Matthew 23:13 (KJV) “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”

John 5:39-40 (KJV) “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. ⁴⁰And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Pharisees prefer one another and live by traditions rather than the life of Christ. Jesus had no tolerance for these. This spirit is evil and will hinder the church from having true revival. The Lord spoke to me, “Once this is dealt with, I will reveal my glory.”

Those who are ruled by a pharisaical spirit despise authority and true leadership. These people think they have the spiritual understanding so they don’t need to be under authority. These people cannot flow with the leadership God has appointed. They exalt their own opinions; they become bitter, cruel and faultfinding. They exalt themselves above the spirit of the Lord. This spirit will always quench the Holy Spirit.

The pharisaic spirit usually shows up when the Word of revelation comes forth. Because the Holy Spirit is revealing the way to liberty for the times, and because these people feel threatened to the change, they rebel against truth. IT WILL TAKE RADICAL OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD IN ORDER TO RELEASE THE GLORY OF GOD. True revival always stops the principalities and powers of the air. The pharisaical spirit masquerades as the protector of legitimate truth. It believes what might have been true for you a year ago is still needed today. “It helped me then, it will help me now.”

This spirit can’t break tradition for fear of falling back. But it will hinder any further revelation from being received. It will fight for truth, but always miss the Spirit of God.

Sound doctrine is not the end. It is the means to teach us how to be conformed to the image of Christ. It will teach us how to obey God. When we are judged it is not based on what we know, but on our motives, attitudes and availability to the will of God.

This is the end of the Pharisee: Matthew 5:20 (KJV) “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 23:13 KJV) "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." This spirit killed Jesus, and it wants to destroy you. The church cannot co-exist with it. As believers we must boldly stand and declare, “My house shall be a house of prayer, purity and holiness. I command you, pharisaical spirit, to get out. You will not rule my church or me. I will not give you a place of leadership here.”

If we don’t compromise with it, we won’t be susceptible to it.

What has now come as a result of this spirit over the past 10 years is a spirit of pseudo-counseling. A true counselor is one who knows the Counselor – Jesus Christ – and who is guided by the Holy Spirit. A counselor knows the word of God, functions in the spiritual gifts of knowledge and wisdom, follows the direction of the Holy Spirit and is in submission to authority. Any other source of counsel should be rejected and not trusted.

Pseudo-counseling does not point the individual to the cross, or to the blood of Christ. These counselors believe the Church does not offer what we need for complete spiritual healing. --- The psyche (sub-conscious) cannot heal itself. The scripture declares only God can give a sound mind, which is a supernatural work of redemption. Those who do not come to the cross of Christ remain powerless to effect healing in their life.

The whole premise for this type of humanistic thinking comes from the philosophy that mankind is basically good – it is bad things that happen to make us miserable. WHAT A LIE! Pseudo-counseling wants to get people to a place of esteem, love and honor of self. This is the heresy that has infiltrated the church – SELF!

Any counseling outside of sanctification which is bringing our “self” to the cross and exchanging it for the life of Christ is from HELL!

When we exchange the self-life, we give up carnal thinking, warped emotions, and rebellious wills and search for “HIM”. We daily take up our crosses so we can walk in newness of life. Just listening to any type of counseling will not do that.

Yes, we are to love ourselves, but self-absorption keeps us from loving others. To love ourselves in a godly sense means we place our carnal self on the cross. {We can seek help from godly counselors who will minister through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. But then we are free to reach out to others in love.}

We don’t have to go around with bandages on our minds and emotions for 15 years after we are saved. Children wear bandages to get attention. People seek help outside the church because they don’t want to agree with what really will bring the help. They are not serious about bringing their needs to the cross to find deliverance.

As we mature in God, we discover that our needs have been allowed that we might help others. It will take a new mentality from being victims to being helpers.

Why do we remember past hurts so much? Is it true Jesus forgives as we forgive and ask forgiveness and he doesn’t remember any more? Then how can Satan remember? If God who is omniscient forgets, then Satan who is not omniscient can’t remember except as we remind him — by talking about it. If we would learn to keep our mouths shut once the Lord comes to bring healing, maybe we would remain healed.

John 16:13 (KJV) “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” When He – the Spirit of Truth shall come – at that point we don’t need ungodly counselors any more! DON’T REMAIN DECEIVED – As we yield to the Holy Spirit’s work of redemption and to godly counsel (which only advises) when needed, we will be healed and restored completely to serve one another in the body of Christ.