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.