In John 8 we find, for instance, that they are adulterers. They bring the woman taken in adultery and these Jewish leaders say to Christ, ‘What are you going to say about her? Moses says she should be stoned. What do you say?’ The Lord said to them, ‘He that is without sin [guiltless] among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’ One by one, in deep shame, they had to leave the temple, because they were convicted by the mighty power of God. They were adulterers, yet here they were accusing this other person, who had been taken in adultery. And they were potential murderers. Here they were, even plotting the life of the Lord. We have so many statements about this in the Gospels. So worship is rendered vain.
Here is the mark of the false church. They do not simply practice what is abominable in the sight of God, but they even teach these things as doctrines and attempt to bind men’s consciences to their own invented rules. They have come to Christ and charged him with teaching his disciples to do what goes against their traditions. They have elevated their traditions and made Christ and his disciples subject to them. They do not say that that is what they are doing, but they come in the role of teachers and assuming that their authority will be recognized, and proceed to claim divine authority for what is nothing other than their own invention.