The Later Day Pharisees

The Later Day Pharisees

James David Malm

In the Book of Revelation, chapter one and verse one, it is written: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, unto Christ; to show unto His servants, things which must shortly come to pass.

So, we see that the Book of Revelation, written in the first century, was not about things past, but about things future.

Now, I would like to cover today, “The Message to the Church of Laodicea,” which is found in Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 14:

And unto the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write: These things sayeth the amen: The faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot, so then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, will I spew you out of my mouth. Because thou sayest; I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked.

I counsel thee to buy of me gold, tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness does not appear, and anoint thy eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.

Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me. And to him that overcomes while I grant to sit with me and my throne, even as I also overcame, and have set down with my father in his throne.

Now, Revelation two and three has a list of messages to seven different churches. Starting with Ephesus, going through Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Some have said that these seven churches represent seven successive eras. But the fact is that all seven of these churches existed together at the time that this was written. Also, all these churches have different attitudes, approaches, strengths, weaknesses, and problems. Now, in any given group of people, you’re going to find all kinds of attitudes, all kinds of problems, all kinds of approaches.

In a given group of hundreds, or thousands of people, everybody is not going to be identical. This is also true of the church. Down through history, all of these seven attitudes and problems and strengths existed in various individuals at the same time, all through history, just as the seven different groups, with their different problems and strengths, all existed at the same time in the first century.

Of course, in any given group, a certain attitude is going to predominate. If you have a thousand people and four or five hundred have a certain attitude, and the rest have different attitudes, we can say that one is dominant. This is true of these seven churches. In each of these churches; not all had the same attitude, but a certain attitude, certain strengths and weaknesses were dominant in any given city and in any of these given churches.

Now, throughout history, a certain attitude was dominant, certain strengths and weaknesses were dominant at any given time. And yet, all of these attitudes, all of these different so-called eras, all of these different characteristics, were present at the same time. So, we might say, today at this time, we are living in the end-time, and the last church mentioned in Revelation three is a group called Laodicea. So we might say that the Laodicean attitude is dominant today. But we cannot tar everybody with the same brush. We cannot say that every person who is converted and following God is a Laodicean.

There are all types of attitudes and strengths and weaknesses in existence today. Only one happens to be the dominant attitude, the dominant situation. This means that just because a person lives during a certain period of time, they are not automatically part of one or another particular group. A person living today is not automatically Laodicean. He could be Sardis, he could be Philadelphian, he could be manifesting any one of these described attitudes, strengths, or problems.

Just because a person lived in the first century, does not mean that he automatically had the Ephesian attitude. He could have had the attitude of any of the other six groups, because all seven existed at the same time, and through history, all seven have always existed at the same time; it’s just that during a certain period of time, one particular attitude would have been dominant.

You don’t have to look at this and say, “Well, there are seven churches, one after the other and seven eras, and we are in the end-time, therefore I must be a Laodicean.” It doesn’t work that way. The Laodicean attitude may be dominant, but you could have an attitude as reflected by any of the other groups. So, one should be very careful to study these scriptures with an open mind, and examine oneself and say, “Do I have this weakness, do I have these problems? What can I do better? How can I best serve God? How can I best keep his commandments? How can I progress and learn and grow and become the person He wants me to be?”

So let’s take a look at this dominant attitude, this dominant church of this end-time. If we go back to Revelation three, and verse fifteen, God says to Jesus Christ, who then reports to John, who then records this: I know thy works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot, so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.

What does this mean, lukewarm, neither cold nor hot? What is He talking about? He is talking about your zeal for the things of God, for the things of Christ. You may be full of zeal for your local minister, your local church or congregation, your organization. You may be just consumed with zeal, but it is a misdirected zeal. Your zeal should not be for this man, or that man, or this group, or that group. Your zeal should be for almighty God, and His Christ. Zeal, for a particular group, or a particular teaching is a distraction from God.

We are to put God first, and His word first, and his Christ first. We are not to put some idolatry first. Some idol in the form of a pyramid, or a pyramid government structure, some idol in the form of a particular man. We are not, as one man said, “To believe the Bible as explained by this person, we are to believe the Bible as we are led by God’s Holy Spirit.”

Human beings make mistakes. Herbert Armstrong once said, “Don’t believe me; believe the Bible.” I say, “Don’t believe me; believe the Bible.” When we begin to believe men, whether it is me, or Herbert Armstrong, or anybody else, and their interpretation, their take, their explanation of the Bible, we go astray, because everyone can make a mistake.

We are to have zeal; we are to be hot for the things of God. What am I talking about? How many people go out and buy food and services in a restaurant on the Sabbath? How many of them cook big meals on the Sabbath, when we are absolutely forbidden to do any cooking on the Sabbath, and we are not to be responsible for anyone else having to work? We are not to pay people to work, or force them to work, or require them to work to serve us on the Sabbath.

