The Way of Hypocrisy

Introduction

1.      The title of our lesson this morning is: The Way of Hypocrisy.

a.       According to Webster’s Collegiate Thesaurus, words that are related to hypocrite are: “actor, bluffer, faker, fraud, impostor, masquerader, phony, pretender, and sham.

b.      In classical Greek, word was used with reference to a stage-actor and came to mean acting out a part in life (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).

c.       The way that the word is used today still carries the idea of being an actor, but in the context of New Testament Christianity, it is someone who is acting out a part in life that makes him/her appear holy and devout on the outside while actually being corrupt on the inside and actually.

2.      Who might we find in the Scriptures that would exemplify hypocrisy?

a.       Judas (cf. Jn. 13:18-26)

b.      Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10)

c.       The greatest example of hypocrisy may be the Pharisees.

                                                              i)      One of the synonyms given by Webster for hypocrite is “Pharisee”!

                                                             ii)      They gave a performance that declared to all openly, that they were the most righteous and most devout of all, when in actuality, just the opposite was true.

                                                           iii)      Jesus pronounced seven woes upon the Pharisees in Matthew 23 and six of those times He addresses them as “hypocrites.”

                                                           iv)      They cleansed the outside of the cup and platter only (Mt. 23:25-26).

                                                            v)      They were like whited sepulchers (Mt. 23:27-28).

3.      God seeks to be worshiped by true worshippers (Jn. 4:23).

4.      How serious is hypocrisy anyway?

a.       The Lord is the judge of all men (Mt. 25:32; Ro. 2:16, 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Ti. 4:1, 8).

b.      In Revelation we see His judgments pronounced upon the seven churches of Asia (Rev. 2-3).

c.       What did He say of those hypocritical Pharisees?

d.      “Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?” (Mt. 23:33).

e.       The price of hypocrisy not repented of is hell: “The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 24:50-51)!

f.        “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7).

                                                              i)      The hypocrite lives a lie by pretending that he is something that he is not.

                                                             ii)      And he is sowing the seed of condemnation for the day that he will be judged by the Lord.

                                                           iii)       “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou has not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it. And the young men arose and wrapped him round, and they carried him out and buried him” (Acts 5:3-6).

5.      Are there any Christians today who pretend to be something they’re not by wanting everyone to think that they are holier-than-thou, while in reality they’re not?

a.       If there are, then a lesson on The Way of Hypocrisy is a necessary and timely lesson for us to study today.

b.      Unless he repents, the hypocrite is eternally lost!

Discussion

I.                    We are to be Christians, not just act like Christians!

A.     Being honestly mistaken does not make a person a hypocrite.

B.     It is possible for a person who believes in God to do the wrong things and not be a hypocrite.

C.     A hypocrite wants others to believe that he/she is something that he is not and goes around pretending to be that person.

D.     Have you seen Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean?

1.      Johnny Depp plays the character of Captain Jack Sparrow.

2.      He puts on the hair, make-up, and acts like a pirate and says his lines for the movie audiences.

3.      At no time did he ever become a real pirate; he just acted like one.

a.       He was never really a pirate.

b.      There is no such thing as a compass that points to what a person wants most.

c.       It is all just a great big performance that we pay to see.

4.      All of that is done with the understanding that none of it is to be understood as being real.

5.      About the only difference that I can see between the hypocrite and the paid actor, is that the hypocrite wants to be taken seriously.

E.      The hypocrite does many of the same types of things that a paid actor does, but with an entirely different intent behind it.

1.      He has a certain character that he is going to act out—a Christian.

2.      He has script that he follows (so far as appearances)—the Bible.

3.      His performance is targeted at a certain audience.

4.      Neither he nor the paid actor actually becomes the person they are pretending to be.

5.      But, if at all possible, the hypocrite wants us to believe that that is who he really is, but Johnny Depp would have no problem with telling us that he is not really Jack Sparrow, everyone is supposed to already understand that to begin with.

F.      Jesus warned against acting righteous for the praises of men (Mt. 6:2, 5, 16).

1.      Why would someone sound a trumpet before giving?

2.      A hypocrite is not really as he seems.

3.      He is putting on a performance for his audience so that he can receive a great applause, or the praises of men.

4.      If they get that applause, they have received the reward they were looking for, and will not receive their eternal reward, because that is not the reward they are after to begin with.

5.      Does that mean that we can’t put a check into the collection plate because they have our names on them and someone else might know see how much we gave?

a.       No, not unless we sounded a trumpet before us.

b.      Not unless our intention was for that someone else to see how much we gave and be impressed by that.

c.       The problem is not that someone else might know something, but the condition of our hearts.

d.      Are we seeking the praises of God or of man?

e.       “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10).

