WEBVTT 00:00:02.180 --> 00:00:04.780 It is true that the Lord inhabits the praises 00:00:04.780 --> 00:00:08.720 of his people, and the Lord is present with us 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:10.759 this morning as we praise him and give thanks 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:17.140 to him for his call to us to be his own and to 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:21.660 run the race of life that God has given us. Would 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:24.320 you open your Bible this morning, please, to 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.879 the book of Matthew, chapter seven, verses four 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:30.859 and five, from where we will take our text. as 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:35.679 we continue the series entitled Truth or Consequences. 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:45.380 That title implies that there is truth and that 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:48.679 there are consequences if one rejects the truth. 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:52.500 This last Sunday in Pastor Don's message you 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:55.700 heard about some of the consequences and especially 00:00:55.700 --> 00:01:01.149 the eternal consequence of hell. if we spurn 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:08.530 the truth of God. Truth matters. Truth is the 00:01:08.530 --> 00:01:13.390 dividing line between right and wrong, between 00:01:13.390 --> 00:01:19.030 reality and fantasy, and ultimately between heaven 00:01:19.030 --> 00:01:25.670 and hell. It matters. Claiming to possess the 00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:33.120 truth is risky. especially in a PC culture of 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:37.519 relativism where every idea is thought to be 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.819 equally valid and where any notion of absolute 00:01:41.819 --> 00:01:47.939 truth is considered intolerant, narrow, and bigoted. 00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:54.180 Of course, those who know the truth, you and 00:01:54.180 --> 00:01:59.469 I in Jesus Christ, we are to be tolerant in the 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:03.230 traditional sense of that word, which is that 00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:06.750 everyone has a right to their own opinion. That 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:09.949 is true. And I think every one of us would agree 00:02:09.949 --> 00:02:12.689 with that this morning, that we should be tolerant 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:16.949 in that traditional sense. But as it has been 00:02:16.949 --> 00:02:24.129 redefined in our pop postmodern culture, it now 00:02:24.129 --> 00:02:29.099 means that everyone's opinion is right. And that's 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:35.580 wrong. And so we cannot tolerate that idea. Today, 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:40.120 if you say that someone is wrong, you're frequently 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:44.020 labeled intolerant. And intolerance is the unpardonable 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:48.300 sin of the leftist politically correct ideology 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:54.490 that controls the culture. Claim. to have the 00:02:54.490 --> 00:02:58.069 truth and say that is absolute, and you will 00:02:58.069 --> 00:03:02.590 bring yourself under attack in the school classroom, 00:03:03.409 --> 00:03:07.110 in the office place, in the friendships of your 00:03:07.110 --> 00:03:11.689 life, even in the family circle. Claim that you 00:03:11.689 --> 00:03:15.370 have the truth, that you know the truth, and 00:03:15.370 --> 00:03:20.889 others will attack you. One of the common statements 00:03:20.889 --> 00:03:25.129 that is used in attacking you is if Christianity 00:03:25.129 --> 00:03:29.610 is true, why are there so many hypocrites? Have 00:03:29.610 --> 00:03:35.090 you ever heard anything like that before? Such 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:39.770 a distinguished figure and thinker as Mick Jagger, 00:03:39.990 --> 00:03:47.310 who as you may know is the aging leader of the 00:03:47.310 --> 00:03:51.090 band called the Strolling Bones. I'm sorry, the 00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:55.349 Rolling Stones. has recently recorded a song 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:58.669 that essentially says, why are Christians such 00:03:58.669 --> 00:04:03.729 hypocrites? Maybe you've heard it. Well sadly, 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:08.129 the accusing question has some basis in fact, 00:04:08.310 --> 00:04:12.389 doesn't it? There are hypocrites in the church. 00:04:14.430 --> 00:04:17.990 And that seems strange, perhaps, because Jesus 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:23.569 himself so strongly denounced hypocrisy. Listen 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:27.569 to his words in this text in Matthew. It is only 00:04:27.569 --> 00:04:29.589 one of several texts that we could read from 00:04:29.589 --> 00:04:32.029 this morning, quoting Jesus himself, but look 00:04:32.029 --> 00:04:34.689 at what he says in verse four of Matthew seven. 