Well, what if they’re working anyway? So what! The thief will steal anyway. Does that mean you have to take part in it? This is a pretty lame excuse; I’ll be covering the Sabbath on another talk.

But meanwhile, are you keeping the commandments as written by God? Or are you doing just what your minister or your church tells you? If they say it’s alright to keep or break God’s commandments, are you going to follow along and break God’s commandments according to their teachings? Or are you going to keep all the commandments of God? The decision is yours. Are you church-centered, or man-centered, or are you God-centered?

That’s what this is talking about in Revelation three here. Because you are not cool or hot for God. You’re just going through the motions. You’re just playing church. You’re making an idol of your minister, or your prophet or your apostle, and you are doing what they say, instead of checking up on them, and doing what God says, because you have this attitude of not putting God first, God will spew you out of his mouth.

What does that mean? What is His mouth? It is a part of His body. It’s like someone who eats something or tastes something foul, and immediately spits it out. That’s what this attitude is to God. If you do not put Him first, if you’re putting men first, and you’re pretending to put God first, you are like a foul, bitter taste in His mouth, and He’s going to spit you out. And that means ejecting you from his body, which is His true church, the body of believers. You will be ejected and rejected, if you do not repent of this attitude of putting the teachings of men, any man, before the word of God.

Now, what do these people, these Laodiceans think? In verse 17: You say I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. That simply means you think you know it all, you think you’ve got it all, nobody can tell you anything. You are not even going to think about examining yourself to see whether you might be mistaken about this or that. You are just going to say, “I am comfortable doing what the church says, because my church says it’s alright. I’m happy with that. I’m comfortable with that. I’m not going to even think, or study, or try and learn anything new, because I’ve got it all. I am rich with goods. I am rich with knowledge. I am rich with understanding. Nobody can show me anything new or different, because we have a handle on all knowledge.

Our apostle, our leader, he is the one who has access to God, he is the one who possesses all knowledge, and if it’s not from him, it’s not important, it doesn’t mean anything, and I’m not going to listen to anybody or anything, and I am not going to check up on him according to God’s word, except I might look up the scripture that I’m told to look up, in order to confirm what I am being told. But I will certainly not make any effort to look up anything else or to prove anything right or wrong.”

You think you have all spiritual knowledge, you have a corner on the things of God, and in verse seventeen and you don’t know that you’re really wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. You don’t know how little you really understand, you don’t know how little you really know, because you are blind. You close your eyes, you are woefully blind, and you will not study, you will not look it up, and as a result, and in consequence, you cannot learn.

People who do not admit error are doomed to repeat that error endlessly, and will never learn, will never grow, will never know. They will be like the lady in a house on fire. And when her neighbor comes and shouts at her, “Your house is on fire!”, she opens her windows and says, “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

That is the attitude here, and because of that attitude, they are going to be thrust into that fire, the fire of the Great Tribulation in verse eighteen: I counsel thee to buy at me gold tried in the fire that you mayest become rich, and buy white raiment that thou mayest be clothed.

Now, white raiment is the symbol of righteousness. If you have to acquire white raiment, it shows that you don’t already have it. You are not righteous, even though you think are, you are not rich, even though you think you are. You must get gold through the fire, and righteousness and white raiment through the fire, and you must get eye salve through the fire so that you may see. You must heal your eyes, you must remove the blindness, you must open your eyes, and study, and think, and learn and see the things of God.

All of these things here in Revelation three spell one big word: It’s called self-righteous. Self righteous can be defined as doing what we think is right. True godly righteousness is doing what God says is right. Do we go to His word and do what He says is right, or do we rely upon what we think, and what our leaders think? Do we rely upon an understanding of the Bible as explained by Herbert Armstrong, or Joe Tkach, or Gerald Flurry, or this person, or that person, or even James Malm? Or do we go to God’s word, do we study it out, do we check it out, do we prove all things, as we are commanded to do? Do we put God first? Are we godly-righteous? Or do we let others tell us what we should do, and therefore we become James-righteous, or Herbert-righteous? Or are we self-righteous, doing what we think is right? We need to do what God says is right, not what we think, and not what other men think is right.

God loves us, Jesus Christ loves us. Therefore, in verse nine: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, become zealous for me and repent. I am standing at the door and knocking. If you hear my voice and you are willing to open the door, and allow me in, and if you are willing to have a relationship with me, instead of with some man, I will come in, and will eat with him, and he with me. That is, I will share the meat of God’s word. I will share understanding. I will share knowledge with that person, if he is willing to seek Jesus Christ and put Him first.

