There is an ancient book that remains a mystery to most of the Earth's inhabitants. It tells us why we are here, reveals the mysteries of heaven and the horrors of hell, and the hero is God himself in our Lord Jesus Christ. Learn of the Ancient of Days by listening to Bible Believers Fellowship, Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 9.30pm on 91.5 Freedom FM. Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com as we present a two-part topical study titled Liberal and Evangelical Pharisees. Before getting into the study we want to read some letters we love. And some get somewhat personal, and we want to assure you that we will not share such personal information when reading your letters with our studies. Others send gifts of support and add short notes of encouragement. And one such short, sweet message comes from our sister Sheila in the state of Michigan, or as a lot of our Buckeye friends refer to it as, that state up north. And she writes, keep on preaching the truth, brother. Your ministry is very much needed and appreciated. End of quote. And folks, do you know what it does to a preacher to get a note like that? Do you know what it's like when a missionary hears from folks back home, even if it's just a short, sweet word like that? It is very encouraging. And we appreciate such encouragement in these days when much of what comes in is from liberals and apostate evangelical Pharisees who are criticizing us for not adopting their false Bible versions from the Vatican manuscripts which add and take away from the Word of God. And they also criticize us for taking a solid stand on biblical truth and morality. But even if only one-tenth of the correspondence that comes in includes notes and letters like this one from Sheila, we are encouraged beyond words. And that will serve to introduce our message as we expose the true Pharisees, even as they accuse Bible believers of being what they themselves are, Pharisees. So let's get right into the study of Liberal and Evangelical Pharisees, Part 1 of 2. Liberal and Evangelical Pharisees. This is a lesson on how to defend yourself. Today, if you take a stand for the Bible, and you take a stand for the true gospel, and you take a stand for the true Bible, you take a stand for righteousness against wickedness, you'll be labeled a Pharisee. Their response will be, you know, you're like the Pharisees. In reality, it's the liberals, and I say evangelicals because evangelicalism, technically we're evangelical. But the movement overall has been taken over, it's been hijacked. And so they are compromising, they are going down the slippery slope of inclusivism, and they are watering down the gospel, and there is a huge abandonment of dispensational truth, and so forth. And they are now joining in with the world in attacking Bible-believing Christians. If you're going to be a Christian today, and you're going to be one that sticks with the old paths, get used to being a very small minority. That's just the reality. I know people who have been attending churches for 40 years, 30 years, and 20 years, who when they join that church, That church believed and preached almost everything we do. And in a decade, two decades, three decades later, they don't anymore. And when they try to protest anything like that, they're called a Pharisee. What I'm going to show you tonight, the reality is that that's flip-flopped. But let's define our terms again. A liberal is basically someone who denies the authority of all scripture and denies the gospel. There are plenty of Christian quote-unquote churches that don't actually believe the Bible in any form is the authority. And they doubt the miracles of Jesus. They doubt everything from the virgin birth to the resurrection. They don't preach salvation by faith alone. They teach that you have to work your way to heaven and all that. That's a liberal. An evangelical professes faith in the Bible and the gospel. That's a simple definition of evangelical. But as I said, you go back before 1960, and almost all evangelicals would find much agreement with us today. But today's evangelicals think we're nuts. And I am not just making that up. I've been told that by pastors of churches around here that used to teach and preach exactly what we do. And now those pastors of those churches have called us fringe, or called us extreme, and even called us a cult. That's what you're going to be up against if you get active and you get out there and really start preaching the truth. And both of these groups call Bible believers things like those names, extremists and evil laborers, a cult. And when we preach against their sins, they respond by calling us Pharisees. And that's, get used to that. You take a stand against, for example, you take a stand against abortion. And people will say, well, who are you to tell a woman whether or not she should kill her own baby? Well, they usually don't use those terms. They're not honest about it. They'll say, who are you to take away a woman's right to choose? I'm not worried about that woman. I'm worried about the baby that gets cut up into little pieces while it's still alive. That's my concern. And you say, what about cases of rape? I dated a girl and I had a good friend who were both children of rape. You're telling me they should be dead? You're saying they should have been killed? Make it real, folks. This is the real world. There's no reason to kill a baby. None. You Pharisee. That's what they'll say. Is that true? No. And we will show that in reality they are the Pharisees. You're going to see they are the Pharisees. How? Well, first let's define the term Pharisee. There is the historic term and then there's what we call practical use of the word. In the historic term, Pharisee is used in reference to the historical faction of the Jews. