Tag: hypocrisy

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Do and Say

Mark 14 After supper when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He took them to the Garden. How is that they did not notice that Judas was not with them? And, when they saw the contingent of soldiers with Judas, how did they not connect the words of Jesus that one would betray Him? How did Peter not connect the warning to stay alert while Jesus prayed?  How often do I too miss the signs that God gives me? 

The religious leaders willingly chose to seek the death of the Righteous One thinking that if they did it on any other day than the Passover,their hands would be clean? How did they willingly forget the commandment to not murder? Again, how often do I forget the words of the Master and also choose to say and not do?

One thing God hates more than anything else is hypocrisy. I say I am a believer but do my words and actions prove that or do they say and do the contrast? How about you?

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Hypocrisy

Acts 5 One of the sins God hates most is hypocrisy, the act of being something you are not. We saw it in the hypocrisy of Achan, who hid the riches taken and hidden in the book of Joshua, or the hypocrisy of Nadab and Abihu as they sought God’s favor in burning false fire. All of this tells us that God not only hates this sin but will declare it to the world and His church immediately. In this chapter in Acts, two individuals decided to lie to the church but, more importantly, to God about the purchase price of their land. There is a lesson here for us from the Book of Numbers. Num 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Today, if you make a vow to the Lord, be sure to keep it, as Ecclesiastes 5:4 says. God takes no delight in fools. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

Where are you in this story today? Are you honest before God or a hypocrite? What is God saying to you today?

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Rejection and Decisions

1Sam 13-14 How do we handle rejection? The people rejected Samuel in favor of a king. God reminded him that they were not rejecting him but God Himself. That is a powerful lesson for us to remember when we, too, face rejection. Samuel’s humble character is revealed in how he faced this. He went to God, not other people. What do I do when rejected? Do I turn to God and lay this burden before Him, or do I wallow in my self-imposed pity party? May I learn from Samuel that when rejected, handle it with humility.

Saul is chosen king, but he is a faithless king. He is ensnared by his fear of people rather than God. [Prov 29:25] He makes foolish vows which cause the people to be faint, which happens when God is not consulted. He who makes foolish vows will ultimately pay the price as King Saul did. Be wise and discerning when considering a vow because it is usually hypocritical and because of pride. “OUCH!”

Lessons for us from these passages: Remain humble when rejected and understand that God is rejected more so than us. Secondly, consult God before making decisions that will affect others.

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The Sad State of the Hypocrite

Hypocrisy

Job 21-23 If there is one sin that God hates more than any other, it is this: hypocrisy. A hypocrite has the form of godliness without power. But, strangely enough, both Eliphaz and Job agree on certain points. First, both agree that a hypocrite’s elation or joy is brief and lasts only a moment. [Job 20:5] Paul warned Timothy about hypocrisy. Beware; they have the appearance of religion but will have repudiated/denied its power. [2Tim 3:5] Job and Eliphaz agree on that point.

Secondly, the hypocrite will be revealed in the heavens when they stand before a holy, righteous God. But, here on earth, while they have life, they masquerade as godly, but God knows what is in their heart. They want God to depart from them; they do not desire the knowledge of God’s ways. [Job 21:14] As my neighbor said before his death, I never needed God in this life; I don’t need him in death. That is the most accurate picture of hypocrisy.

Thirdly, they think in their minds that God is “out to get them.” He watches to catch them in their sin and stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons. [Job 21:19] It is because of that faulty logic that they say the God of the OT is cruel while He is kind in the NT. 

Hypocrisy is a sin, so be wise, be discerning because this is true: You can be sure your sin [your hypocrisy] will find you out  [Num. 32:23]

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Responding to Hypocrites…

How to handle a broken heart

Ps 55-57 How To Handle Hypocrites

King David feels abandoned by someone. This was the person who was one of the king’s closest and most intimate of friends. To show how close they were, King David said: my close friend in whom I confided would share personal thoughts with each other and walk together in the holy temple of God.

We, too, may have been injured in our hearts by someone we considered our most exclusive of friends, who has suddenly, without cause, become an enemy. They are a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing another…behind our backs. We want retribution, for we feel we are the victim. In our humanness, we might turn to tale-bearing to another, and we might become angry, or we might sink into the pity party mode. Is this the biblical model?

Take a lesson from Jesus as he faced Judas’ kiss. He felt bereft, bereaved, and grief-stricken. Yet “When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly.” [1Peter 2:23]

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Choosing Words Carefully…

Choose words carefully

Job 32-34 and Luke 18 Self-Righteous Hypocrisy

For the first time, we hear from the young man Elihu. In reading this, one NT story comes to mind: the story of the self-righteous Pharisee and the humble Publican in Luke 18:9-14. It is amazing how the OT and the NT mirror each other. Enter Elihu, who has sat on the sidelines biding his time to speak, and he ‘humbly’ says I waited until you all had had your turn and Job as well. First, Elihu is angry because they could not find an answer, yet declared Job guilty. Then he becomes very angry! Elihu speaks for several chapters about how unrighteous Job is and how righteous he is. It sounds like the prayer of the Pharisee in Luke 18:11: I am so glad I am not like that other man, I do this, and I do that; indeed God is pleased. However, God said that it was not he, but the publican that went home justified.