00:04:35.410 --> 00:04:38.949 How can you say to your brother, let me take 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:43.569 the speck out of your eye, when all the time 00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:49.329 there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, 00:04:49.990 --> 00:04:53.240 first take the plank out of your own eye, and 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.819 then you will see clearly to remove the speck 00:04:55.819 --> 00:05:00.399 from your brother's eye. Jesus is using strong 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.740 and graphic language here, quite an amazing illustration 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:07.100 of a plank sticking out of someone's eye who 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:09.819 is actually trying to pick the speck out of someone 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:14.879 else's. And Jesus calls him a hypocrite. Jesus 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:18.800 warned his followers, be on your guard against 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:24.629 the yeast of the Pharisees. Which is, he says, 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:31.149 hypocrisy. Yeast, of course, is good in the sense 00:05:31.149 --> 00:05:33.930 that it enables us to bake wonderful things and 00:05:33.930 --> 00:05:37.769 enjoy them. But it enables that because yeast 00:05:37.769 --> 00:05:41.949 corrupts. And because of that corruption, it's 00:05:41.949 --> 00:05:45.370 frequently used in the Bible as a symbol of what 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:50.839 is bad and evil. And so Jesus says, beware of 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:55.519 the leaven or the yeast of the Pharisees, which 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:00.959 is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy among Jesus' followers 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.360 is not a modern phenomenon either. It has been 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.040 an issue from the very beginning of the church. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.240 Even the leader of the apostles was guilty of 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:17.560 hypocrisy. In Galatians chapter two and verse 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:21.660 11, Paul recounts an incident when he had to 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:26.220 confront Peter himself. Peter, the leader of 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:30.379 the apostles. Here's what Paul says, verses 11 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:36.259 through 13. What Paul says, when Peter came to 00:06:36.259 --> 00:06:41.220 Antioch, he says, I opposed him to his face because 00:06:41.220 --> 00:06:44.540 he was clearly in the wrong. And here's what 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:47.339 he means. He says, before certain men came from 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:50.800 James, James being the leader of the church in 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:54.740 Jerusalem, and this delegation apparently had 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:57.540 come from the Jerusalem church to the church 00:06:57.540 --> 00:07:02.899 in Antioch in Syria north of there. And he says, 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:06.579 before these men came, Peter used to eat with 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:10.459 the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began 00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:15.420 to draw back. and separate himself from the Gentiles 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:20.540 because he was afraid of those who belonged to 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:27.019 the circumcision group. That was a very mistaken 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:31.180 group of Jewish people who thought that you had 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:35.980 to be circumcised to go through the Jewish rituals 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:42.600 and believe in Jesus. in order to be a Christ 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:47.120 follower. And Paul writes the whole book of Galatians 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:50.160 really to denounce that idea. He says you have 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:53.639 absolutely no obligation to the rituals of religion. 00:07:54.660 --> 00:07:57.500 He says it is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.100 And so he points out at the beginning of the 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:07.180 book that even Peter, years after Peter had been 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:12.329 the named leader, of the church in Jerusalem. 