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, The Pharisees were more literal in their interpretation of Scripture, and they believed in things like the resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, that's why they were sad, you see? So the Pharisees were kind of like the evangelicals of their day. I'm talking about today's evangelicals, where you go by your opinion and Scripture. That's today's evangelicals. And the Sadducees were like the liberals who denied the authority of Scripture, denied the existence of angels, denied the miracles. So that's what you got. And then you had Jesus and the Apostles were the real Bible believers. And I know you're going to say, oh, of course you did identify with them. Yes, they were more like us. Jesus took the Bible at face value and so did his followers. And then you had the Pharisee evangelicals and the Sadducee liberals who hated them. And that's what we're dealing with today. Now, the practical use of the term today, though, is used figuratively as an insult against theological opponents. Since the Pharisees had a lot to do with Jesus being crucified, and they like to say, well, you're like the Pharisees, and yet the Pharisees did condemn people with a very legalistic simplicity, but it involved more than anything the Bible taught. They had their own rules set up. And they condemned people for violating their rules that we call today the Talmud. And those Talmudic traditions actually took precedence over the Bible. And so that's what you came up, that's what you had in the day of Jesus as a Pharisee. And now, whenever you get in an argument and you take a stand against sin, they will call you a Pharisee. But in reality, they are the Pharisee because they are the ones who aren't sticking to scripture. The Pharisees didn't recognize Jesus because they didn't stick to scripture. The Pharisees didn't stick to the Torah. They added the Talmud and all their traditions and it got them away from the Scripture. If the Pharisees had been Bible believers and stuck to the Scripture, they would have become one of the believers of the early church. And by the way, some of them did in the book of Acts. It says many of the Pharisees did end up believing. But they only believed because they threw off the tradition and got back to the book. So by this first definition, Paul was a member of this select group of Jewish leaders in Israel, by the way. He refers to his membership in the Pharisee sect. Turn over there. Philippians. No, he is a Pharisee. We're going to look at it. Philippians chapter 3. But Philippians chapter 3. I'm pulling out my little line here so I can see this. Yeah, but it's still dimly lit, so I've got to pull out my little light. Philippians chapter 3, we're going to just read verses 4 and 5, where Paul is talking. I'll read verse 4. that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more." Now read verse 5 with me. "...circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee." You see, he was a Pharisee. And so that's according to the first definition, that sect in Israel during the time of Jesus. When a person is insulting you by calling you a Pharisee, they're not using that definition. They're not accusing you of actually belonging to that sect. So, we come to the second definition in Scripture. The figurative definition for Pharisees is by applying the description of them as given by Jesus. There was the sect, and then if you want to turn over there in Matthew 15, And we'll start right off with verse 1. I'll read that. It says, Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, read that with me, verse 3. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? You see that? A Pharisee isn't a Bible believer like you and me. A Pharisee adds to the Scripture. Now, if anybody here tries to add to the scripture, I will nicely tell you, sorry, not going to go along with that. And it happens. Especially if they come from an independent fundamental Baptist background, they seem to come in and have a lot of extra biblical rules. Where, for example, if you're not wearing a tie, you shouldn't be up here doing anything. Well, that would zero me out. I don't have such rules. Now, if a church has those kind of rules, you're part of it, you know, that's their business. But when they start to teach that as though it's biblical, I used to joke about some independent fundamental churches having softball teams and they'd show up wearing a tie to play. And it's the way that everything you did, you had to be dressed up to do it. And we don't have, I don't have a problem with ties. I just, that doesn't have anything to do with the Bible. I always joke about Brother Johnny always being the best dressed here. I don't have a problem with Johnny showing up with a tie. He don't have one on tonight, but it's backslidden. But I wear a tie every once in a while. Once or twice a year, especially if someone dies or gets