Matthew 23:13
“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”
If I were to ask you what or who is the greatest enemy of Christianity, I would no doubt hear that the Devil is the greatest enemy. There is no doubt that the Devil is at the top of the most wanted list in Christianity, but the greatest enemy of Christianity is pharisaical living. The greatest enemy of Jesus’ life on Earth were the Pharisees.
The Pharisees did more to destroy Christianity than anything else. I can say this because Pharisees have a form of religion. Sadly, many Pharisees are Christians themselves. Many times Christians take on the actions of Pharisees and don’t realize the damage they do to Christianity. In Matthew 23, God pointed out the attributes of the Pharisees.
The first attribute of the Pharisees is that they make Christianity something that it’s not. You see in the verse above that they put more requirements on people than the Scriptures did. You must be very careful that you don’t make your preferences a right and wrong. Just because you prefer something doesn’t make it right or wrong. The Scriptures determine right and wrong.
The second attribute of the Pharisees is that they portray something they are not. In verse 14, the Pharisees would destroy a person privately, but in public they knew how to look good. In other words, they knew how to put on the right actions so they looked good to people. Be careful that you’re more interested in how God sees you and not how others see you.
The third attribute of the Pharisees is that they are soul ruiners and not soul winners. Verse 15 shows they were proselytes and not soul winners. There is nothing wrong with trying to get people in a good church, but the greatest job of a Christian is to win souls. Are you winning souls?
Fourth, Pharisees wouldn’t use the altar. God shows us in verse 16-18 they didn’t see the need of the altar. Friend, the altar is your friend. Don’t be guilty of not using it personally and at church. Both altars should be used all the time.
Fifth, in verse 23, the Pharisees were guilty of sins of omission. A Pharisee may never commit “gross” sins, but they forget that sin is not just doing, but sin can also be not doing something they are supposed to do. You must be careful that you don’t allow the commands of grace to be omitted from your life.
Sixth, in verse 25, the Pharisees didn’t have a life of transparency. In other words, they lived two lives. They had a public life and a private life. The Christian life is not what you do in public, but the Christian life is what you do all the time. Always remember that God doesn’t judge your public performance, but He judges your life performance.
Finally, verse 27 shows the Pharisees had a deceptive adoration. They lifted up the prophets, but truly wanted nothing to do with what they preached. Many today will talk about great men of the past, but they don’t follow what they preached. It’s easy to say that you love the great Christians from the past, but it’s better to embrace their Christianity.
Let me ask you, as you look at this list, do you find any of these traits in yourself? Be honest with yourself as you look at this list, for you truly know what you are like. Pharisaical living destroys Christianity more than anything else because it repels the lost. Don’t let these traits have any part in your life.