The Yeast of The Pharisees

Hypocrisy

Self-righteous, hypocritical and petty. 

These are adjectives that are thrown at Christians from time to time.

Though these are attributes that are shared by all people in varying degrees (no matter what their worldview is) they stand in stark contrast to Jesus, and the example He modelled to His disciples.

In fact when you read how Jesus spoke to people, you find that sinners that knew they were sinners received a gentle word from Jesus, but the religious pretentious received the most stinging condemnation and rebuke - the like of which it is difficult to imagine even the most zealous preacher today delivering to some of the worst moral delinquents.

Charles Swindol in his book "The Grace Awakening" relates a story where a couple of missionaries went to another country and lived in a community with other missionary families.

This family had a taste for peanut butter and wrote home for some, which was sent, and was soon enjoyed by the new arrivals to the field.

What they didn't know was that there was an unspoken rule of spirituality - it was considered "spiritual" to deny yourself peanut butter.

They had broken this rule, and soon were ostracised by the other families to such a degree, that they soon quit the mission field and returned home.

Though this example is extreme, and most of us would never get too excited over peanut butter, there is always the danger that there is some other thing that we attach a special mark of spirituality to.

And if the change is gradual enough, anyone can end up at the ridiculous. 

Yeast

"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread." Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:6-12 NIV)

There are 2 general types of people that have their hearts infected by this attitude:

1. The unregenerate Pharisee.
2. The infected Christian who starts to think and act like the Pharisee.

Yeast has a powerful action, in that it only takes a small amount to confer its properties to a large batch of dough. 

The same thing happens with a little of this teaching in the heart of a Christian.

  

We all share a common trait, we're sinners. We break the Holy Law of God in word, in heart, and in action; and regularly. But Pharisees are convinced on some level of their own righteousness, and they want people to know it. 

When this yeast infects a person's heart, it puffs up the person, making them look and feel larger than they really are. What looks like larger-than-life zeal, holiness and righteousness is just a paint job (Matt 23:27,28).

The Greek word hupokrisis which is transliterated as hypocrisy in much of the New Testament, means more than not practicing what you preach. 

It means to play act, to pretend. To make yourself appear to be more than you are.

In other words, a sinner pretending to be pious and perfect.

"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. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Matthew 23:23, 24 ESV)

A gnat was unclean but tiny, and a camel was the largest unclean animal in the middle east. 

Pharisees sweat the small stuff and rewrite the Law to major on those things that they feel good at. And since the weightier parts of God's Law like love, mercy, justice and faithfulness make them feel bad about themselves, they focus on the minor, external aspects. For example: "I don't smoke, drink or swear and I pay my tithes". 

How else can you convince yourself that you're righteous, unless you make sure that you sweep the commands under the rug that make you feel like a failure, and market the visible aspects of the commands that you find easier.

"I'm not like other men"

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:10-14 ESV)

Because Pharisees have a self-made code of righteousness (one that condones their actions and doesn't judge their hearts), they have a rather high view of themselves. 

Instead of comparing themselves to Christ and The Law, they compare themselves to others through the lens of their favorite rules.

Unfortunately, God just doesn't evaluate us using our own standard - an idol would - but not God. 

He uses His own perfect standard.

In the above text, the tax collector's eyes were open, he knew he was a breaker of God's Law, the only avenue he had left was to own up to it, and plead for mercy - and he got it!

Pharisees actually have a hard time of it; they don't seek grace from God, but believe they deserve blessing based on their performance, so they get none.

So once a Christian who initially humbled himself before God, and ran to Christ for mercy, gets infected with the Yeast of the Pharisee, this way of thinking takes hold.

Their joy and peace evaporates, because these are given by grace through the Holy Spirit. 

A root of bitterness springs up, and they begin infecting others with this yeast. 

They can't help themselves really, since they are 'denying themselves' so much, they become offended with others who haven't joined the 'works for wages' program. 

It amazes me how many believers have such a low view of scripture, and such a high view of themselves.

I've often heard people denigrate the preaching/teaching/reasoning of the Gospel to the lost, saying that we ought to just witness through our lives.

Seriously? 

