During the First Coming of Christ there were two major sects of Judaism, The Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisee and Saducee were polar opposites. Pharisees believed that they would appease the LORD God by following the Mosaic Law to the strictest letter, while the Sadducees believed in compromising Judaism by including pagan rites and Roman customs. These two sects were off the mark of the LORD, and they were both rebuked by Jesus Christ for different reasons, "The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her. 29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching," (Matthew 22:23-33), and, "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi[b] by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.[c] 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves," (Matthew 23:1-15), "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean, 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:23-28). I am alarmed today that the Church is in fact breaking into these very sects, Pharisee and Saducee. The Pharisee churches are convinced that if they follow the Scriptures more strictly they will prevail against the coming storms of Satan and strange doctrines, but like Pharisees of old they have become white washed tombs, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness," (Matthew 23:27-28), and they are devoid of God's Spirit, because God is according to Spirit not the Letter, "He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life/And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6), and it is by Grace we are saved, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. " (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Saducee Churches are those compromising the gospel and including pagan traditions and ideologies, these churches are ones who ordain homosexuals as leaders, something forbidden in Scripture, and to God who abhors homosexuality, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination," (Leviticus 18:22), and "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The Sadducee Churches do far worse, they also teach doctrines of demons, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons," (1 Timothy 4:1), "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths," (2 Timothy 4:3-4), and allow people to be seduced from the Truth, "for there will be false christs and false prophet who will deceive if possible the Elect" (Matthew 24:24).
Even more alarming about churches falling into these two sects, is that both the Pharisee and Saduccee missed ther First Coming of Christ. It was sheperds, and Magi who greeted God made flesh in Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-21, Matthew 2:1-12), not the religious elite or churches (synaggoges) of the day. I am concerned that we are seeing history repeat itself, that just as the Pharisees and Sadducees missed the Savior and Lamb of God the first time, Pharisee Churches and Saducee Churches will miss the Second Coming of Christ, having fallen into not knowing Jesus, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness," (Matthew 7:21-23), this description Jesus gives for those that do not know Him, workers of lawlessness is what He called the Pharisees, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness," (Matthew 23:27-28) and what the Apostle Paul calls the Antichrist to come, "Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). We must know Jesus, "Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent," (John 17:3). The Pharisee churches will be too busy trying to be perfect, turning what is meant to be a faith that is a relationship with the Trinity and walking in spirit and truth into law based religion and man made religion (Colossians 2:23, Galatians 5:4) that enslaves people and makes them bitter at the Gracious God Jesus Christ who while we were yet sinners died for us, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:1-11). The Saducee Churches will miss the Second Coming because they have been led astray by destructive heresies, "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves," (2 Peter 2:1); these Sadducees preach another gospel and jesus "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed," (Galatians 1:6-9), "But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed," (2 Corinthians 11:3-4), and ultimately have allowed idols to mingle with the Immortal God, something that the Lord will not allow, "What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: "I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you." (2 Corinthians 6:15-17). Between these two extremes, many are being mislead. The Pharisee Christian is harsh and presents the Lord Jesus as Lawgiver and that following Scripture is salvation, which Jesus rebuked, "You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,/You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,/You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!-yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40); while Saducee Christian is compromised by practing tenets of other religons such as Hindusim, Jainism, and Buddism in form of Yoga, and other pagan New Age and mystical practices; and the Saducee often permtis what God prohibits, such as ordaining those who live and practice sin that does not allow them into Kingdom, "But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Jesus, Revelation 21:8).
So what is the answer? If you don't want to become lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-16) like Sadducees and similarly do not want to become strict and cruel like the Pharisees what do you do? The answer is that Scripture isn't the Law, it is the guide book to a relationship [relationship road map] with Jesus Christ. It tells us what to do and not to do not as laws, but how a marriage to God looks like. Jesus said, "if you love me, you will keep my commands," (John 14:15), but these commands are love based not law based, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets," (Matthew 22:36-41), and "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35). There are standards, and these are found in Scripture, but we also live by Spirit and God's Spirit guides us as well as teaches us in harmony with Scripture, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26).The Pharisee takes Scripture and makes it into codes, rites, traditions, and rituals; rather than roads in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Sadducee goes outside paramenters of God's Spirit and seduced by other spirits, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already." (1 John 4:1-3). We are called to be like the Apostles, and Prophets of Christ found in Scripture, not the Pharisees or Sadducees. Jesus wants us to be in balance, firm in our faith and beleifs that Jesus is only way to heaven (John 14:6, John 6:40, John 3:16), but kind and loving as He is (Matthew 9:36, 1 John 4:8), and remembering that Jesus came, "When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners," (Mark 2:17), and "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). Our Christian faith is a relationship with the Only True God and Trinity Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. It is not a list of rules to keep or reckless reasonings and spiritualities, it is a relationship with Christ, and counting all things lost compared to knowing Him (Philippians 3:8). The trick to never become Pharisee is to see Scripture as Marriage vows and relational guideliens of how to be closer, close, and love God, and the trick to not becoming Saducee is to be strong in Holy Spirit's discernment and to test the spirits with Scripture and every thought or opinion or doctrine that rises against the knowledge of God, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The simplest way to not become a Pharisee or Saducee Christian is to keep your eyes fixed on Christ, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God," (Hebrews 12:2), to count all things lost but knowing him, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ," (Philippians 3:8), and most importantly to make the aim of your life and study of Scripture and moving in Spiritual Gifts to Know Him, "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3). Don't make Scripture into laws to be saved or prove your righteousness or seem better than other sinners, nor allowed yourself to become seduced by destructive heresies, false religions, and doctrines of demons. Instead, stand on Rock of Immanuel, and build that relationship with the Holy Trinity. When you read the Scriptures don't make a list of commands, but notice how the Apostles got closer to Christ and what they instruct as ways to know the Lord better (which includes stopping the practice of sins), and notice that Jesus' most firm rebuke was of religious hypocrites who were either so harsh or lukewarm, they were not loving and full of truth, Amen.
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