00:08:13.129 --> 00:08:19.949 Even Peter had been afraid to cross those who 00:08:19.949 --> 00:08:24.050 taught that false doctrine. And so he says the 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:30.470 other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that 00:08:30.470 --> 00:08:34.990 by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:38.929 Now this is Paul writing about a confrontation, 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:42.610 a conflict that he had with Peter and with others 00:08:42.610 --> 00:08:47.269 who were playing the hypocrite in the church 00:08:47.269 --> 00:08:51.490 in Antioch. My point here simply is this, that 00:08:51.490 --> 00:08:57.870 no one of us is immune to hypocrisy. None of 00:08:57.870 --> 00:09:01.610 us, including myself, can point the finger at 00:09:01.610 --> 00:09:04.070 somebody else and say, I've never been the hypocrite, 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:09.899 but you are. The fact is that all of us at some 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:12.620 time in our lives have played the role of the 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:17.240 hypocrite. So how do we respond to this accusation, 00:09:17.299 --> 00:09:21.460 this charge that we sometimes hear? How can Christianity 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:27.100 be true when there are so many hypocrites? How 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:31.340 do you respond to that? Well, let's be honest. 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:36.460 The hypocrisy is a real issue. But let me suggest 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:40.460 a couple of things to keep in mind as we say 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:45.320 that. I want you to keep these in mind because 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:48.960 you do not need to be silenced or intimidated 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:53.899 by anyone who throws this accusation at you regarding 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:58.299 hypocrisy in the church. First of all, I want 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:02.759 you to remember what hypocrisy is. Its meaning 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:07.970 is simple. It is to pretend to be something that 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:12.110 you're not. To pretend to be something that you're 00:10:12.110 --> 00:10:16.970 not. Jesus denounced the Pharisees because they 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:21.509 put on this show of external righteousness, pretending 00:10:21.509 --> 00:10:23.990 that they obeyed all the commandments of God 00:10:23.990 --> 00:10:29.149 when internally, he knew that was not the case. 00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:35.100 They were very proud of their external self -righteousness 00:10:35.100 --> 00:10:38.940 and put others down because of it and Jesus called 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:45.480 them publicly hypocrites Years later Peter was 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:49.919 guilty of the same He was fine eating and drinking 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:53.720 and associating with the Gentile believers Until 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.779 this party of legalistic Jews arrived from Jerusalem, 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:00.779 and he changed his behavior He felt intimidated 00:11:00.779 --> 00:11:04.559 and pressured to follow these rules of strict 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:06.960 separation from the Gentiles that had been laid 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:12.580 aside. He knew what the truth was. He had lived 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:15.559 according to the truth and then he fell backwards. 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:20.919 He acted otherwise and he played a role in order 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:25.899 to please people. And he denied the truth that 00:11:25.899 --> 00:11:29.740 he knew. Webster's Underbridge Dictionary says 00:11:29.740 --> 00:11:33.139 that hypocrisy is a person who, a hypocrite rather, 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.559 is a person who pretends to have virtuous character, 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:42.019 moral or religious beliefs or principles that 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:46.399 he really does not possess, especially a person 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:53.580 whose actions belie his stated beliefs. Hypocrisy 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:58.789 is derived from the Greek word hypocris. That 00:11:58.789 --> 00:12:04.129 word meant playing a part on the stage. It referred 00:12:04.129 --> 00:12:08.049 to the Greek actors who put on masks in order 00:12:08.049 --> 00:12:10.889 to represent the character that they were supposed 00:12:10.889 --> 00:12:16.289 to be. In old days, that had no negative connotation 00:12:16.289 --> 00:12:19.210 to it because that was a part of the theater 00:12:19.210 --> 00:12:23.029 language of that day. But then it was used in 00:12:23.029 --> 00:12:26.039 the New Testament in a different way. of those 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.700 who simply play a role that does not represent 00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:35.039 who they really are. In their very fine book 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.860 entitled I'm Glad You Ask, Ken Bola and Larry 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:40.860 Moody talk about different forms of hypocrisy. 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:46.259 They say, for example, hypocrites are those who 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:50.139 join a church for the wrong reasons. Have you 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:53.159 ever known anyone like that? Over the years, 00:12:53.159 --> 00:12:56.419 I've met some. who joined the church not because 00:12:56.419 --> 00:13:00.519 they wanted to identify with its spiritual mission 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:04.840 and believed in its values necessarily, but they 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:09.059 joined the church for social reasons. Or they 00:13:09.059 --> 00:13:11.240 joined the church because of business reasons 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.179 or because they were maybe pressured by family. 