It's obvious that our conduct should affirm the words of our lips and not contradict it, that we should always try to 'practice what we preach'.

But do these 'pious' types truly believe that their hearts are so pure and their lives are so bright, that they don't need to speak the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16)?

I've heard it said that the sharing of the Gospel is 'one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread'. Beautiful ! There it is !

We are exhorted in scripture that as we received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him(Col 2:6).

We might have cleaned up our act, but we are still fallen sinners with evil hearts, in need of mercy.

Beauty of the Law

"So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.(Romans 7:12)"

 

The Law is good, but it mustn't be warped into a more tamed version of what it really is - holy commands from a holy God that have authority not just over our actions, but also the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.
Here's a subtle trap for Christians, but one that Pharisees become quite skilled at.
If we give the Law it's proper place it will show us how far we fall short of any real righteousness, and, like salt imparting thirst, drive us to drink deeply from Christ's well of grace.
This grace is both a shield and a remedy against the Yeast of the Pharisee.

For example: The Law says we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves (Lev 19:18). 

The Pharisee redefines this commandment to "love your neighbour", and conveniently leaves out the as yourself part. 

So while on his own scorecard he's worthy of commendation, in God's economy he's deserving of condemnation because he has daily broken and abused the whole Law in general, and one of the greatest commands in scripture in particular.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, (Romans 4:4, 5 ESV)

Eat the meat, spit out the bones

Spitting out bones
I recently had a conversation with a few Christian brothers over discernment specifically, and televangelists in general.

There were differing points of view in the discussion, which isn't a bad thing. (Oftentimes many Christians don't want an argument and would rather keep a false sense of peace – It always encourages me when Christians can disagree in a spirit of gentleness and respect).

Someone in the discussion said that they can learn from any preacher, that all they did was to “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.”
And of course nobody is 100 percent correct in what they affirm 100 percent of the time. I'd also want my hearers to show me some mercy when I make stupid mistakes, and not outright reject me as a false teacher (while saying that, if I ever became a deluded heretic, may God cause everyone to reject all of my rantings). So what he said seemed quite reasonable.

Poisoned water
But after that discussion I started thinking about this analogy. There's another analogy that's sometimes given that relates to false teachers and false teaching. The analogy goes something like this: “If you take a glass of water, and add just one drop of poison to the glass. The whole thing is poisonous”. Seems in that situation it is impossible to spit out the poison and drink the water. So it seems that though these analogies don't prove anything in themselves, they do illustrate two different approaches to error.

The poison analogy is self evident. But the meat analogy does have something implied. Ie. That the body of teaching is actually good, wholesome and God-given (metaphorically speaking - chicken). This really applies to Godly, Word-based, teaching. Because it's in accord with God's Word, it will nourish people's souls if taken in it's entirety. But because all preachers are human, we still need to test what is being said, and reject any discernible error (bones).

Rejecting false teachers
In the case of false teachers. Because the body of their teaching is corrupt, there's a good chance that the foundation of that error will find it's way into most of their teachings. E.g. If God is misrepresented, then the teachings on sin, prayer, salvation, sanctification – well pretty much all of it - will be twisted too.

Listen to John:

“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.” ( 2 John 1: 9-11 NIV)

There is more to be said about this text, but at the very least it tells us that God doesn't entertain false teachers. It wouldn't make sense for believers to encourage people to listen to these types, and only 'spit the bones out'. We'd do well to expose them. We're children of the light. The fruit of that light is 'all goodness, righteousness and truth'. (Ephesians 5:9 NIV).

Straining at gnats
Many problems can come from believers 'straining at gnats' – majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. So how are we to judge between poisoned water and nutritious meat? When should we correct error, and when should we just let it pass? (If we had to make an issue of every little differing view of doctrine, we wouldn't have time to do much else, and we wouldn't be able to learn from anyone).
Well the type of error is a good start:
1) If the teaching obscures the way of salvation, then we need to reject this teaching and whatever preacher is unrepentantly continuing in it. (This is a definite divider).
2) If the teaching will hinder the hearer's sanctification. Our actions might not be as severe as above. But It needs to be corrected, and fought against. And if the main emphasis of the ministry espouses those teachings which hurt one's walk with Jesus, then that ministry needs to be rejected.
3) If the teaching doesn't affect either salvation truths or sanctification truths. We can talk about it, but we should never divide on these things.

