Cain was the first pharisee. Not the same as those that Jesus had to deal with, but he had that same spirit that was in them. In this tract, we'll learn some of the characteristics of this devilish pharisee spirit. Genesis 4:1-10 says: Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said, I have begotten a man from the Lord. And she bare his brother Able and Able was a keeper of the sheep, But Cain was a tiller of the ground. There are two types here; Able the shepherd, the caretaker of the sheep, was a type of Jesus Christ. Cain, on the other hand, was a tiller of the ground, a man who loved the earth and its riches, the man of the world. Jesus told those who had this pharisee spirit that they were of their father, the devil. Cain was the seed of satan. These two types are to stand side by side right down to the day of judgement. I believe that this evil religious spirit is the very nature of satan. He has always wanted to set himself up as god and desires to be worshipped as God. He will stop at nothing to fulfill this desire. This too, is what Cain desired. God knew this that's why his sacrifice was not accepted.
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the earth an offering to the Lord. And Able also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Able and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect. And Cain was angry and his countenance fell.
Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your expression so glum? If you do well shall you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is underlying your motives. Unto you shall be his desire. (You will be his example. He will look to you and follow you.) You shall rule over him.
There is another significant type connected with Cain and Able that needs to be brought out. One thing must be kept in mind. Both men were religious. Sometimes we think of Able as being religious and Cain as a heretic. But this is not true. Both men believed in God because they both prepared an offering to him. Jesus said that it would be better to be a cold atheist than a luke-warm hypocrite . He said these will be spewed out of his mouth.
Cain was a type of the whore church. He was religious enough but instead of preparing the blood sacrifice as Able did, he was trying to start his own religion. He was going to work his way into the kingdom and start a religion based on works instead of grace. This is the way of the whore church. She compromises the word of God to suit her own self so that she can become a dictator. God knew what was in Cain's heart because he said to him, " If you do well won't you be accepted"? "But if you do not well sin lies at the door." God knew that Cain was trying to manipulate Him so that he could put himself in a place of high authority. The reason I know that God saw this in his heart was the next thing he spoke to him. "Unto you will be his desire and you shall rule over him". What God was saying was this: "Cain you don't have to try to manipulate me; you are the first-born, you will rule over him anyway if you do well and obey my words." But satan already controlled Cain's heart and God's admonition only made him more angry. So instead of repenting, he did what all the evil pharisees have done in the past they set out to kill and destroy. Able is the type of the true church because he put his heart and his love for God in his sacrifice. There was no self in his offering and God accepted it.
Cain had worked hard in the hot sun to get his offering from the earth. But there was no blood offering in it, which would be a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The offering was all self. It was a type of the pharisee spirit trying to work and pay its way into the kingdom of God without entering in God's way. On the other hand, Able did very little work. Instead, he put his sheep out in the pasture and they ate the grass that God provided. They grew fat and he offered them to God. Able was not a "worker" he depended upon God's grace. This was the first instance of a lamb sacrifice in the bible. Most everyone knows that the sacrificial, Lamb without a blemish, is a type of Jesus Christ the lamb of God. Able's religion was centered in God's way.
Verse 8 says: Cain TALKED with his brother; And it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Able his brother and slew him. Please note that the scripture says that Cain TALKED with his brother, Able. Isn't this the way of the Pharisee spirit? They first come to you like the children of light and say, "come now brother, lets "talk" about this. Their concern is not toward God, they feel themselves threatened. After Peter healed the cripple he preached Jesus to the people. The Pharisees seized Peter and John and put them in jail for the night. Acts 4: 5,6,7 tells how the pharisees gathered together at Jerusalem and set Peter and John in their midst, they wanted to "TALK". They hoped to make them stop preaching the truth about Jesus before they convinced the people that Jesus was indeed the son of God. The pharisee spirit does not fear God, it fears the people. It wants to keep its high seats and its power over the people When this is threatened, they get angry just like Cain and become murderers. Verse 19 says: Peter became filled with the Holy Ghost and answered them: "whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than God , you judge. But we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard." Mark 13: 11-Jesus said to his disciples; When they shall deliver you up, take no thought before hand what you shall speak for it is not you that speaks but the Holy Ghost. This is why Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost before he answered them.
Yes the pharisees are frightened by the word of God in God's people. First they want to TALK, in order to convince God's people of their "error" and if this doesn't work they become angry killers. Accounts of this evil spirit are found through out the bible as will as in the accounts of the church of Jesus Christ in recorded history.
This is what John the apostle says about the pharisee spirit: 1st John 3:12-15 Be not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. (why did he kill him?) Because his works were evil and his brothers' were righteous. Marvel not if the world hates you, We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother still abides in death. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer. This tells us that the pharisee spirit is a murderer. They have slain their brothers in Christ all down through history in the name of Christ, they also slew the prophets of god in Israel. But they are of the devil. Remember this, if you are a new Christian, much of your opposition and tribulation will not come from sinners alone. It will come from your brothers right in the church. Especially if you have set your face to serve the Lord with your whole heart. These people are murmurers like the children of Israel in the desert. They stumble at the word and try to hinder others. Why? Because true Christians point out the sins of hippocrits by the holy lives they live. They will tell new Christians, "oh, you can't do all the things the bible tells you to do, your life will be miserable".
Be not as Cain when you bring yourself to the alter and say to the Lord well here I am Lord, I'll serve you if you will keep me well and make me rich, and respected by everyone. This is not an offering of self, it is a condition of bargaining, and God will show no respect for it. Instead be like Able, when you bring self to the alter. Look into the eyes of the Savior as did the apostle Paul and say, "Not I but Christ." Make me a living sacrifice holy and acceptable. This is what the Lamb sacrifice is all about. When we can do this we are the church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. Amen!
In John chapter 9 starting with verse 2 we see a topical example of the pharisee spirit. it says that as Jesus and the desciples passed by they saw a man born blind. The disciples asked," Who has sinned the man or was it his parents that caused him to be born blind?" And Jesus said neither this man nor his parents have sinned but this has happened that the mighty works of God might be manifest. Jesus had said before, " I do the works I see my Father do." It was written in the prophet that the Anointed one to come would make the crippled to walk and the blind to see. Jesus was always able to see when his Father's work had to be done and now was the time. Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and sent him to the pool called Siloam (which meant SENT) in order to wash off the clay. When he did his eyes were opened and he could see for the first time in his life.This so amazed his neighbors that they took him to the pharisees. Of course, these hard headed people did not believe that this was a man who was born blind and was now able to see. They were more concerned that Jesus had broken the Sabbath by his healing than that a blind man could now see. They were concerned that their rules and ordinances had not been kept. Because of their unbelief, they sent for the blind man's parents to ask if he really was born blind. His parents confirmed that he was their son and that he was born blind. However, they were afraid to say more. Here a wonderful miracle had been done on their very own son and they were afraid. Why? Because they were afraid the pharisee would throw them out of the synagogue. They had been told from birth that if they were cast out they would have no part in the resurrection of the dead.
Do you see this great power that is claimed by this pharisee spirit? This is the power that Cain coveted. He wanted to use God to set himself up as a spiritual dictator. This same evil power that comes directly from satan has been in the pagan priesthood since ancient times. Pagan priests had as much wealth and power as the Kings in ancient times. They were called shamans and used witchcraft and sorcery to fool and deceive the common people. They also claimed the right to keep people out of the hereafter as well as getting them in. Even the kings believed this. Jesus has put an end to all this for those who believe in him. (John 10: 28, 29 ) He said," No man can pluck them out of my father's hand." In verse 28 He said, " No man can take them out of my hand". The only thing that will take you out of God's kingdom is unbelief and the sins you commit.
Now let's go back to John chapter 9 to see how the blind man himself reacted to the pharisees, After they talked to the blind man's parents they went back to the blind man.and they continued to question him further. Finally he became exasperated and angry and said to them, "Why do you continue to ask me further?" "Do you want to become his disciples?" This really infarcted them because they considered themselves great religious leaders. For him to insinuate to them that they should become Jesus's followers was the height of insult. So, they cast him out. But since he had met Jesus he had a new hope and he didn't care. When Jesus heard that they had cast him out he went looking for him.When he found him he said,"Do you believe on the Son of God?" He answered, "Who is he Lord that I might believe on him?" Jesus answered him," You have both seen him and it is he that is speaking to you" The man then said "Yes lord I believe" And he worshipped him. This is what happens when the blind see Jesus. The pharisees loose their power. It was not the sinners in the taverns and dens of iniquity that murdered Jesus. It was this evil, religious, pharisee spirit.
Now lets look at some of the traits of this evil pharisee spirit. They crave high seats of honor. They claim to have a direct contact with God. In other words, they say they have the power to act for God in matters of policy, in interpreting the word and, even worse, they claim the power to cast you out of the kingdom of God. However the bible, which is the Word of God, sets all policy for the church of Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Ghost that reveals (interprets) Gods word. The bible says, In that day you will need no man to teach you. In what day? Now brother! Jesus said, If I go not away the comforter will not come. But if I go away the comforter will come and he will show you all things.( John 14: 16,26,) (John 15:26) (John: 16: 7-11,13,14,15) Read these references you will find out what the comforter is, and what he will show you. Jesus said that no man takes you out of my hand. Another trait of the pharisee spirit is that it teaches works instead of Grace. It has even told people in the past that they can buy themselves into the kingdom of God. After the pagan sun worshippers stole the church from the apostles, they established the priesthood in the church. Before this there were no priests. Men like Paul, Barnabus, Clement and Polycarp led the churches as preachers and evangelists. If you read their doctrine, you find that they preached salvation comes by grace not works. Paul said salvation is by grace not works lest any man should boast.
Back in the middle ages these pharisees sold pieces of worthless papers called "indulgences", which claimed to give out salvation to any one who purchased them It was a great way to make money from poor, spiritually ignorant people. The rich were in great shape but the poor were out in the cold. A man once tried to buy the Holy Ghost from Peter and he renounced him very harshly, and said your money perish with you! These people who claim to dispense salvation can't even assure themselves salvation, much less, anyone else. Many will find this out when they stand in their lot in the judgment. No one; Peter, John, Mary, The pope, your rabbi, or your favorite preacher can dispence salvation. Only God who has elected that our salvation must come through Jesus Christ, no one else or any thing else, can give us salvation. Even the faith that we have in Jesus Christ is a gift from God. Read your bible. Take no man's word for what it says. You are the one who has the responsibility for seeking God's truth. Study, to show yourself aproved, rightly dividing the word of truth. The fact that this bible still exists for you in these last days is a miracle its self. There is nothing that Lucifer, the devil, would rather do than banish it from the Earth. Read Romans, Galations, Ephesians and all the others and find out what the church fathers said about grace and works.
As we said before, Lucifer is behind this religious pharisee spirit. There is one yet to come who will be the epitome of Cain the first pharisee. He will try to murder every true Christian on this earth if God would allow it. Many will martyr at that time but not all. He will have the very spirit of satan in him. He will have all the evil attributes of the pharisees of the past and God will allow him to have supernatural power to deceive many in that day into thinking that he is god. Just remember that it has been the pharisees who have been the murderers in the past and it will be this evil spirit of the devil who will be the murderer in that day as well. They are like lizards that can change their colors to fit their environment. they tickle the ears. They say all religions are good, and this is a vile lie. Jesus said ," I am the door." all who try to make other doors are liars and thieves and murders. They come but to kill and destroy. God has established Jesus Christ as the way to the Kingdom of God. James said that there is no variableness or shadow of turning in Him. He has not changed his mind you can be sure of this. Jesus is still Lord !
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