In this piece, we will be looking at the “Pharisees and the Church”. The Pharisees and the church is a very interesting conversation that the Holy Spirit wants to have with us today. But I believe so strongly, that in the heart of God, it is a message that will help us as believers to know where to stand and how to stand. Our focus text is Matthew chapter 23, we will read verses 1 to 36, but we're going to take it in piecemeal. The first tranche that we will read is verses 1 to 12. It says;

 

 

“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples.” So, we see the context in which He was speaking. Jesus was speaking to the multitudes and to His disciples. “Saying: “The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat”, that was how Jesus opened the conversation. The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So, this evening, we want to understand what is the Moses sit?  

 

 

“Therefore whatever they tell you ^[a]to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. ⁴ For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. ⁵ But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. ⁶ They love the ^[b]best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ ⁸ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your ^[c]Teacher, ^[d]the Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹ But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² And whoever exalts himself will be ^[e]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be ^[f]exalted”.

 

 

That's the first tranche of the Scripture we want to read. The Pharisees and the church. In that first tranche, we observed Jesus started by saying Scribes and Pharisees they sit on Moses it. What is that Moses seat? The law! They sit on the seat of the law. So, they keep dishing out the law to people. Don't do this, do this. Don't do that. This is how you should walk. These are the places you should go. These are the things you should do. But Jesus made an emphatic statement. He said, whatever they tell you to observe, observe it, they are sitting on Moses’ seat.  God gave the law. There's nothing wrong with it. But you see the people that are custodians or they are sitting on the law, they are the problem. Jesus now said, because their issue is they will tell you to observe something but they themselves will not observe it. They will tell you to do something, and they will do something contrary.

 

 

Now see the Words of Jesus in verse 4. “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers”. The question the Holy Spirit is asking us as believers is, are we like the Pharisees? When we are saying this, we can say, “No, that's not me. Thank God, I'm not a Pharisee”. But before we quickly say we are not Pharisees. Can we look at the conversation Jesus is having with us this evening? Are you doing things, your works and your teachings do they align? As a believer, your counsel and your doings do they align? Hope you are also not a Pharisee? Putting heavy burdens on people, things hard to bear. And you will not even by any means push with a finger. In our contemporary times, we see in the church because this message that the Lord has given to me to share is for the church, the body of Christ everywhere in the world.

 

 

You cannot say you are speaking as a voice of God, you are releasing and preaching the gospel of God. But the goal post is not the same when it comes to your own life. You are not shifting standards. When it comes to them, they should follow, I have to tell them the truth. But are you following the truth? I have to show them the way, are you walking in the way? I have to show them the life in Christ, are you truly in Christ? These are the questions the Holy Spirit has brought before us as believers. Not that you are speaking from one side of your mouth and in your closet, you are doing something totally different.

 

 

You don't come out and say, “Ha, it is importance that men love their wives, and back at home you don't love your wife”. Apostle Paul has said it emphatically, and Apostle Peter also said it that husband should love their wives as Christ loves the church, is that how you are loving your wife? You don't come emphatically to say, “Wives submit to your husbands as the church submits to Christ”. Is that how you are submitting to your husband? So, the question the Holy Spirit is bringing before us this evening. Are you not also a Pharisee? Going ahead because there are a lot of issues to unbundle this piece.

 

 

He said that these people in verse 5: “All their works they do to be seen by men”. They are men pleasers, not God pleasers. Are we not also Pharisees? It is about what people would say. When you're on the outside, your husband is your darling. But inside he is not. When you're on the outside, your wife is your sweetheart but inside the house she's not. These are the issues. Their works are to please men, hope we are also not Pharisees. They love pleasantries; rabbi, greetings in the marketplaces — bless you! God bless you! It is well with you, and deep down inside, they have not even interceded or prayed for anyone; men pleasers, rather than God pleasers. They love positions and recognitions: Our Lord Bishop, Arch Bishop, so, so, so, and so. Man of God, if you don't call them that name, they will be angry with you. But is that what Jesus taught us?

