Pharisee, O Pharisee

[nebula]

My pastor made an interesting statement last Sunday.

He was speaking about how in order for there to be a great revival, there must first be a great repentence.

In his sermon, he got to Isaiah 6, where Isaiah received a vision of the Lord and how the holiness of God exposed Isaiah to his own sin and brought out a cry of repentance from his lips.

Then my pastor jumped to the parable of the Prodigal Son, how he in his darkest of sin came to his senses, repented and returned to his father. Then he asked, "How many of you here are the Prodigal Son?" A few raised their hands.

He then asked, "How about the rest of you? What are you?" Pause. "Well, there are only three people in the story, and we know you aren't the father. So if you aren't the prodigal son, that makes you the older brother!" Then he described the older brother a bit, how he was confident in his own righteousness and such.

But then he made an interesting statement. He said, "Do you know what a Pharisee is? A Pharisee is someone who is very harsh on sin - their sin, his sin, her sin, your sin. A Pharisee is someone who is extremely harsh on everyone's sin - except his/her own!" :x: :rofl:

Looking back at Isaiah, he stated how he believes Isaiah was of the latter. Look at chapter 5 - "Vs. 8 - Woe to you who add field to field and house to house; Vs. 11 - Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks; Vs. 18 - Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit; Vs. 20 - Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; Vs. 21 - Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight; Vs. 22 - Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine....

"Then in chapter 6, Isaiah sees the Lord and cries out, 'WOE IS ME . . . .'"

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Oh that the holiness of God would pierce our hearts in such a way that we see ourselves as guilty as godless, our sin as horrible and intollerable as the world's around us, that we would fall on our faces before the Lord and cry out for His mercy against the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own hearts!

[Catsmeow]

Great post, Neb... It's a sad fact that many people compare themselves with others.

I like the way Joyce Meyers put it...{and I'm quoting from memory} ..."People see others through a magnifying glass but see themselves through rose colored glasses..."

[Adstar]

Paul said somthing very similar

21I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!

All Praise The Ancient Of Days

[Guest shadow2b]

uhhhhhhhh--huhhhhhhhhh??yepppPPpp-----joyce meyer--copeland disciple--------uHhhhhhhhhh??.??------

principle; "what part of a little lie isNOT a lie??.??.??"

[JohnS]

Paul said somthing very similar

21I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!

All Praise The Ancient Of Days

Hi Adstar!

John Gill wrote something interesting about "the body of this death".

who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

or "this body of death"; by which some understand, this mortal body, or the body of flesh subject to death for sin; and suppose the apostle expresses his desire to quit it, to depart out of it, that he might enjoy an immortal life, being weary of the burden of this mortal body he carried about with him: so Philo the Jew represents the body as a burden to the soul, which (nekroforousa) , "it carries about as a dead carcass", and never lays down from his birth till his death: though it should be observed, that when the apostle elsewhere expresses an earnest longing after a state of immortality and glory, some sort of reluctance and unwillingness to leave the body is to be observed, which is not to be discerned here; and was this his sense, one should think he would rather have said, when shall I be delivered? or why am I not delivered? and not who shall deliver me? though admitting this to be his meaning, that he was weary of the present life, and wanted to be rid of his mortal body, this did not arise from the troubles and anxieties of life, with which he was pressed, which oftentimes make wicked men long to die; but from the load of sin, and burden of corruption, under which he groaned, and still bespeaks him a regenerate man; for not of outward calamities, but of indwelling sin is he all along speaking in the context: wherefore it is better by "this body of death" to understand what he in (Romans 6:6) calls "the body of sin"; that mass of corruption that lodged in him, which is called "a body", because of its fleshly carnal nature; because of its manner of operation, it exerts itself by the members of the body; and because it consists of various parts and members, as a body does; and "a body of death", because it makes men liable to death: it was that which the apostle says "slew" him, and which itself is to a regenerate man, as a dead carcass, stinking and loathsome; and is to him like that punishment Mezentius inflicted on criminals, by fastening a living body to a putrid carcass : and it is emphatically called the body of "this death", referring to the captivity of his mind, to the law of sin, which was as death unto him: and no wonder therefore he so earnestly desires deliverance, saying, "who shall deliver me?" which he speaks not as being ignorant of his deliverer, whom he mentions with thankfulness in (Romans 7:25) ; or as doubting and despairing of deliverance, for he was comfortably assured of it, and therefore gives thanks beforehand for it; but as expressing the inward pantings, and earnest breathings of his soul after it; and as declaring the difficulty of it, yea, the impossibility of its being obtained by himself, or by any other than he, whom he had in view: he knew he could not deliver himself from sin; that the law could not deliver him; and that none but God could do it; and which he believed he would, through Jesus Christ his Lord.

Can you imagine carrying a stinking, rotting, dead body around with you? I guess we are!

[Catsmeow]

"Do you know what a Pharisee is? A Pharisee is someone who is very harsh on sin - their sin, his sin, her sin, your sin. A Pharisee is someone who is extremely harsh on everyone's sin - except his/her own!"

Geez, your pastor is a powerfully charged speaker...surely the Holy Spirit is speaking through him!

I keep reading this and really identifying with it...very powerful!

[Catsmeow]

I remember Pat Robertson talking about the Law of Reciprocity...which is something the Lord revealed to him.

I believe it because it was revealed to me...in a little less detail but it's highly scriptural...

Jesus said, "By the measure you measure with, it will be measured back to you.." I'm quoting from memory here, folks.

Point is so simple...what goes around, comes around. Do unto others as you would want done unto you.

I am bound to show mercy - as I require the Lord's mercy on me. I want to be judged gently, therefore I will not keep a judgemental spirit but one that is long-suffering and patient with others, particularly when they stumble.