Based on Romans 2:17-29 (New King James Version)
“Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written. For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”
Today’s message is simple, but certainly the most challenging. This deals with a person’s most intimate side, and we all have this capacity (some more than others): to be a hypocrite. Because unfortunately, we all have a certain type or measure of hypocrisy. What makes this type of message very difficult is that it is very hard to admit something like this. If you call someone a hypocrite, I don’t think they will take it too well. The good news is that we can all change this, little by little. And, God is the most interested of all to end this evil, because he hates it. He will try through all means necessary to remove this issue little by little, through His Word, and through circumstances. This is one of the main goals of the process of sanctification: eliminating hypocrisy.
The first point: We all have it. Hypocrisy is synonymous, or directly related to lying and deceit; to help provide some clarity. The Bible says: …let God be true but every man a liar… Romans 3:4, and, “‘…All men are liars.’” Psalm 116:11. It is also written: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9. So then, unfortunately, that sums it up well for all of us.
With every evil, it is necessary to know how to identify it and define it, particularly in our own life. And this is what makes it very difficult. No one likes to admit that they have a problem, and especially something that sounds this bad. Many things can happen. Either the person tries to justify themselves by saying: “maybe I have some, but not that much,” or someone starts changing their focus from themselves to someone else, seeing that other people have this problem, but not them. Or simply, they avoid it. They think that by just leaving things alone without resolving them, that somehow, things will get fixed on their own; or by blinding themselves to the truth that the wrong will disappear somehow. It’s like the liar that brainwashes himself with: “It’s not a lie if I believe it”. The issue is that justifying ourselves does not fix anything, nor focusing on other people does it make it better, nor avoiding the problem. And finally, the only one you deceive when you brainwash yourself with your own lie is you.
Now, let’s see the different ways that possibly this very evasive problem can reveal itself. There are people that exaggerate smaller problems, thereby demanding more perfection without them demanding the same from themselves, o committing bigger wrongs then what they are accusing other people of. The Bible gives this example: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Lucas 7:1-5.
There are other folks that accuse others to hide their own problems, or they make like they care about something, but they are more focused on their own interests. The Bible gives this example: “Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” John 12:3-6.
There are people that try to give an appearance of holiness and perfection that does not exist, but instead, there are hidden things that only God can see. The Lord confronted them in this manner: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:27-28.
And well, there are those that say or desire to do something, but when the time comes, they do something completely different. And the Scriptures give us this example: “Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples.” Matthew 26:33-35. And if we remember the story, all of them, except John, abandoned Him.
There can be more examples, but I think you get the general problem and how it shows itself. If you have a problem visualizing, I would suggest that you take an event in your life and see it like if you were a spectator, like if you were watching a movie where you are the main character. Do you like what you see? God doesn’t like any of it, and desires for each person to change through His Son Jesus, because He knows that each person can change and be transformed, if they legitimately make Him the Lord of their life. The Lord makes treasures out of things that are not so valuable. Do you want to change and be different? Lord bless! John