Such hypocrisy! Do we become angry at one another? Are we much like the Pharisee? And so it goes. The lesson for us is this: we are not in the place of God; who are we to declare someone guilty before God? In this, we act like the Pharisee and not the Publican. Today, may we choose our words carefully for one day we will be held accountable for every word spoken! [Matt 12:36]

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The Gospel Then and Now

The gospel message

Jeremiah 43-44 Israel had come from captivity to freedom, yet they wished to return to Egypt. What irony and foolishness is this! In 1776 our nation was born out of conflict and bondage to a foreign government. Yet here in 2020, we find some that want us to return to that same bondage. They burn, loot, and say let us turn to socialism even though the evidence is overwhelmingly negative. It seems that men never learn except through hardship.

 Jeremiah 42 is an example of men who refuse to believe their prophet even though his words have come true repeatedly. They have lived through the desecration of their temple and palace. Their leaders are no more, and the Babylonians have set up a provisional government, yet these rebels would have none of it. They seek guidance from God, but when it does not match their ideas, they rebel, kidnap Jeremiah, and force him and Baruch to march to Egypt. What a show of hypocrisy and foolishness!

But, God, in His grace, speaks again to their heart. At the outset, God had said they would not listen, and today it is the same. Yet, like Jeremiah, we must steadfastly keep our eyes on God because He has sent us to tell that gospel message even when men blatantly say, “We will not listen to you!” Remember this:

“the gospel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes.” [Rom 1:16] 

Oh the grace and mercy of our God.

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Hypocrite! Hypocrite!

Jeremiah 40 to 43  In the NT, Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites meaning one who has the form of godliness without the power. But these religious leaders were not the first; Jeremiah meets them in our reading today. They came to Jeremiah feigning piety seeking God’s counsel about the next step.

Standing before him, they said: please pray to the Lord “your” God that He will tell us where we should go. We promise that whatever he says we will do. Ten days later Jeremiah emerges from his prayer closet with God’s counsel and it is resoundingly rejected. Those who were so pious showed their true heart when they said the Lord “our” God did not send you to tell us to stay here. How quickly they changed from ‘your’ God to ‘our’ God.

Setting piety aside they said, we are going to Egypt and guess what, you are going with us. How often are we like these people? We ask others to pray but when the answer comes we say no way did God say that. That is the height of hypocrisy!Jeremiah 40 43 hypocrisy2

God demands that we listen and obey. Proverbs 3 says ‘trust in the Lord’ with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. We say the first phrase but omit the second. God is not pleased.

 

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The Empty Manger

empty-manger2aRevelation 3&8 Part 6: “The Empty Manger”

The Alpha and Omega’s solemn pronouncement to the Church in Sardis. I hold the seven spirits of God and the seven stars and thus can see your vulnerability. Your walls appear strong and impenetrable but the enemy without sees with his binoculars that your watchman failed to stay alert. While retrieving his dropped helmet, he revealed your secret entrance and now the enemy has infiltrated your midst. Take a lesson from Habakkuk who stood at his watch without wavering.

To the outside world, your church appears alive but inside, I who searches the mind and heart see that you are like whitewashed tombs with dead men’s bones. Like the Pharisees of old, you are a hypocrite because you do not hunger and thirst for righteousness. Instead, you have a high opinion of yourself and are relying upon your works to earn your salvation.  In addition, I see your Christmas traditions with the nativity replica but the manger is empty. Where am I? Will you invite me to your Christmas celebration?

Oh Father, forgive us for relying on traditions, lights, and gifts which are temporal rather than on the Eternal Wonder of Your coming to earth as Emmanuel. Forgive us for being satisfied with the victories of the past and failing to see the fields are truly white for harvest. Come and fill our manger hearts with your presence.

Photo Credit: Udra11 http://tinyurl.com/z8l8jl8

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Romans 14 “Scarred Hearts”

broken heart2We have heard it said over and over and over: you are judging and that is wrong. Now to be sure there are times when we are to judge and to judge righteously when we discern error. However, in this chapter Paul over and over and over is trying to get our attention that when we judge or criticize another’s spiritual walk we have crossed the no-man’s zone of hypocrisy.

Paul asks “who are you to judge the servant of another?” and “why do you judge your brother?” And in the context of this discussion Paul is referring to three non-essentials of food, days and drink. Not one of these will keep us from heaven’s door but alone or together they may cause a brother/sister to stumble in their walk with Jesus. The problem is us not them. We have this urge to change others rather than accepting them as they are. Instead of a gentle quiet spirit we become a gonging cymbal as we beat our drum of “no, no, no” to those who may not be at the same maturity level as us all the while forgetting two essentials:

  1. We all will stand before God to give an accounting
  2. We will give an account of every idle word we have spoken

What we need to remember is that God looks not on the outward man as we do but on his heart. Let’s let God do the judging and we do the accepting lest we scar hearts God has already healed.

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