church." That which is perfect has come in the form of scientific minds, great men, humbly acknowledged in the third person by Scofield himself! Reference the Introduction to the Scofield Reference Bible

How arrogant can a man be? All this is "clear to his mind," and the "invaluable collaboration of a wide circle of spiritual and experienced Bible students and teachers in England and the United States." This is the works of men and then to seal out the Holy Spirit's assistance it is acknowledged in near blasphemous tones that these "injunctions," scientific determinations, are equivalent to the "commandments of the Lord." see Scofield's note to I Cor 14:1 item 5 old Bible edition

"Thank you, Holy Spirit, we don't need you and our word is equivalent to the writing of the Apostle Paul!" Phariseeism! At it's worst! So prevalent in today's American evangelical community. Many have abandoned the Scofield Reference Bible, however the wicked self-absorbed spirit remains in the form of Spiritless expository preaching and discipleship programs. Adrian and Joyce Rogers have been the chief proponents of this Phariseeism. Hardly any part of evangelical Christianity is unsoiled by this science.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Charles,
Dispensations have nothing to do with hypocisy. I was taught them from a lad up. It simply means that God is a God of order.

MEN BEFORE THE CROSS WERE SAVED BY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CROSS. wE ARE SAVED, LOOKING BACKWARD TO THE CROSS.
Salvation has always been by blood and power.

But Israel is not the church, nor is the kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of God.

I humbly disagree with you.

Bro. Paul

WatchingHISstory said...

I confess that I am not as informed on all the differences between Dispensationalim and Covenant Theology, particular the relation of the church and Israel.

I certainly appreciate your honest and humble response, Paul. Perhaps the same is true for the Pharisees in Christ's day, there are good dispensationalist today of which you are one of them. Christ had friendships with Pharisees.

My point is the legalistic exposition of the Word particularily by Scofield. Dispensations are proven means to understand Bible and history but many of the theological assumptions are a streach.

I am a "pan-millenialist". It will all pan out in the end. Pre, A, and post are not clear in my mind.
I do believe that "dispensationalism" has bred hypocrisy in the same way Pharisees bred hypocrisy.

I treasure your input to this.

Pie Thrower said...

Mr. Page: My name is Darrell. I was the man that threw that pie in your face back those many years ago. I have read your "version" of that incident. Now please let me tell all about what really happened.

We were on the town square celebrating the history of our town. Several of our town officials had volunteered to have pies thrown in their face to raise money for abused and orphaned children. It was hot and many people had lined up with money in their hands. All of sudden this young teen rudely pushed himself into that line and brutally shoved people aside to see what was going on. Apparently from your story, that rude young man was you.

Well many were hurt and angered by your actions. So I exacted a sense of justice. If you wanted to see what was going on so badly to act the way you did I thought it only proper to show you up front, first hand. I threw that pie in your face. And let me tell you I would do it again if you acted the same way.

I see that you are claiming to have suffered from “Arrested Development” for many years afterwards. What I should have done was had you arrested then; then you would have really suffered from being “Arrested”. Have you ever thought just once about the harm you did to those people you shoved aside so rudely? Have you ever apologized to them? How about taking an ad out in our Southern Standard and apologize to those people you hurt and injured by your actions? You were not the only one hurt that day. One of those hurt was my wife. You pushed her to the ground and she injured her knee badly. She ended up having surgery on it. How selfish of you to forget the pain and horror of your actions that day. Shame on you.

Mr. Page; do the Biblical thing and ask them for forgiveness or does the Bible not apply to those you hurt and injured that day? I guess it only applies to you when convenient. Shameful, oh so shameful.

Darrell

WatchingHISstory said...

Remember this, Dispensationalism, Covenantalism, Calvinism, Arminianism. All these are theories of interpretations and none is an end to itself. The Bible is our final authority and no one can boast of an exclusive theory. We see thru a glass darkly. How intense we hold to our theory is our choice and not to exclude others.

There is a heretical line somewhere to be avoided!

WatchingHISstory said...

Darrell, you are desperately lying!

But let me say this, if you were the pie thrower I forgive you and you should know that you an instrument to develop me as His servant. What you meant for evil (public assault on an underaged child - nerver to be justified regardless of my actions) has turned into good.

I love you dearly and pray for your best from God.

WatchingHISstory said...

Darrell, my friend

What side of the courthouse did the event take place? what side of the crowd was I standing?
What was the flavor of the pie? What kind of material was the pie plate? Was it cloudy that day?
What outstanding thing that made the day around the courthouse interesting?

WatchingHISstory said...

What was the closest public school to the courthouse? What was the closest church? Where was the Southern Standard Office? What local Radio station was nearby? What was the name of the funeral home near by? What was the name of the Auto dealership next to the courthouse. All these are things you would know. Naturally I have inserted trick questions and you would know which ones are tricks!