Title: Pharisee-ism
Purpose: To motivate Christians to have tenderness toward one another


Intro:
1. This is usually a time of year when people get sick
2. There were a group of people in the Bible that were really sick
3. Pharisees
4. They had 4 Kinds of Diseases:

I. Ethnikitis
A. They showed partiality to fellow Pharisees
B. Origins of Pharisees
1. Before captivity, people lax (idols, blemished offering, priests and prophets taking bribes, exploiting the poor of the land, rampant divorce)
2. God allowed them to be taken into captivity after many warnings
3. A group arose after the return
a. Pharisees (the separated ones)
b. Involved in careful study & interpretation of the law
c. Some came to have titles: "Rabbi", "Doctor of the Law", "Lawyer", etc.
4. Teachings of these men were studied, passed down and taught in schools
a. Built "hedges" around the law to keep from breaking it
- Do not take the name of the Lord in vain, so they didn’t say it
b. A council of Sanhedrin to decide on matters
5. It seemed they were finally on track
C. Luke 10:25-37
1. A "lawyer" (theologian) asks "who is my neighbor"
2. They limited the command to Pharisees (100% agreement to their hedges)
D. Ethnikitis still a problem today
1. Religious division due to followers of "church manuals"
2. Due to followers of men and their writings
3. Do we have a manual or man we follow? (should only be the Bible and Christ)

II. Pirite Syndrome
A. Pirite is what we call "Fools Gold"
B. Scriptures
1. Luke 7:36-50
a. Imagine
b. Immoral Woman
c. Did the Pharisee show hospitality? (pride)
d. THIS WOMAN COULD DO NOTHING BUT CRY
2. Mark 12:38-40 - Jesus assesment of Pharisee
a. The immoral woman had to be told more than once she was forgiven
b. He empowered her and freed her
c. However Pharisees loved to guilt people and bind heavy loads
-Guilt can be a powerful weapon to manipulate people
-Guilt is supposed to be temporary
d. Like that woman, we need to hear, "you are forgiven"
3. Matt. 23:23-33
a. Pharisees neglected justice, mercy and faithfulness
b. Clean outside of dish, but filthy inside
c. Like whitewashed tombs
C. I was given an Apple Pie by a fine sister last week, it was so good
1. It reheats nicely in the Microwave
2. Smells so good when heated up
3. A true disciple needs to be as good as apple pie
4. Problem is those that pretend, they look the same, but aren’t
5. Wht if I was given a fake rubber apple pie and heated it? (It will stink)
D. WHAT DO YOU SMELL LIKE WHEN YOU ARE PUT TO THE TEST

III. Compulsive Feeders Disease
A. Have heard of compulsive eating, but compulsive feeders?
B. Scriptures:
1. Matt 15:1-9
a. Since Pharisees people of book, shouldn’t they be commended?
b. They didn’t want to break any law of God, shouldn’t that be commended?
2. What Jesus say about it (Matt 23:13-15)
-Proselytes twice a son of hell than them (harsh)
3. Why the hostility?
a. Elevated traditions (interpretations) over God’s word
b. Did not permit (v.5-6; Mk 7) someone to help parents - had to keep vows
C. ILL: How do you feel when you see a parent forcing a child to eat and they choke?
1. Want to say, "ease up", he’s not going to starve
2. How do you think God feels when people today force traditions
D. Many cannot be a voted into a religious group of not accept church manual
1. Do we have a manual to determine? - THE BIBLE ONLY
2. Some today obviously feel that the Bible is not enough.

IV. Hearing and Sight Loss
A. This is the most dangerous of all Reason: Fail to see the other diseases, including blindness
B. Scriptures:
1. Matt 15:12-14
2. John 9 - Healing Man born blind
a. v.11 - "Jesus"
b. v. 17 - "Prophet" (v.16 - hello! wake up!)
c. v. 33 - "From God"
d. v. 38 - "Lord I Believe"
e. v. 39-41 - Blindness was own fault
-All they could see was he worked on Sabbath
-They were too blind to see who he really was
C. When Playing fetch with a Dog,
1. Can’t find stick
2. Comes back, you point, all he does is sniff at finger
3. He doesn’t understand that you are pointing to to stick
D. People today get hung up on the finger, they fail to see what its pointing to
1. Many theologians today are blind to where the Bible is pointing
2. Jesus of Faith or Historical Jesus
3. Some deny clear cut doctrines, such as Baptism, Holy Living, etc.

Conclusion:

1. Many were guilty of
Ethnikitis - Showing partiality (everyone else second rate)
Pirite Syndrome - Outward show, no mercy, or grace
Compusive Feeders Disease - Force feeding man made doctrines
Hearing and Sight Loss - Being to blind to see the error of these diseases
2. Pharisees were an interesting bunch, they had all of these diseases

3. Many in our country today have the same thing (not called Pharisees, but Fundamentalists)

4. We are too hard on them (what, aren't we supposed to take a stand?)

5. THIS SICKNESS IS RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN BODY!

a. ETHNIKITIS
-ILL: Mom used to tell me how much kinder people were in other denominations
-I got mad and offended
-She had a point
-I suppose they had same reaction with parable of Good Samaritan
-Polarization in the church (self contained groups)
-Inconsiderate behavior
-Suspicion of either restored brethren or new brethren
-Total disregard of those outside your circle of friends
-Being to ready to give up on fallen away
b. PIRITE SYNDROME
-No genuine-ness
-Just like Pharisees who could only see Sabbath being broken and not a man healed, some have no mercy or grace in their actions
-Attitude of "you should have come and talked to me"
-It is often nothing more than an excuse not to listen
-Some have a lot of trouble with saying "I’m Sorry, I was wrong"
-Some are unforgiving and judgemental
-Some outwardly pray, study, worship, sing, make good comments in class
-They have forgotten love, mercy and hospitality (like the PHarisee who didn’t wash feet)
c. COMPULSIVE FEEDERS DISEASE
-We are a people of the book, so were they
-We need to study and stick to sound doctrine
-Problem is when you try to bind your interpretation and opinions on others
-When it becomes bound, it becomes "tradition"
-In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men
-DO NOT Haggle over words which leads to the ruin of the hearers
-What makes it difficult is we have no tradition, so we have become a people with a tradition of no tradition (leads to next problem, see the potential for blindness?, have traditions and not aware of them)
d. BLINDNESS AND DEAFNESS
-Problem of being mute is not one the Pharisees suffered from (that's another study)
-We can be just as blind and deaf as they were

Conclusion#2:

1. If you don’t think you are sick, you may have the last of these - blindness

2. Jesus is the great physician, he has the power to heal this sickness

3. Come to him today

4. You will not be humiliated, this is a place of

forgiveness, not judgement
grace not condemnation
love, not grudges
humility, not arrogance
healing, not injury
5. Jesus is your advocate, come to him and he will make you well if you let him.