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:21.580 Hypocrites. They point out also that, hypocrisy 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:24.419 is having a greater love for orthodox doctrine 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:28.860 than for objects of that doctrine. This goes 00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:30.740 right to the heart of what the Pharisees were 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:36.759 about. Hypocrisy is spiritual leaders who maintain, 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:41.100 who make rather, solemn public, who maintain, 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.659 let me go back, spiritual leaders who maintain 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:48.240 a super spiritual image. Have you ever known 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:52.149 someone like that? You're almost afraid to be 00:13:52.149 --> 00:13:55.970 around them because they seem to be so in tune 00:13:55.970 --> 00:14:00.870 with God but the reason that sometimes that that 00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:03.110 is the case is because they're hiding something 00:14:03.110 --> 00:14:07.009 else in their lives and they give this pretense 00:14:07.009 --> 00:14:11.730 that they never fail and they never sin and because 00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:17.149 of that we see them as being holy when in the 00:14:17.149 --> 00:14:19.700 fact The fact of the matter is that there's something 00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:23.580 less perhaps. Hypocrisy can come looking like 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:27.500 that. It can also be found among those who make 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:32.299 solemn public vows and then flagrantly violate 00:14:32.299 --> 00:14:37.679 them. People who stand before God in a congregation 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:40.639 and say that they take this person till death 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:46.299 do us part and they promise to be faithful. and 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:49.360 then they go out and commit adultery. That's 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:54.759 hypocrisy. Or those who join a church promising 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.320 to support that church and pray for that church 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:00.179 and be a part of the life of that church and 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:02.700 then attend only on Sundays and are not involved 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:08.759 otherwise. Hypocrisy. When we take a solemn vow, 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:12.259 when we say publicly that we're going to do something, 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:16.120 then we ought to take that very seriously. You 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:19.440 see, there is this terrible tendency in all of 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:25.840 us to compartmentalize our lives and then to 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:29.019 rationalize our hypocritical behavior because 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:32.559 of that. We put our lives into boxes and we say, 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:37.039 well this is my church life, this is my family 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:41.279 life, this is my work life, and this is my school 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:46.049 life. And I can be one way in this compartment, 00:15:46.149 --> 00:15:48.690 another way in this compartment, I can act another 00:15:48.690 --> 00:15:51.190 way yet in this compartment, and over here I'm 00:15:51.190 --> 00:15:55.970 like this. Folks, that is the very common way 00:15:55.970 --> 00:15:58.330 that people approach their lives today in our 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:03.389 world. It is a very dangerous way to live because 00:16:03.389 --> 00:16:07.230 we become self -deceived. We think that somehow 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:10.470 then we can justify what we do because what I 00:16:10.470 --> 00:16:13.840 do over here in this part of my life, It doesn't 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.539 affect what I do in this part of my life. That's 00:16:17.539 --> 00:16:22.240 hypocrisy. There are people who go to church, 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:27.320 they go to youth group, and yet when they're 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:29.440 around their non -Christian friends, they act 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.460 and they talk like something else. Like they're 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:39.779 not Christians at all. There are those who present 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.840 themselves as Christians and yet have a completely 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:47.559 different persona when they're online or they're 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:52.179 in chat rooms or their own personal space on 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:55.220 the internet where they post pictures and say 00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:58.460 things and make claims that do not honor Jesus 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:02.480 Christ. That's the very thing that Jesus was 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:06.539 condemning so strongly, hypocrisy, in people 00:17:06.539 --> 00:17:11.420 who claim to be godly. and the followers of himself. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:19.420 Hypocrisy is living a lie. Hypocrisy is putting 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:24.539 on a mask. Hypocrisy is being an actor on the 00:17:24.539 --> 00:17:27.859 stage. It's being this performer who goes through 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:31.599 his routine and then when he leaves stage, he's 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:36.160 something else altogether. Hypocrisy is covering 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:40.500 your faults. so as to convey an impression about 00:17:40.500 --> 00:17:45.619 you that is untrue, something that doesn't correspond 00:17:45.619 --> 00:17:58.819 to reality. It's being two or more people, depending 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:04.680 upon the group that you're being around. The 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.279 story is told about a mother who prepared a wonderful 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.019 dinner for some guests who came over, and they 00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:13.660 sat down at the table, prepared to eat this meal. 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:17.839 It was a very hot day, and she had worked hard 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:19.880 that day to prepare the meal, and little Johnny, 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:22.180 four years old, was at the table. She says, Johnny, 00:18:22.259 --> 00:18:25.299 would you lead us in prayer? And Johnny said, 00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:28.319 well, I don't know what to say. And she said, 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.720 well, just say what you hear me say. And so he 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.259 prayed, and he said, oh Lord, Why did I invite 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:46.160 these people over on a hot day like this? You 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:50.940 know, we need to work on getting our internal 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:56.779 and our external coordinated. To get them matched 00:18:56.779 --> 00:19:03.660 up, because that's what integrity is. Integrity 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:07.480 is when we're whole and we don't have these compartments. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:12.740 We're whole. We're not one way when we're with 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:16.480 our friends at school and another way when we're 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.339 with our friends at church. We're not one way 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:22.200 when we are at work and another way when we come 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:26.940 to the Bible study. Integrity is when we are 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:30.279 whole. We have it together. Now the fact is that 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:32.940 none of us have it perfectly together. None of 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:38.519 us. That's what the race is about. We're pressing 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:41.940 on in that direction. But let none of us be content 00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:47.019 to be hypocrites. Let none of us live in such 00:19:47.019 --> 00:19:49.079 a way that our lives are compartmentalized and 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:53.299 we think that this is normal. It is normal in 00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:56.819 our world. It is not normal for the followers 00:19:56.819 --> 00:20:02.920 of Jesus. But let me think with you for a moment 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:07.019 also regarding what hypocrisy is not. We've talked 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:09.880 about what it is, and it makes all of us a little 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:13.440 uncomfortable, doesn't it? But let's talk about 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:17.380 what hypocrisy is not. First of all, hypocrisy 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:22.380 is not limited to Christians. Every religion, 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:27.279 every profession, every social group, every workplace, 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:34.299 every movement is infected with hypocrites. Professionals 00:20:34.299 --> 00:20:37.420 in our world are infected with hypocrites. There 00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:41.839 are physicians who perform abortions. People 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.599 who have taken a vow to protect human life