1672. The Leaven of the Pharisees–Part 1

The Leaven of the Pharisees–Part 1

Mat_23:1-14

Usurping the Seat of Authority (Mat_23:1-2).

Making Unscriptural Demands (Mat_23:4).

Creating an Unsafe Leadership (Mat_23:3).

A Passion for Praise (Mat_23:5-7).

A False Profession of Piety (Mat_23:5).

A Pretense of Long Prayer (Mat_23:14, l. c.).

Robbing Widows' Houses (Mat_23:14, f. c.).

"Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (Luk_12:1).

Phariseeism stood, among Israel, for the highest reach of religion.

The people held the Pharisees in honor and esteem: everything taught in the Law, and emphasized by the Prophets was, supposedly, summed up in the life of the Pharisee.

The Lord Jesus Christ gathered up all this sacerdotalism, all of this ecclesiasticism, all of the pomp and pride, the prayers and the piety of the Pharisee, in one great bundle, and then called it, "hypocrisy."

We wonder if our Lord could not do the same today with much of the religion that parades itself under the name of Christianity.

Hypocrisy is a false acting; it is taking a position outwardly, that is not lived inwardly.

In this study we will find the real meaning of Phariseeism, and before we are through, we believe we will discover why Christ summed it all up under one word "hypocrisy."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR