Hypocrites
Introduction
I’m Pete. God loves you!
The topic today: Hypocrites
Hypocrite Definition
In general, it is defined as someone whose actions contradict their stated beliefs.
God and Jesus on Hypocrites
Log and Speck
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5 (ESV)
(Note that Jesus doesn’t say to ignore the speck in your brother’s eye, nor to act like it doesn’t exist, but to address your own bigger misbehavior first. Jesus wants to help both the one with the log and the one with the speck get their “dirt” out, and tells us how!)
Whitewashed Tombs
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:27-28 (ESV)
The Dirty Cup
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Matthew 23:25-26 (ESV)
Showoffs
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:2-4 (ESV)
False Liberty
For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 2 Peter 2:17-19 (ESV)
Practice What You Preach
They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Titus 1:16 (ESV)
(For instance, don’t put a Christian bumper sticker on your car and really speed.)
Problem and Solution
The Problem for All
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:14-24 (ESV)
(Christian or non, regardless of what you consider to be misbehavior, we all struggle to stop misbehavior found somewhere in our lives. Even when we try, we end up misbehaving somehow. An important question is asked: Who will deliver me from this? The answer is found in the very next verse.)
The Solution for All
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 7:25 – 8:4 (ESV)
God knew that, even when we’d try to be good, we’d be tempted and end up misbehaving somehow. So, He sent His Son, Jesus, to take the death penalty for the misbehavior of whoever would repent of it. A good Christian will try not to misbehave. If they end up misbehaving, they will repent and receive forgiveness. They’ll love Jesus.
This offer of forgiveness through Jesus is the solution for all. It is offered to Christian and non. So, get right with God through Jesus while you still can. Don’t harden your heart. To face judgment for your sins is senseless! And, contrary to popular opinion, Heaven is not boring! It contains legitimate pleasures. It is not earned by self-effort, but by God’s grace.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11 (ESV)
May God Bless You!