and 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:50.259 they take human life. There are mental health 00:20:50.259 --> 00:20:53.519 professionals who manipulate clients for their 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:58.130 own personal gratification. As we have been so 00:20:58.130 --> 00:21:00.930 tragically reminded even this last week, there 00:21:00.930 --> 00:21:03.829 are school teachers who abuse and even seduce 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:10.769 their students. Hypocrites. There are politicians 00:21:10.769 --> 00:21:14.609 who position themselves to be moderate. That's 00:21:14.609 --> 00:21:17.690 how they want to appear, but in reality, they're 00:21:17.690 --> 00:21:22.609 leftists. There are conservatives or... politicians 00:21:22.609 --> 00:21:25.009 who say they're conservatives and yet they have 00:21:25.009 --> 00:21:27.390 no problem voting to make government even bigger 00:21:27.390 --> 00:21:31.910 and more powerful. There are union officials 00:21:31.910 --> 00:21:34.369 and civil rights leaders who claim to be for 00:21:34.369 --> 00:21:37.650 the little guy and for the oppressed and yet 00:21:37.650 --> 00:21:40.670 who are really in it for the money and the power. 00:21:41.509 --> 00:21:46.670 Hypocrites. There are environmentalists who drive 00:21:46.670 --> 00:21:53.960 gas guzzling SUVs. There are PC Nazis who demand 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:57.859 tolerance, but who threaten those who disagree 00:21:57.859 --> 00:22:02.779 with them. There are contractors who bid a job 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:04.720 and then they don't perform according to what 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.359 they promised to do in the contract. There are 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:10.859 employees who claim a certain number of hours 00:22:10.859 --> 00:22:13.400 on the time card and yet they don't really actually 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:17.400 work that much. There are applicants... who lie 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:19.839 on their resumes about their qualifications in 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.519 order to try to get a job. What I'm saying to 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:27.420 you is that hypocrisy is not limited to Christians. 00:22:28.980 --> 00:22:32.519 Remember that when somebody accuses you of being 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:36.539 a part of a movement of hypocrites. Hypocrite 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:41.720 is endemic in our world. I am not justifying 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.420 hypocrisy in saying this, believe me. Don't misunderstand 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:47.930 me. I'm not saying because there are hypocrites 00:22:47.930 --> 00:22:50.230 everywhere, it's okay to be in the church. I 00:22:50.230 --> 00:22:52.930 am not saying that. But what I am saying is that 00:22:52.930 --> 00:22:55.029 it's endemic in our world. It's common. It's 00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:57.569 everywhere in the world, in every strata of our 00:22:57.569 --> 00:23:05.609 society. Why then is the charge so hurtful when 00:23:05.609 --> 00:23:11.210 it's applied to Christians? The answer is because 00:23:11.210 --> 00:23:18.220 of Jesus. And because the world knows enough 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:24.759 about Jesus that we who follow him should be 00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:31.119 above reproach. That's why it hurts so much when 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:39.319 a Christian is known as a hypocrite. Secondly, 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:44.759 hypocrisy is not what many people assume. I go 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:47.579 back to Boa and Moody again in their book where 00:23:47.579 --> 00:23:49.799 they summarize it by saying this. There are some 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.599 false assumptions about hypocrisy. Assumption 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:56.839 number one, that profession means possession. 00:23:58.200 --> 00:23:59.799 There are many people in our world who take it 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:01.900 for granted that because someone claims to be 00:24:01.900 --> 00:24:07.579 a Christian, he is one. However, you and I know 00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:11.559 that's not the case. Only a genuine believer 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:15.650 can be a Christian hypocrite. And frankly, many 00:24:15.650 --> 00:24:18.950 of the accusations that are leveled against Christianity 00:24:18.950 --> 00:24:24.990 are the misdeeds of false believers, not real 00:24:24.990 --> 00:24:29.089 Christ followers. So there's that false assumption 00:24:29.089 --> 00:24:34.769 that profession means possession. It doesn't. 00:24:35.289 --> 00:24:37.230 The second false assumption is that Christians 00:24:37.230 --> 00:24:40.950 claim to be perfect. That Christians claim to 00:24:40.950 --> 00:24:43.309 be perfect. A lot of people have that idea of 00:24:43.309 --> 00:24:49.029 us. The authors write, some non -Christians put 00:24:49.029 --> 00:24:52.390 Christians in a lose -lose situation. On the 00:24:52.390 --> 00:24:54.730 one hand, they impose a double standard expecting 00:24:54.730 --> 00:24:57.890 Christians to behave on a level that they