God loves us. Christ loves us, and it is because so many of us have become so utterly self-righteous and so dedicated and consumed by our organization, or our leader, or what some man said back in time. We are so dedicated to that, we have become full of idolatry, and we need to be corrected. That is what the Tribulation is partly about, the correction of God’s people, who have gone so very far astray.

The Laodicean church is the very last church mentioned in Revelation three. It is the end-time church. It is to exist right before and at the coming of Jesus Christ. Another group of people existed at, before and during the first coming of Jesus Christ. They were the last era, so to speak, of the Mosaic Covenant. And that is the group we call the Pharisees. Let us examine what it was like at the first coming of Christ, and we will see what it is like at the second coming of Christ, because all scripture is written for our example, and our instruction.

Turn to Matthew 20:3: Then Jesus spake to the multitude and to His disciples, saying, “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. They have the authority of Moses, they are in authority. What they bid, you observe and do. But do not after their works, for they say and do not.”

They tell you to do things, and they say that certain things should be done, but they don’t do it themselves. They bind heavy burdens, grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move one of their fingers.

Think: How many leaders of churches require that you tithe on every last dime? And then give as big an offering as possible, and then send letters, and speak from the pulpit, begging for more? While, they live in rich, ceiled houses, with high ceilings, and beautiful things. Lovely: They travel first class, they have the best suits, and the best cars, and the best of everything. And they wouldn’t lift a finger to sacrifice. No, not so much as a dollar. Unless there was some gain for them in it, some reward. How they burden the people, and how they enrich themselves, and how like the Pharisees they are today.

All their works they do to be seen of men; they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the upper-most rooms and the chief seats in the synagogues, and to be called in the markets, and greeted, to be called of men, “Rabbi, Rabbi.”

How many ministers you know would be very upset if you didn’t call them, “Mister,” and give them the preeminent seat? And at your feast, give them the preeminent food, and the preeminent position at all times and all things? Who do you know that wouldn’t demand such things? If you know such a man, perhaps you have found a righteous man amongst the leadership. But for the most part, they demand the very best of everything: The chief seats, the very best, and they demand to be called, “Mister,” or “Pastor,” or “Leader,” or “Apostle,” or “Prophet,” or this or that. And they seek titles, and they seek their personal glory, and they wear the best clothes, and they put it all on; to make a big show.

This is the state of affairs in the first century, and it is the state of affairs today. But what does Jesus say, verse nine? He says: Call no man your father upon the earth, for when is your Father in heaven, and neither be ye called master, for one is your master even Christ.

The word “Mister” is simply a modern form of “Master.” It is not talking here about specifically calling people your father, or your master, or your friend, or your teacher. It’s talking about a lust for titles, a lust for glory, a lust for preeminence. You are not to behave that way, you are not to demand that people bow and scrape before you, and look up to you as some kind of a demigod.

For in verse eleven, he that is the greatest among you, must be your servant. Whoever shall exult himself, shall demand that people look up to him, shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself, shall be exulted. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, you are hypocrites. For you close up the Kingdom of Heaven against men, and neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

What is He saying? You are closing the Kingdom of God, you are keeping people out. How? By distracting them and deceiving them from the righteousness of God, turning them away from the truth of God, and getting them to follow your own particular ideas, your own teachings, or the teachings of some man that you idolize. You are turning people against God, and deceiving them away from the word of God. Yes, you are. And that makes you hypocrites, because you claim to be godly, and you are far from it. You worship men, and not God.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. You devour widow’s houses, and for a pretense, make long prayers. How many people do you know who just love to get up and pray at a church service, and go on and on and on? For no purpose, other than to hear themselves speak. For shame! If you’ve got something to say, say it, and if you don’t, shut up and sit down. I really get offended by people who waste my time, the church’s time, and God’s time, by trying to show off how righteous they are by their long flowery prayers, signifying nothing.

Prayers should be from the heart, it should be meaningful. You are in communication with the King of the Universe; and it should be sincere, and truthful, and honest, and reflect your honest desires and hopes and requests, and it should not be some attempt to show off for other people.

Verse fifteen: Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites. For you will travel across sea and land to make one convert, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

What do you mean? It means that you are not converting them to godliness; you are converting them to your concept, your idea of godliness. You are converting them to your teachings, and not to the teachings of the word of God.

Woe to you, verse sixteen, you blind guides, which say whosoever shall swear by the temple, it’s nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold, he is bound to be a debtor. The fact is; fools trust in gold, and wise men trust in the house of God.

For verse seventeen: You are fools and blind. For whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And ye say whosoever shall swear by the altar, it’s nothing. But whosoever swears by the gift upon it; he is guilty. You fools and blind. For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Who so therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon. And who shall swear by the temple, swears by it and by him, that is therein. And he that shall swear by heaven swears by the throne of God, and by him, that sits thereon.