married. That's when you see me wearing a tie. So there you have it. And my joke is that Baptists are the only group of persecuted Christians who ever voluntarily put a noose around their neck. So anyway, there you have it. So the question is, who is the Pharisee? Well, let's do a little test here. What does the Bible say? See, a Pharisee doesn't care about that question. But if you're a Bible believer, you want to know, what does the Bible say? Well, in Romans 126, it says, for this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. Therefore, according to the Bible, lesbians don't love each other. They're having vile affections. Now, don't even focus your attention on me. I didn't say it. It's right there in the Bible. God says it's vile affections. What's a Pharisee do? They have an opinion. A Pharisee says, well, I don't think. I know two lesbians and I believe they love each other. Well, I'm sorry, you're a fool. They may care about each other and help take care of each other, but the Bible says that their affections toward one another are vile. Now you're either going to believe that, or you're going to be a Pharisee. Everybody get it? Amen? What else does it say? Right on cue. What else does it say? Verse 27. Read that with me if you can read that. So basically I'd say several things. First of all, the vile affection goes for man with man and woman with woman. It's not love. And I don't care what your parents told you. I don't care what your school told you. I don't care what your psychologists tell you. They're liars. Let God be true and every man a liar. God says it's vile. Second thing here, it says it's not natural. Right here, they left the natural use of the woman. And it also says, among other things, that it's unseemly. And it says that they deserve the recompense of their error. You got it? Now, if you don't believe that, you're a Pharisee. And today, the liberals and the typical compromising evangelical doesn't believe it. And they'll call you the Pharisee. And they are the Pharisee. You and I, you know, I have opinions. when I should have an opinion. I like my pizza with everything on it. Amen. I love black licorice and Jill knows I don't like to serve the high fructose corn syrup because it makes me feel sick. The real stuff, which means you're going to have to spend some money on me. If you're going to buy black licorice, you're going to have to buy the good stuff. And it used to be I could say Amish, but now the Amish are even using high fructose corn syrup. I love Starbucks coffee. I don't buy it anymore. They told me they didn't want me in there with my gun. And they also told me that they support same-sex marriage. And I'm not going to support them. Now, I'm not going to make them go broke, but they've lost some money. I used to buy a lot of Starbucks coffee. And why? Because the Bible says this. And on this, I don't have an opinion. You see what I'm saying? I don't have an opinion. I know what the Bible says, so I know what's true. Now, I have an opinion on someone like Steven Anderson who gets on TV telling everybody that the queers should be killed. Steven Anderson, shut your mouth. You have no business calling yourself a pastor. We are not a theocracy. Under the theocracy and mosaic law, different ballgame. America is not a theocracy and our laws say that homosexuality now is legal. Do I think it should be legal? That's another matter. Should they be killed? No. And even when it was illegal, we should not be killing them. And you see what I'm saying? I can have an opinion on that, but it's got to still be based on the Bible. Or you end up way out there. And that's the way it is. Bible believers agree to what the Bible says. Liberals reject the Bible for their own opinion. Liberals are Pharisees. And I just use the word liberal because really an evangelical who buys this stuff, they're liberals. No matter what name they put over their church door, they're liberal. If you're an evangelical and you support same-sex marriage or you're accommodating the sodomite lifestyle, you're a liberal and you're a Pharisee. And so when someone comes up and has this debate with you, and you say, listen, I believe the Bible. I don't care what you think about it. It's come to the point they're going to start throwing you in jail. Right now, our government is becoming the Nazi SS. And they're saying you don't have a right as a Christian to turn down business. Now, again, you want me to make a cake and you're gay? I'll make you a cake. You want me to make a cake and put on there something promoting the gay lifestyle? I won't make your cake. And there have even been bakeries who said, I'll make the cake, you decorate it yourself, put what you want on there. That's not good enough. There's a florist, 70-year-old woman, good friends with this man, and she refused to do his flower arrangements for his fake wedding. And at first he said, well, fine. Then he went to a barbecue with a bunch of his sodomite friends and they got him all whipped up and he went out and got an attorney. Meanwhile, the state attorney general of the state of Washington saw it on Facebook and based on that, filed charges against her. And she is losing her business. a Christian, not because she wouldn't sell flowers to a gay man, because she had sold flowers to him for years, but because she wouldn't do the arrangements and deliver