 

 

See what Jesus said from verse 8: ^“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your ^[c]Teacher, ^[d]the Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹ But he who is greatest among you [in the church] shall be your servant”.

 

 

And that's why in Center for New Dimension Leadership, we stress servant leadership, because that is the leadership Jesus modelled, and it was so glaring, that when it was time for Jesus to be betrayed, they could not recognize Him. He was not wearing a cape. He was no way in a flowing gown. Out of the 12 disciples, they could not pinpoint that this is the leader, because they all look the same. They were all brethren. That is the model that Jesus has given to us. So, the question the church of today must answer is; are we the Body of Christ or Pharisees? Jesus said it, he said, “Whoever exalt himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted,” it is important we get it. If truly you are a believer, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is what Jesus is saying, “Don't be a men pleaser”.

 

Don't do things for show. Jesus was speaking about giving. He said, “Don't let even your left hand know what your right hand is doing”. When you want to pray, don't be praying on the street. Go in, close your door. He said, “Your Father that sees in the secret will reward you in the open”. You can pray louder in fellowship and you are quiet in your house is double standard. Hope we're not Pharisees? They love recognitions.

 

 

So, what is Jesus saying to us? If you go to Titus chapter 1, because Jesus was not saying something we cannot do. The Bible says, “All Scripture has been given to us for our admonition, our correction, instruction”. In Titus chapter 1 verse 1, the Bible calls Paul, the bond servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was no time where we saw that Apostle Paul called himself Apostle Paul. When he's writing, he didn’t say, I, Apostle Paul, the most senior apostle; we never saw that in his writings. In Philemon chapter 1 verse 1, the same thing, let's go to those Scriptures so it doesn't look as if I'm just saying it for saying sake. Let's see Titus chapter 1 verse 1, “Paul, a bond servant of God and,” what he loved the most was being a bondservant. When you want to write something, what you write first shows your heart. What he wrote first was not apostle. What he wrote first was bond servant. He identified himself with service; an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to faith.

 

 

Let's go to Philemon chapter 1 verse 1, he said, “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother”. See how those men introduced themselves. We cannot speak about the revelation of Jesus Christ without mentioning Apostle Paul. But these men, they did not throw it on the faces of people. They humbled themselves. So, the question is where do we see these examples from in the church, that we parade ourselves with so much pride? The things that Jesus did not do. If we see in 1Timothy chapter 3 verse 5, I just want to show us the Scripture quickly before we move on.

 

 

“For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God?” This is a critical question. And this is something the Holy Spirit is posing to us. If a man does not know how to rule his house, how will he, unfortunately, in the church today, we have men that cannot lead their homes leading the church. No wonder even though we still call ourselves the body of Christ, many of us are Pharisees. We are sitting in that seat.

 

 

Let's see what Jesus said; let's go back to Matthew chapter 23. We're going to read the second tranche from verse 13 to 22. It says; “But woe to you.” When you see woe in the Bible, it is not a good thing. That means it will not be alright — curse.

 

 

¹³ “But woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ^{14 [g]}Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. ¹⁵ “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of ^[h]hell as yourselves. ¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that ^[i]sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁹ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰ Therefore he who ^[j]swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ²¹ He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who ^[k]dwells in it. ²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it”.

 

What is Jesus addressing here? So, the matter started from their way of life. And Jesus started talking about the things they do. One of the first things Jesus mentioned, He said, “You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, you are not going in and you are still preventing those that want to go in to go in.” As a believer, are you shutting up the kingdom of heaven? You are not going in yourself and you are preventing those that are supposed to go in to go in. You are pastoring a church, you know, you are already a son of hell; doomed to hell, and the innocent people that are coming to look for God in your church, you are also preventing them from seeing Jesus. You are living in that compound, and people are supposed to see Jesus through your life, you are not seeing Jesus yourself and you are stopping people from seeing Jesus through you. Are you not a Pharisee? Jesus called you a hypocrite. He said, “woe to the Scribes and the pharisees”.