G.     Make believe is for story time.

1.      Let children pretend to be Superman or Sleeping Beauty.

2.      Let stage performers and actors pretend to be characters out of a storybook.

3.      The Christian is not to be just acting like a Christian, but he is to actually become a new person.

4.      The gospel is not make-believe and God is no playwright.

a.       He is not looking for actors to fill the roles in some play.

b.      He wants the real thing.

c.        “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers” (Jn. 4:23).

II.                 Hypocrisy is a problem of the heart.

A.     If we were to put a hypocrite and a sincere Christian side by side and do a comparison, and we started listing all the things that each of them do, how much difference would there be between them?

1.      If we made a list and put all of the one person’s works, and made another list with the other person’s works, so far as those lists are concerned, there would probably be very little difference between the two.

a.       This one goes to church, that one goes to church.

b.      This one sings, that one sings.

c.       This one gives, that one gives,

d.      This one visits the sick, that one visits the sick.

2.      So far as appearances are concerned, the sincere Christian and the one who acts like a Christian would be very similar.

B.     The things that the hypocrite does, if they are the things that a Christian ought to be doing, are not wrong.

1.      It is not wrong to sing, pray, give, visit, etc.

2.      The problem isn’t in what he is doing, but why he is doing it.

3.      The problem is inward and not outward.

4.      It is a problem of the heart, a problem of their faith, hope, and love in Christ.

5.      The things that we do as Christians, no matter how right they may be, if they are motivated by a desire to impress others or to elevate ourselves in a worldly way, they don’t do us any good.

6.      Everything that we do as Christians, should be motivated by our sincere faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, a hope of future glory with Him eternally in heaven, and a genuine love for God and man; “But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

C.     A Jack Sparrow in appearance is till a Johnny Depp at heart.

1.      No matter how much hair and makeup is put on the outside of an actor to turn him into someone else, he still remains the same on the inside.

2.      No matter how much a person does to appear righteous on the outside, he is still the same person on the inside.

3.      Like the Pharisees, he is like a whited sepulchered and a cup cleaned outwardly, but filthy on the inside (cf. Mt. 23:25-28).

4.      He is still lost!

D.     How do you spot an actor?

1.      Have you ever seen an actor or actress all dressed up for a part, but they are doing an interview or speaking like they normally would?

a.       You might think, “heay, that’s Jack Sparrow, but it doesn’t sound like Jack Sparrow, it sounds like Johnny Depp.”

b.      Many times a person’s true identity comes out when you hear them talk.

2.      The same thing is often true with someone who is only acting the part of a Christian; they might look the part, but their speech says otherwise.

3.      Why is that?

a.        “For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Lk. 6:43-45).

b.      “To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Tit. 1:15-16).

E.      Hypocrisy is a problem of the heart.

III.               Hypocrisy must be dealt with.

A.     The hypocrite has denied the power of godliness.

1.      Second Timothy 3:1-5

2.      What is the “power of godliness”?

a.       “Faith, hope, love…”

b.      The power of godliness is the change brought about in the believer by the word of God!

c.       It is not enough to claim godliness.

d.      It is not enough to look godly.

e.       We must be godly, and that takes place within the heart first, and is reflected in our actions second.

B.     Man may be fooled, but God never will.

1.       “For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:12-13).

2.      It does not matter if we put together an Oscar-worthy performance, or one that fools every person we ever meet; God will still know.

3.      Paul said, “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7).

a.       If we sow unto the flesh, we will “of the flesh reap corruption, but if we sow unto the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap eternal life” (v. 8).

b.      What are we sowing today?

c.       If we are caught up in hypocrisy, we are sowing a seed that we will hate, despise, and regret for the rest of eternity if we do nothing about it.

C.     The righteous judge has already judged the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and it was the purchase-price of eternal punishment (cf. Mt. 23:33).

D.     The last thing that we want to be when we depart from this life is a hypocrite!

Conclusion

1.      What then, must such a person do?

a.       Repent and confess your sins unto God and He that is “faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” will do exactly that.

b.      It almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

c.       It sounds too easy.

d.      But if you are a Christian this morning and burdened with a load of sin, whether hypocrisy or otherwise, that is weighing down upon you, will you confess that to God and let Him ease your burden?

2.      There maybe someone here who has not yet obeyed the gospel and become a Christian, you too can be freed from the weight of sin pressing down upon you this morning by having it all washed away in the waters of baptism. 

3.      You can start all over again with a clean slate, washed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

4.      If that is something that you are longing for, please come…