them and set them up at his gay wedding. And the government is saying, Christian, you are going to submit to the Sodomites. And Christians are supposed to say, no we're not. You wanna put me in prison or kill me, you go right ahead, I'm not doing it. And thankfully, that's what these people are doing. And they've raised about $150,000, $160,000 to help her out because she's fighting in court and all that, and to hopefully be able to retire on it. But that's what you're dealing with because of liberals and compromising evangelicals, that's why this is happening in this country today. That's it. This same thing happens whenever discussing abortion, adultery, fornication, anything. You're not supposed to stand up for what's right and true. There used to be a day when sinners would say, you know, I'm doing what I'm doing and it's my business. But now that's not good enough. Now you have to tell me that you're okay with my sin. Now you have to say, I'm alright, and not only that, we welcome you, and we will just go along and even praise you for your sin. That's where we're at today. It's called apostasy. Apostasy is called a great falling away when people who claim to be Christians aren't following the Bible anymore. That's apostasy. Now, do you remember Jesus' definition? of the Pharisee. In Mark 7, 9, read that with me. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. There it is. The modern liberal and evangelical is rejecting the word of God and keeping their own opinion, their own tradition of this same-sex marriage, and abortion, and shacking up, fornicating, all the rest, bisexuality, transgender, whatever. Those who change God's words to suit their sin, there you go. A Pharisee changes God's words to suit their sin. So when you're talking and you're defending the truth and someone calls you a Pharisee, I urge you to meditate on these scriptures and get this in your mind and be able to express to those people the truth. No, you are the Pharisee. The Bible says, don't let them talk, you jump in and say, you are the Pharisee. The Bible says the Pharisee rejects the word of God and adds their own tradition and that's what you're doing, Pharisee. Repent or perish. Amen. and you can get used to it. This is a major sign of the end times. That's why I always go from shock, anger, to excitement. That's the way it is. Because these people are so stupid, they don't realize they are the fulfillment of prophecy. God said in the last days the masses would become this. They would become Pharisees and reject the Bible and add their own opinions and own traditions. It's a fulfillment of prophecy. Let's review. You ever heard of Noah? How many of you never heard of Noah? Not the one in the blue shirt, I'm talking about the one who built the boat. I said never heard of Noah, Dre. I was hoping no hands would go up, and there's hands going up. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. Jesus is telling you that, what's it say about, I'll let you do some homework on this, but the Bible says that their thoughts were wicked, evil continually. Only evil continually. Are we not there? Just do a little study on how much time and money on the internet is spent for pornography compared to the use of the internet for everything else. And you'll see that the mass majority of people on the internet are either viewing pornography, and some of it is really wicked stuff, but then you add all the Hollywood smut, all the gossip, and all the wickedness. Other than that, go on YouTube and don't go on YouTube, because if you go on YouTube, you're going to see that. Most of the videos that come out, filthy. And it's just like it was in the days of Noah. Look what it said in Luke 17, 28. Read that. Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, the economy was booming, it was all about the economy and everybody was... Where did Lot live? Sodom. 29 and 30 says, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. What's this? Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. I'm not wanting to make you lose sleep tonight, and that's why I'm not telling you some of the stuff I could put in here as illustrations. Uncle Brian shared a story today about the huge homo-pedophile thing going on in England. And I'm tired of having people tell me there's a difference between homosexuality and pedophilia. Let me tell you something, a historical fact. Homosexuality has always involved what they call pederasty. And the pederasty is that the old man had a young boy. It was the only form of homosexuality in ancient Greece. And today it's still going on. And most homosexuals admit when they are in their own crowd and being pulled and everything, they began as homosexuals as young men with older men. Jerry Sandusky was not a strange thing and that's why he got by with it so long because people are used to seeing that. But they keep it on the hush-hush. You're not supposed to ever say anything derogatory against Sodom. That's what it's going to be like. Now here's a reminder. Everyone look up. I want everybody to see this. Everybody, look. Reminder. Remember Lot's wife? What did Lot's wife do? She longed for Sodom. Evangelical Christianity and liberals are Lot's wife. They long, they love the world. They love this thing. They want to get along with it. The men of Sodom really represent the liberals. They were just all out for the Bible.