“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity”

This is God's will for us on this subject:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:12-15 ESV)

Can a Christian have a demon ?

Range of manifestations and control

Evil spirits can and do inhabit people. That much is obvious from the Bible, and from the experiences of many cultures.
The Bible describes different levels of control over those that are hosts to these demonic spirits.
From the subtle manifestations over the fortune teller in Philippi (Acts 16:16-18), to the more obvious work of throwing a boy into fire and causing him to convulse and foam at the mouth (Mark 9:20-22).

The question of whether a Christian can be inhabited by a demon is an important one to answer. Like all matters of truth, it "helps us to co-operate with reality". 

Or more specifically, it lets us know how to deal with different issues that Christians experience in their walk and in their quest to grow in sanctification.

Disciples of Christ long to grow in sanctification, they hunger to be more like Him. When they've been struggling with a sin for sometime without any real victory and someone says that a resident demon is causing it, an exorcism doctrine can offer a promise of quick victory. 

But it also offers the temptation of transferring responsibility to another quarter ( an implicit "the devil made me do it")

A born again believer that goes through an exorcism to deal with a problem with the flesh can really add to his own woes:
1. He still has his original problem, the flesh, that hasn't been dealt with
2. He now believes that he has a demon
3. He also believes that no one can deliver him from the demon.

In the case where he was having a genuine spiritual conflict, he's now using the wrong response to fight a battle on the wrong front.

Demons inhabit houses

 
Jesus described what happens when a demon is cast out of a person:

"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." (Matthew 12:43-45)

In the context of casting demons out of people, Jesus taught a principle - He said that:

"no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house." (Mark 3:27)

If I walked into your home, picked up your tv and started walking out with it while you were watching me, I would be sure to have a difficult time of it.
But if I first tied you up, then I'd have the leisure to take anything I wanted, even make myself a nice chicken dinner before walking out.

Jesus taught that He would live in us (John 14:23), and later Paul affirmed: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16)

If we take scripture as authoritative we have to concede 2 things:
firstly, that Jesus is the strong man living in our houses and
secondly, that an evil spirit will first have to tie Him up before it can "plunder His goods". 

- not likely!

Everything we need

 
God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4), and Jesus asked that the Father would sanctify us by His Word (John 17:17).
If we needed some kind of exorcism in order to progress in the spiritual life, He would have shown us this in His Word.
In fact, you won't find one instance in scripture where a born again believer has a demon cast out of him, nor will you find any teaching that encourages the practice.

Corinth - Sin City

If any book in the Bible would have given us instructions regarding this, it would have been Paul's writings to the Corinthians.
Among the pagan world, Corinth had a reputation of debauchery. People would fornicate with temple prostitutes as worship to their pagan god.
This even had an influence in the church, where a man in the assembly was fornicating with his father's wife!

With all these demonic influences in their culture (and they would have participated before hearing the Gospel), their isn't even a hint of their need for exorcisms.
Paul keeps exhorting them to "flee from sexual immorality" (1 Cor 6:18), to "be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." (1Cor 16:13), and even to " Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (2 Cor 13:5)

What about experience?

It first needs to be stressed that the Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psa 119:105)
Navigating amongst spiritual realities takes supernatural light, the natural light of our experiences can cause us to stumble and fall into a ditch - or worse.

The devil has motivation for us to expend our energies in the wrong place.

Sometimes believers have strong spiritual conflicts with demonic spirits. They should submit to God, resist those spirits and they will flee (James 4;7). Running to a spiritual guru and going through a ritual is just not biblical!

At other times people in the church quite obviously manifest demonic possession.
They are sometimes held up as 'proof' that a Christian can be inhabited by a demon, but not everyone that calls Jesus Lord belongs to Him (Matthew 7:21-23).

Conclusion

We need to understand this issue clearly so that we can grow in our sanctification, take responsibility for our own sins, and do effective spiritual warfare against the devil.
We need to rid ourselves of these new theological fashions, so that we know how to pray for and minister to those in need.