These people were about money. They were about power. They were about personal advantage. And that is exactly the way it is, in many of the various groups comprising the Church of God today.

Verse twenty-three: Woe unto you, scribes, and Pharisees, hypocrites. You tithe; mint, anise and cumin, but you omit the weightier manners of the law: Judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done, and not to leave the others undone. You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

I’ve heard endless explanations about what that means, and it’s very simple: A gnat is a little thing, and a camel is a very large thing, in comparison to a gnat. Such people get so upset about little things, and they overlook the big things, the important things, like justice, and mercy, and judgment, and faith, and they are so concerned with about how much you contribute, or tithe, or how long your hair is, or whether you wear a necktie and a suit, or whether you shave every day, or whether you brush your teeth three times a day, or whether you call them, “Mister.” Oh, they are so concerned about little things, and they overlook completely the important things.

Verse twenty-five: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within, the inside, is full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may also be clean.

Woe unto you, for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full of all uncleanness and dead man’s bones. Even so, you are also outwardly appearing righteous unto man, but within, you are full of hypocrisy and inequity. Woe unto you, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous; and you say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them that kill the prophets.

Fill up, therefore then, the measure of your fathers, you serpents and generation of vipers. How can you escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore behold thy sin unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous bloodshed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, to blood of Zacharias, son of Barachius, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Truly, I see unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

Truly, this is a very hard thing for most people to grasp. But the truth is, that in the Worldwide Church of God, in the seventies, and in the various groups after that, the righteous were evicted and kicked out of the church, and told that they were cut off from God by being disfellowshipped and rejected from the church, and that they were condemned to the Lake of Fire. These people cut off righteous men, who wanted to put God first, who wanted to put Jesus Christ first.

Anyone who objected to the Primacy of Peter, to pyramidal government, anyone who sought to put the Bible first, anyone who said, “I don’t want to go out to a restaurant on the Sabbath,” and their minister said, as a minister said to me, “You’re welcome to attend, just don’t talk to anybody about religion, because you’ll make waves, you’ll get people upset.”

If you want to attend, you have to compromise, you have to deny the command of Jesus Christ to be ready to give an example, for the hope you have, an explanation for what you believe. These people were forced to compromise, and if they wouldn’t compromise, and they wanted to be faithful to God’s word, they were rejected by the church, for being godly, for putting God first.

If you don’t believe that, then look what happened in the nineties. When some people wanted to retain a semblance of godliness, and they were themselves rejected by Joseph Tkach and the Worldwide Church of God.

And in their own groups, they turn around and do the same thing, rejecting anyone who tells them the truth, anyone who wants to stand on God’s word, anyone who wants to keep the commandments of God will find themselves belittled, looked down upon, pressured to conform, and eventually driven out. You cannot be zealous for God, you cannot be hot and zealous for the word of God, and be in these groups. They will not tolerate it. They want you to be exactly like them. They want you to be centered on their leader, centered on their organization, and centered on the teachings of some man. They do not want anybody who dares to study, to think, to question and who wants to put God first. They just will not tolerate it.

If you don’t believe me, just try it. Go to your minister, and ask what your group teaches about the Primacy of Peter. Does your group accept this heresy? Do you exult your leaders above God? Do they say that they have the power to bind and loose God’s commandments and God’s word? Check it out. Do they say it’s alright to go out on the Sabbath, and buy and sell, because we say so, or do they bow to God’s word?

Do they say that they believe the Bible as explained by this man, or that man? Do they say; you must believe the Bible as explained by Herbert Armstrong? Or do they say, “Follow where God’s spirit leads; search the scriptures and prove all things.”

You know the truth. You know what your group teaches. Does your group make an idol out of a certain man? Or, does your group put God first?

Is your group hot for man, is it hot for the group, is it hot for the leader, is it hot for the work they are doing? Or is it hot for God the Father, and Jesus Christ? You know, and if you don’t, you should find out. The latter-day Pharisees are called, in Revelation, the Church of Laodicea. And that is the dominant attitude, the dominant group amongst the various groups making up the Church of God today. Most, if not all of the larger groups, are Laodicean. They are Pharisaical. They are self-righteous. They are hot for their own selves, and lukewarm for the things of God.

Some smaller groups and some scattered individuals represent attitudes from the other eras. The Philadelphian Christian is the one who stands on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that is, the writers of the Holy Scripture, sent by Jesus Christ, their foundation is God’s word. The Philadelphian is a pillar who stands on this foundation, and is capable of standing alone, and he is alone.

The true Philadelphian today is made up of those people who are scattered throughout the churches; and in many cases, they are standing independently. They will respond to the warning, and they will be gathered together, so that they will not suffer the same punishment as the wicked. They will not suffer the righteous correction of a loving Father.