 

 

See, being a pharisee is not about practicing Judaism is about doing these things. Once you are doing them, you are a Pharisee; you are like them. Then He went further to say, “For you travel land and sea.” You are looking for a convert. When you now find a convert, instead of you to point the convert to Jesus, you made the person twice as a son of hell as you are. So, your practices, your way of life does not show your mentor--Jesus. Apostle Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ; imitate me as I imitate Christ”. That's how we should be in the church.

 

 

You have made yourself a god, to be worshipped by men. They must talk like you; dress like you; look like you, who are you? Jesus died for these people; you did not. That is why as believers, we must be humble. Our lives must point people to Jesus, not to ourselves. Jesus is speaking deeply here. Whether you like it or not, you can’t remove it from the Bible. He said it, it is the word of Jesus himself. He said, “Woe to you Scribes and the Pharisees, you shut the door. You are not going in and you are preventing people that are supposed to go in to go in”. And you are raising mentees after yourself. You are raising mentees after yourself not after Christ. You are not calling people aside to say, “See, follow Jesus”. You have made yourself the way, truth, and the life. Whatever that does not come from you is not correct. Whatever message you do not preach is not a true message. Jesus is speaking to us tonight. Are we not also Pharisees?

 

 

He went further to say, “Fools and blinds when people swear and swear by the temple is fine by you. You will not lift an eyebrow. But when they now swear by the gold of the temple, you will now start flexing all your muscles”. What was He saying to us; people can offend God you don't care. People can speak badly about Christ, you don't care. But they must not speak about your man of God. They must not speak about your denomination. When they do, you would say, “You can’t talk about my pastor like that”. You now start fighting. You will now start bringing all your dirty linen and start washing them in the public. Why? They spoke against your man of God. They spoke against your denomination. People can offend God. People around you, they are coming short of the glory of God, you don't care, but the day that they speak against that your denomination: “What are they doing self, that your pastor self,” you will go crazy, all your muscles, tendons; they will now arise, because you want to fight for your almighty denomination. You want to fight for your almighty man of God. But you don't carry the same zeal; you don't carry the same passion, to the the things that have to do with God, to the things that have to do with Christ, which is greater?

 

 

Jesus was asking them, “Which is greater, is it the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? And Jesus is asking the same question to the church, which is greater; your man of God or Christ that sanctified your man of God? Can you have the same passion for Jesus; can we start having the same passion for the things of the kingdom? The Bible says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” not any man. The Bible says, “His name has been exalted above every other name,” the name of Jesus not the name of your pastor. If we can start looking unto Jesus, the way we look at the calendars of our General Overseers, if we can start looking at Jesus and start imitating Jesus the way we imitate the speech and the dressing of our general overseers. Hope we're not also Pharisees?

 

 

This conversation is to bring us to that place where we can evaluate ourselves. If truly we are the body of Christ, are we following Christ? Or we have built our tents to be Pharisees? Let me read the last tranche of the Scripture: Matthew chapter 23 verse 23 to 36: It says;

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! ²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and ^[l]self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. ²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and ^[m]adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³ Serpents, brood^[n] of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ³⁴ Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation”.

 

Jesus was speaking to us emphatically, He said, “The Pharisees neglect love, justice, mercy, faith.” We are rather concerned about the purse of the church, the tithe of mint and anise and cummin; those are the things we are concerned about. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there'll be food in the house of the Lord.” Did we forget when God said, “Is this the fasting that I have ordained, I have a passion for, is it not to break free those that are bound, is it not to set free those that are oppressed?” In the assignment of Jesus, the agenda was clear.

 

 

The Bible says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Him to set the captives free, those that are bound, and to announce the acceptable year of the Lord. To give beauty for ashes”. He was talking about justice. He was talking about mercy. He was talking about faith. But what do we talk about today? What are the things we preoccupy ourselves with? God is not saying don't talk about giving. Don't talk about these matters of giving in the kingdom. There are principles in the kingdom, but there are weightier matters; Jesus said they are weightier matters. He said, “These things you should have done without leaving the rest undone.

