Pharisees, Sadducees and Ecclesiastes 1:9

A.ModerateOne said:

"What has happened will happen again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Eccl 1:9, REB)

If history repeats itself, and Eccl. 1:9 states that it does, it is no wonder that we have Pharisees and Sadducees in this day. The names may not be the same, but their type of teaching exists today.

"The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both." (Acts 23:8, ASV). We see that the Sadducees may be described as rationalists, as in anti-supernaturalists. While Jesus warned his disciples against the teaching of both the Sadducees as well as the Pharisees, Matt. 16:6-12; Jesus spoke his wrath especially against the Pharisees of which we read much:

"For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:20, ASV) That is a stunning verse, but following this statement of Jesus come the contrasts of "Ye have heard that it was said... but I say unto you" which are stated six times in the rest of the chapter. Jesus contrasts "I say unto you" against that they "have heard that it was said." Jesus did not contrast his words against what was written in the OT, but what was being "said" by the Pharisees. The following are the six contrasts.

v21 shows the Pharisees added to the words of Ex. 20:13
v28 shows the Pharisees looked only at the outward acts, not the heart
v31 shows the Pharisees using part of a verse and taking out of the full context of Deut.24:1
v33-37 appears to contrast the oath unto the Lord that may not be broken; against oaths on heaven, thrones, earth, Jerusalem, etc. by which the Jews felt they could break their oath without sinning, sort of our way of crossing our fingers behind our back.
v38,39 contrasts an individual taking revenge rather leaving it to the proper authorities; and individually and personally being Christlike, as Paul explains in Rom. 12:17-21
v43 shows the Pharisees added "hate thine enemy" to the command "Thou shalt love thy neighbor.

Jesus denounces the Pharisees in very strong terms:

Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?(Matt. 15:3, ASV)... ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." (Matt 15:6-9, ASV)

Jesus was harsh in his judgment of the Pharisees saying: "Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?" (Matt 23:33, ASV)

Jesus says of the scribes and Pharisees, "Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi...But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. - - - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. (Matt 23:4-7, 13-15 ASV)

If what are called by many, the apostate churches, are the Sadducees of today; who are the Pharisees? Is there a risk of being a proselyte of a current day Pharisee rather than being a disciple of Christ, where His truth sets us free? It was 50+ years ago that by providence, I was led to see I was in some ways sitting at the feet of Pharisees of our day. My safe solution was to check out the church documents of the majority of Americans at the founding of our country, when we were so blessed: The Thirty Nine Articles, the Westminster Confession, the 1689 London Baptist Confession, and even Martin Luther's Small Catechism. Those worked as guard rails for me. For almost 30 years of my early life I was in churches which would be labeled fundamentalist or evangelical, Bible-believing... conservative churches.

We hear of 'due diligence' and if any area of life needs it, it is in our eternal, spiritual situation.

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A.ModerateOne said:

Since there are hundreds of denominations of churches in the USA alone, it surely would be risky to put your faith into any one church or pastor. In my late 20's two Scripture passages were placed before me that flat out contradicted what I had been taught. Also I found a doctrine that I embraced, challenged, and I was helpless to defend it, not because it was basically wrong, but I just did not understand the biblical theology behind it or the limitations. When you see you have been taught error it is to be honest, scary, if you value your eternal state. But, fearful of imbibing soul damning false doctrine, my thinking went like this:

False teachers, antichrists, errors had already developed in the first century and Paul was busy correcting and battling against these errors, so any denomination claiming a direct line to the Apostles I found ridiculous as having any standing merely because of their claimed antiquity. Yet, at the Protestant Reformation there was a real struggle and battle to reform and get back to the truth of God as given us in his word, apart from human tradition. I decided to use the adage, 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'. America had been blessed as no other nation in modern history. How had the body of Christ grouped themselves into denominations when our nation was founded? Certainly I could find guidance there. So, I purchased, (at that time there was NO Internet); the doctrinal standards of the churches at our founding. I added various commentaries and even studied theological textbooks of these denominations. I was surprised to see how much agreement was had in the cardinal doctrines about God, man and salvation.

When I study and research in this day, I have access to so many varied sources because of the Internet. I have the Oxford Study Bibles, was brought up on Scofield, have MacArthur's Study Bible, Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Study Bibles as well as others. My primary commentaries are from 3 denominations: Presbyterian/Puritan, Baptist and Methodist.

I am constantly aware that the illumination from the Holy Spirit indwelling me, must be in agreement with the illumination indwelling the body of Christ down through the centuries. That does not mean a particular church organization or denomination, but a close look at the overall teaching of the universal congregation of, or assembly of God. Therefore I look at the arguments based on God's word and use my studies in hermeneutics to figure out where I have by faith, my confidence in understanding. There is a statement God spoke to Old Covenant Israel so I apply the principle to today:

To the OT church, congregation or assembly(God's people):
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children." (Hos 4:6, ASV)

To the NT church, congregation or assembly(God's people):
"But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" (1Pet 2:9, ASV)

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