Servias Ministries Blog

Pharisee:  A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. In addition to OT books the Pharisees recognized in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites and by outward forms of piety, and such as ceremonial washings, fastings, prayers, and alms giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided themselves on their fancied good works. They held strenuously to a belief in the existence of good and evil angels, and to the expectation of a Messiah; and they cherished the hope that the dead, after a preliminary experience either of reward or of penalty in Hades, would be recalled to life by him, and be requited each according to his individual deeds. In opposition to the usurped dominion of the Herods and the rule of the Romans, they stoutly upheld the theocracy and their country’s cause, and possessed great influence with the common people. According to Josephus they numbered more than 6000. They were bitter enemies of Jesus and his cause; and were in turn severely rebuked by him for their avarice, ambition, hollow reliance on outward works, and affection of piety in order to gain popularity.

Sadducees = "the righteous"

1. a religious party at the time of Christ among the Jews, who denied that the oral law was a revelation of God to the Israelites, and who deemed the written law alone to be obligatory on the nation, as the divine authority. They denied the following doctrines:

   1. resurrection of the body

   2. immortality of the soul

   3. existence of spirits and angels

   4. divine predestination, affirmed free will

These were the two groups who opposed Jesus in his earthly ministry.  Pharisees were focused on the “external” and the Sadducees were focused only on the external written Word and thus were blinded to “The Spirit”.  Neither group understood the internal aspects of The Spirit.  Hence they reasoned with their minds and gained power through the use of their minds.  Their minds were in control and their eyes were blind to the Spiritual realities that Jesus brought forth.  They would be unable to embrace the ministry of the Holy Spirit because of their doctrines.

Matthew 16:

5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?fn 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Today, many people are focused on the wrong priority.  They are spend huge amounts of money to gain an education in a field contrary to their calling.  They rack up tremendous debt in a vocation that will not support the repayment of that debt.  Their reasoning is in error.  In the above Scripture, Jesus is talking about the rising and promotion of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Their focus is empowering the mind rather than empowering the spirit.

“O you of little faith” is the description given to those who trust the reasoning of the mind rather than the power of Our Heavenly Father to  meet the needs of the people.  The disciples failed to recognize that Love will rally the resources of the universe when it is mature and guiding the individual.  Jesus operated by Love and was led by The Spirit.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees could not see or comprehend the source of HIS power and authority.  They were trapped in their box of reasoning.

Be ready to expect the unexpected.  Don’t let past revelation of lower levels of Spiritual Truth prevent you from moving up to the deeper Truths reserved for those who are committed to being rooted and grounded in Love thus satisfying the maturity requirements to be called “Sons”.  Don’t let your mind overrule your spirit.

In Ephesians 3, Paul wrote:

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,fn 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This is my prayer as well.  Let us all be rooted and grounded in Love.  When we are rooted and grounded, our foundation is sure.  Love provides the strength to see the positive in our tests and trials.  Love is the basis of our individual callings.  Love designed our gifts according to the need.  Love rallies the resources each of us needs to carry out our individual callings.  Love provides the patience and steadfastness as we mature in this time of Pentecost.  Let us be filled with the fullness of Our Heavenly Father.

I say “Amen” to Paul’s prayer!

Hebrews  6:18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.  YLT

Men will lie, manipulate, cheat, and steal in order to achieve an agenda.  I recently heard a new term: systemic sin.  An overall country can digress to the point where the “new” normal is to lie about most anything that suits the agenda of those in power.  I suspect that the U.S. can now be placed in the category of systemic sin.  However, within the country there are still those who retain the promise given by Our Heavenly Father.  This remnant will keep the entire country from severe judgment while it is being prepared for its ultimate purpose of bringing forth the blessings of Abraham.

Enemies will be raised up and anointed to deal with the systemic sin of a nation.  Cyrus, a heathen king, was one such man who was called “My anointed”:

Isaiah 45:1  Thus said Jehovah, To His anointed, to Cyrus, Whose right hand I have laid hold on, To subdue nations before him, Yea, loins of kings I loose, To open before him two-leaved doors, Yea, gates are not shut…   YLT

Cyrus = "posses thou the furnace", the king of Persia and conqueror of Babylon.

Clearly his job was to heat up things and purge out the dross, aka systemic sin.  There is currently such perversion of the intent of the founding fathers, the law, the separation of duties of the three branches of government, the statistical reporting of the economic health of the country… the list goes on.

It is critical to focus on moving on to full maturity, knowing that Our Heavenly Father has made an immutable promise and oath concerning the reality of the future Melchizedek priesthood:

Hebrews 6:19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

The mysteries are reserved for those who go on to full maturity.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit is promised in order to minister to those in need.  We are to press on to the high mark so that we will be endued with power on High to minister life to the rest of mankind with Love as our Divine Intent, not self-promoting as some have erred in the past.  The greater is to serve the lesser.  The mature are called to serve the immature.  The goal is to elevate all to a full comprehension of HIS Love.

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

An idol is an image of worship, a false god.  Flesh was offered to idols and the leftovers were sold to the poor.  Once again, Paul speaks of the importance of Love and knowing Our Heavenly Father.  We are to set aside anything that might cause us to place our focus in the form of worship.  Additionally, we should not present sacrifices to an idol.

When a person exalts another person, place, or thing above Our Heavenly Father, his or her focus and resources are expended on that idol.  The resources to enable us to serve mankind begin to be depleted.  I have seen men in the past attempt to align themselves with the wealthy.  In order to “hang out” with the wealthy, they must travel in the same circles, drive similar cars, and eat at the same restaurants.  The only thing that happens is they deplete their resources, go into debt, and have no true relationship with the people they are trying to impress.  The wealthy are not moved by those who want to align themselves with them.  Instead, they will often exploit them and utilize them for their own agendas.  The final result is emptiness and debt.

The ego wants to be exalted.  Gaining knowledge can be used as a means to exalt oneself over others.  Those who continue to seek higher education with no true return on time and money invested have a need to feed the ego to exalt themselves over others.  Obtaining a doctorate in a particular field that provides no additional benefit in your vocation is simply an attempt to appear superior to others.  This is being puffed up.

Love builds other people up rather than belittling them by presenting yourself as superior.  Love’s intent is to strengthen the weak and the weary.  Love does not promote misbehavior by the weak but instead instructs the weak to move on past those things that prevent the weak from maturing.

Each of us should assess our focus.  We must be careful and avoid exalting someone above Our Heavenly Father.  Just because someone has exceptional knowledge of a subject or discipline, they are no important to Our Heavenly Father than the man or woman struggling to make ends meet.  Knowledge without Love is worth nothing in the long run.  In the end, it is all about Love.  If you walk in Love and focus on ministering in Love, you will be known by HIM.  As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:

2  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.