 

 

Don't misquote me; I'm not saying God said we shouldn’t give; I'm not saying God did not say we should not be givers, but He also wants us to uphold justice. He wants us to talk about mercy. Are you that believer that can never forgive? “What she has done to me, I can never forgive her — over my dead body.” Are you not a Pharisee? Let's talk about these matters; these are real life matters. “Don't play with me, I'm not a fool. I'm a Christian, but I'm not a fool.” But Jesus said, “You are a fool”. These are weighty matters. He said that the Pharisees neglect justice, mercy and faith which are weightier matters. And they focus on payments; have you paid your tithe? Have you given first fruit; Have you given your offering? And that is all their focus. Are we not Pharisees?

 

 

Then He went to an important matter. He said Pharisees wash the outside. They look all sanctimonious, their gowns will be flowing; their turbans will be set; whatever they are wearing is neat and organized. But the inside is corrupt. He said they cleanse the outside of the cup. They pay attention to what people see. They pay attention to what people see about them. But no attention to their spirit man, no attention to the character of Christ in them, no attention to the fruit of the Spirit. They are concerned about giving expressions, “Oh, while I was praying, Oh, I saw this”. No patience, no self-control, no gentleness, no kindness, no perseverance, they focus on the outside and not the inside. They will rather pray and fast for 100 days to be able to raise the dead than for the dead man on their inside be alive unto God. Are we not Pharisees? Do we pay so much attention to the outside of the cup, to the outside of the dish, and neglect the inside?

 

 

When they said to Jesus, “Jesus, your disciples are not washing their hands. They are not observing the rules and regulations”. And Jesus said to them, “What defiles a man is not this outward thing; what defiles a man is what is on the inside”. You are that child of God and you have unforgiveness in your heart, you are lusting after people; you can strip people naked with your eyes, are you not a pharisee? These are the weightier matters; you are coming on the pulpit to preach and you're still struggling with masturbation; these are the matters.

 

 

The Lord is saying to His church, “Go back to those weightier matters, deal with them”. Because Jesus said, “In the last day, it will come to a time, many people will say, ‘Lord, Lord, we perform miracles in your name, we held crusade, we did all nights,’ And He will turn to them and say, ‘I don't know you, you workers of iniquity’”. They did not perform the iniquity outside, they did it inside but He saw them. The Bible says, “The eyes of the Lord goes to and fro the whole earth”. So, God that sees in the secret, He rewards in the open.

 

Pharisees, lastly, are those that murder true men of God, servants of Christ that stand for Christ because they are not saying what they want to hear. They will murder them with their tongues; with their mouth. You know in this generation; they are not carrying clubs and knives and guns. But the kind of murder that goes on with the tongue. The kind of stones that we throw with our tongues, they kill men. Pharisees are those people Jesus was saying, He said, “They crucified, murdered the prophets”. Are you a child of God and you're murdering prophets?

 

 

In Acts chapter 7 verse 54 to 60, we saw the story of Stephen, those that were putting their belongings at the feet of Saul. They were doing it in service to God. “Stephen, you have blasphemed, we will stone you,” and they were doing it in service to God. Can we recheck the things we are doing, quote and unquote in service to God? Are we really doing it in service to God, or to our denominations and our men of God? Is it what Christ wants us to do? Is it what Jesus died for? Jesus died that the church will be liberated, no longer bound but that we should be free. He said, “Howsoever the Son of God has set free is free indeed,” free indeed. But men are still using their tongues to bind men. They are still using their mouths, their opinions, their doctrine, to bind men. Jesus said, “You won’t escape the condemnation. He said, “You will not escape”.

 

 

In Verse 33. He said, “Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell?” Are you a child of God, all these that the Lord has shared with us today, which of them is still existing? Are you washing the outside of the cup; the outside of the dish, and the inside is left unattended to? Are you saying something but your life is different? How are you truly living your life? Are you not also a Pharisee?

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Lara Gboyega Adedeji!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!