“And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’” (Luke 20:45-47 ESV)
In Matthew 23:1-39 the Lord Jesus went into much more detail about these Scribes and Pharisees. Here is a summary of what he said:
• They do not practice what they preach
• They do their deeds to be seen by others
• They love places of honor; they love attention
• They lead people to hell on the promise of heaven
• They profess one thing but live the opposite
• They adhere to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness
• They appear clean (righteous) outwardly but inwardly are evil
• They are full of wicked deeds, greed, hypocrisy and self-indulgence
• They persecute those who are truly righteous in God’s sight
But the Lord is leading me to talk about our modern-day “Scribes and Pharisees,” who they are, and what they look like now. For we have them still today, they just go by different titles, such as pastor, priest, elder, bishop, deacon, clergy, preacher, evangelist, apostle, prophet, and the like. And some of them do like to walk around in long robes, which then sets them apart from the “laity” (the rest of us), as though they are somehow superior to the rest of us because they have a title in front of their names.
And many of them have diplomas from Bible colleges and seminaries, and they may have bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degrees in theology. But none of that makes them superior to the rest of us. And God is not impressed by all the diplomas and degrees and titles these men (and some women) give to themselves. And all this is just the same as wearing long robes, for it is all for show and to impress other people as to how important they are and that they are a cut above the rest of us who are less.
But they aren’t all like this. They aren’t all like those who like to wear long robes and collars and who like to display their diplomas and their titles and who like the attention of others who see them as superior. Not all of them love to be the center of attention and the one person that everyone turns to for counsel and leadership and direction. But many of them are, especially in these market-driven “churches” (businesses) of today in America where so many pastors are now being trained to be more like cult leaders.
And what this says about them, that they devour widows’ houses and for pretense make long prayers, that is not out of the realm of what they are like today, too. For so many of them are now being trained as to who they should want in their “churches” and who they should want to “get rid of.” And my husband and I were church planters a long while back, so we went through this training, so we have some idea of what is being taught these pastors, plus it becomes really obvious by the decisions they make, too.
In one of our training sessions we were taught that we were to “use needy people” to get our “church” up and running. But once we got up and running we were to “get rid of the needy people” because “they will drag you down.” Wow! I was flabbergasted! For our ministry was to many “needy people,” as was Jesus’ ministry. And this isn’t what Jesus taught. And then I had my own experiences of being “gotten rid of.” In one case a pastor told me that he was “warned about people” like me, “people with strong convictions,” and so he encouraged me to “go someplace else where you will be a better fit.”
Now, where did he learn about this “warning”? It was in his church planters’ training, like the training my husband and I went to. And this is because so much of what is called “church” today are just businesses of human origin, designed by human beings, which are being marketed to the world. And so they run these “churches” just like businesses, and so they get rid of those who are not who they want, and they embrace those who will get on board with them in their marketing schemes who will help them to “draw in large crowds from the world” into their gatherings.
But this is not about Jesus Christ and him being the head of his church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and us operating as the biblical body of Christ in ministering God’s love and grace to one another, and in us encouraging and exhorting one another in the faith so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. But this is all about building earthly kingdoms of men which are centered around the personalities of these men (and women) who see themselves really more like cult leaders. And many of them have very large cult followings, too, regardless of whether or not they teach truth.
So, we are being cautioned here against such people as this who are busy drawing followers to themselves rather than drawing them to follow Jesus Christ with their lives. For so many of these “pastors” are being taught on how to draw people to themselves and to their gatherings and in how to market themselves and their “churches” to the people of the world so that they can grow their numbers. And so they end up diluting and altering the character of God/Christ and of his church and of his gospel so as to draw the people of the world to themselves, but not to biblical faith in the Lord Jesus.
So, when you attend a “church” gathering, pay attention to what is going on and what is being taught and where the focus primarily is. And test it all against the Scriptures and what they teach about God/Jesus’ character and the character and purpose of the church, the body of Christ. Is the focus primarily on Jesus Christ and on submission to him as Lord and on surrender of our lives to his will and on turning away from sin to following our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living? And are there warnings being given to those who are still walking in sin and not in obedience to God?
For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin/self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, then we will save our lives for eternity. And he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
The Lord’s Anointed
An Original Work / December 16, 2011
Based off Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.
They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to wear,
As the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.
