A lot of people claim that hypocrisy and
greed is the leaven of the Pharisees.
Yet, other believe that it was self righteousness. The Lord told me it was religiosity that is
the leaven of the Pharisees. The
ability to turn anything and everything into a religious tradition not based on
fact or in some cases reality.
Once
I was listening to a preacher teaching out of one of Paul's books. The preacher man stated that God appoints
some pastors and some elders and some prophets and some teachers. Just then the Lord broke in with a great and
mighty cry, "I do no such thing!"
"I
am the same yesterday, today and I will remain the same tomorrow." He
proclaimed with a very loud voice. "If
I wanted someone to rule over you I would have appointed them at the Sea of
Galilee to do so and their descendants would be your rulers."
"I
have given you a new life with the authority to command my angles." The Lord continued. "With just the words of your own mouth you
are able to command great miracles and with the words from your own mouth you
are able to command a curse."
"Why
then Yeshua, did you allow the writings of Paul to be added to your Bible?" I
enquired of Him.
The
Lord turned to me and with a boyish grin He said, "To trap the religious minded
man."
"The
religious minded man will never listen for my voice." My Brother Yeshua continued. "The
religious minded man needs to be accepted by other men and he will never ever
be willing to obey My commands. The
religious minded man feels insecure and he has the need to place a man before
Me to intercede in his place."
The
Lord looked away as if he were about to disclose some deep dark secret. Then He said, "I have given the religious minded man the writings of Paul that
he may destroy himself with his own religiosity." Just then He gave a thoughtful chuckle, "If I didn't give the religious minded man a way to go I would
never be able to reach some of the people I want to reach."
"Remember
the parable about the sheep and the goats?"
He looked back at me with questioning eyes, "Both the sheep and the goats acknowledged me as their Lord. Both the sheep and the goats claimed to have
done my will. Yet the sheep I accepted
as my own while I condemned the goats to the Lake of Fire."
A
few days later the Lord came to me saying, "It is a lot like a football
game. There are two types of people
there. There are the fans and there are
the players. Now most of the fans will
never know what it is like being down on the playing field. They will never know how it feels to
actually hold a foot ball or what it feels like to toss the winning pass during a big game. The fan will never experience the anguish of
being the one who lost the game nor will he know the thrill of making the winning score. Only the players can experience it and they
alone know what it is like. That is the
difference between the sheep and the goats.
The sheep have experienced My power.
They have leaned my voice and they live by My direction. The
sheep know My voice and I know them."
Almost
a week had passed when the Lord came to me saying, "Beware the leaven of the
Pharisees. For it is religiosity." Then with a heaviness in His voice he said,
"It is their religiosity that has condemned them. They like to proclaim that
they are sent of God to proclaim the Good News. Yet, they hold not to the words I speak. They love to stand up in front of men and
proclaim God's truth. Yet the truth is
not in them."
"Listen
not to them My Brother and obey them not.
For they are the condemned leading the condemned to utter and total
destruction." There was a grave sadness
in the Lord's voice as He spoke, "I
came, died and was resurrected again so that no man should suffer and be destroyed. Yet, these people insist on hardening their
hearts against Me. They seek after the
teachings of men while they ignore My voice and My calling out to them. Because they seek after men, they will be
given the same punishment as the men they seek to follow. For I am a jealous God and I will have no
other gods before me. Not an animal or
a statue nor any man."
"I
have called you as little children, naked and not ashamed. Small children do not seek to lord it over
one another. They are totally dependant
upon their parents for everything. They
do not place a brother or a sister in their place before their parent to feed or
to suck their mother's breasts. A small
child does not look to his brother or sister to feed them or to care for
them. When a small child wants something, he does not go to his brother or sister asking them go to their
parent for them to ask their parent for the thing they want. No, they ask of the parent themselves."
"I
have not called you as an adult or as an older child. For adults and older children seek to lord it over one
another. They lie to one another to
gain an advantage over one another.
Adults and older children fall into two groups those that lead and those
that follow the leaders. Those that seek to lead tell those who are followers that if they fail to listen to their
words and obey their commands they will be punished by God. Listen to My word and learn. Those who seek to be your leader will be My
servant and those who seek to be the greatest among you will be your slave. For I have not called you to be leaders and
master over one another but as servants and slaves ministering one to another."
Shalom and back