themselves 00:24:57.890 --> 00:25:01.450 never think of attaining. And on the other hand, 00:25:01.849 --> 00:25:04.289 they're offended by righteous behavior because 00:25:04.289 --> 00:25:07.630 of their inward sense of guilt. And when their 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:10.210 Christian friends behave in a godly manner, they 00:25:10.210 --> 00:25:14.250 assume it must be a show and equate piety with 00:25:14.250 --> 00:25:20.309 pretense. The truth is that no one knows his 00:25:20.309 --> 00:25:23.490 own faults more than a genuine child of God. 00:25:23.549 --> 00:25:27.670 Isn't that true? No one knows his own faults 00:25:27.670 --> 00:25:30.589 more than a child of God. And no true child of 00:25:30.589 --> 00:25:34.589 God, really, if he's in his right mind, if he's 00:25:34.589 --> 00:25:37.690 walking with Christ, is going to claim to be 00:25:37.690 --> 00:25:41.309 perfect. We know very well we're not perfect. 00:25:41.869 --> 00:25:47.089 Thank God we're forgiven. False assumption number 00:25:47.089 --> 00:25:49.529 three, not only do Christians, the false assumption 00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:51.529 that they're, Christians claim to be perfect, 00:25:51.569 --> 00:25:54.710 but a third false assumption is that all sin 00:25:54.710 --> 00:25:58.269 is hypocrisy, and that is not the case either. 00:25:59.690 --> 00:26:02.950 All sin is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when there's 00:26:02.950 --> 00:26:08.470 a willful pretense, when there's a choice to 00:26:08.470 --> 00:26:11.190 pretend to be something that is contrary to the 00:26:11.190 --> 00:26:15.220 truth. In a sense, hypocrisy is a compounding 00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:20.140 sin. What I mean by that is that there's the 00:26:20.140 --> 00:26:23.640 initial sin, whatever it is in one's life, and 00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:29.380 it's compounded by my lying about it and pretending 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:33.599 to be something I'm not. And so it is really 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:38.619 a compounding sin in a certain sense. Making 00:26:38.619 --> 00:26:43.990 a claim. to be in the truth, but not walking 00:26:43.990 --> 00:26:47.809 in the truth is what hypocrisy is. So there are 00:26:47.809 --> 00:26:50.529 people who have false assumptions about hypocrisy. 00:26:50.829 --> 00:26:54.170 Hypocrisy is not what many assume it is. The 00:26:54.170 --> 00:26:56.849 third statement I want to make, and that is that 00:26:56.849 --> 00:27:03.730 hypocrisy is not attributed to Jesus, ever. That 00:27:03.730 --> 00:27:09.920 was never once a charge made against him. but 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:15.059 it is his followers who sometimes fail. Jesus 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:20.599 himself, however, is the very antithesis of hypocrisy. 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:26.559 Never is it found in him. And as I say, the world 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:31.460 almost innately understands this. And that's 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:37.480 why the charge against you and me is so offensive. 00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:43.900 to them when we sin and try to cover it up because 00:27:43.900 --> 00:27:47.220 they know Jesus is not a hypocrite. Finally, 00:27:47.420 --> 00:27:52.559 hypocrisy is not acceptable as an excuse. What 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:54.400 I'm saying here is that everyone else in the 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:58.339 world, if everyone else in the world were a hypocrite, 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:02.980 that would not excuse a person from responsibility 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:08.230 for his own choices and his own life. You see, 00:28:08.269 --> 00:28:14.670 the standard is Jesus, not somebody else. If 00:28:14.670 --> 00:28:17.250 you're holding out on a relationship with Jesus 00:28:17.250 --> 00:28:21.630 Christ because of someone else's sin and their 00:28:21.630 --> 00:28:26.430 hypocrisy, my friend, you're the loser. You're 00:28:26.430 --> 00:28:31.049 the loser. Don't allow resentment in your heart 00:28:31.049 --> 00:28:35.809 over somebody else's hypocrisy. to keep you from 00:28:35.809 --> 00:28:38.089 experiencing the forgiveness and the life that 00:28:38.089 --> 00:28:43.170 is found in Jesus Christ alone. Don't try to 00:28:43.170 --> 00:28:47.990 use hypocrisy as your excuse for coming to Jesus, 00:28:48.049 --> 00:28:51.089 for not coming to Jesus. We have to acknowledge 00:28:51.089 --> 00:28:54.890 that there are hypocrites in the church. What 00:28:54.890 --> 00:28:57.750 I say to you, my brothers and sisters, is don't 00:28:57.750 --> 00:29:03.690 be one. Be sure. that there is one fewer hypocrite 00:29:03.690 --> 00:29:07.910 than many people think there are. Be authentic 00:29:07.910 --> 00:29:14.690 and real about your faith walk. You can't control 00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:18.069 anyone else and the choices they make, but you 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:22.809 can control your choices. You can choose to be 00:29:22.809 --> 00:29:28.549 real, and Jesus will be pleased. Remember this, 00:29:28.990 --> 00:29:33.599 that the truth of Christianity rests on the person 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:36.940 of Jesus, not the performance of his people. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:42.099 For those of you wondering about hypocrites in 00:29:42.099 --> 00:29:44.480 the church, let me just share this. You can count 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.339 on it. There are some. Because people will fail 00:29:48.339 --> 00:29:53.759 you. Even the best of us, even Peter, even the 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.900 most well -intentioned of all of us, will at 00:29:56.900 --> 00:30:01.759 some time be a hypocrite. So don't place your 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:05.400 faith in others who are very much just like you, 00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:08.400 but place your faith in the Son of God alone 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:12.539 because he is absolutely worthy of your trust 00:30:12.539 --> 00:30:17.180 and your faith. Above all, don't go to hell because 00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:20.460 somebody else failed and may be going there. 00:30:21.579 --> 00:30:25.400 You don't have to follow the hypocrite into hell. 00:30:29.050 --> 00:30:33.670 Ravi Zacharias is one of the finest apologists 00:30:33.670 --> 00:30:38.309 for Christianity in our day, in my opinion. He 00:30:38.309 --> 00:30:41.029 shared a story recently that is found in Marie 00:30:41.029 --> 00:30:43.829 Chapion's book, Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. 00:30:43.869 --> 00:30:48.170 Perhaps you've read it. It is a book that follows 00:30:48.170 --> 00:30:51.970 the Yugoslavian Christian churches suffering 00:30:51.970 --> 00:30:58.940 under a cruel and corrupt church hierarchy. a 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:04.720 church hierarchy. One day, she tells the story 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:08.319 of one day an evangelist by the name of Yaakov 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:11.539 who arrived in a certain village in Yugoslavia. 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.799 He commiserated with an elderly man named Simraman 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:19.400 on the tragedies he had experienced and he talked 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:24.839 to him about his love for Christ. Simraman abruptly 00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:27.920 interrupted Yaakov. and told him that he wished 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:32.579 to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded 00:31:32.579 --> 00:31:36.839 Yaakov of the dreadful history of the church 00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:41.000 right there in his town, a history that was replete 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.880 with plundering, exploiting, and indeed even 00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:46.640 the killing of innocent people in the name of 00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:50.759 the church. My own nephew was killed by them, 00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:54.680 he said, and angrily he rebuffed any effort on 00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:59.660 Yaakov's part. to talk to him about Christ. Zimmerman 00:31:59.660 --> 00:32:03.059 said, they wear those elaborate coats and crosses 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:06.160 signifying a heavenly commission, but they're 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:09.339 evil designs in their lives I cannot ignore. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:14.319 Yaakov, looking for an occasion to get Zimmerman 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:17.420 to change his line of thinking, said Zimmerman, 00:32:17.880 --> 00:32:22.039 can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal 00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:26.730 your coat and put it on. and then break into 00:32:26.730 --> 00:32:31.849 a bank. And suppose further that the police sighted 00:32:31.849 --> 00:32:34.250 me running in the distance but could not catch 00:32:34.250 --> 00:32:38.950 up with me. One clue, however, put them on your 00:32:38.950 --> 00:32:42.789 track, and that is the recognition of your coat. 00:32:44.069 --> 00:32:46.430 What would you say to them if they came to your 00:32:46.430 --> 00:32:48.950 house and accused you of breaking into the bank? 00:32:49.849 --> 00:32:55.250 I would deny it, said Zimmerman. Ah, but we saw 00:32:55.250 --> 00:32:59.930 your coat, they would say, retorted Yaakov. The 00:32:59.930 --> 00:33:03.390 analogy quite annoyed Zimmerman, who told Yaakov 00:33:03.390 --> 00:33:08.529 to leave his home. Yaakov continued to return 00:33:08.529 --> 00:33:11.509 to that village and periodically would befriend 00:33:11.509 --> 00:33:14.490 Zimmerman, encourage him, and try to share the 00:33:14.490 --> 00:33:18.269 love of Christ with him. Finally, one day Zimmerman 00:33:18.269 --> 00:33:25.690 asked, Yaakov. How does one become a Christian? 00:33:27.690 --> 00:33:29.910 And so Yaakov taught him the simple steps of 00:33:29.910 --> 00:33:33.069 repentance of sin and of faith in the finished 00:33:33.069 --> 00:33:38.329 work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to 00:33:38.329 --> 00:33:42.869 the shepherd of his soul. Zimmerman bent his 00:33:42.869 --> 00:33:46.309 knee right there in the soil with his head bowed 00:33:46.309 --> 00:33:50.079 and he surrendered his life to Christ. and he 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:52.900 rose from his feet, wiping away the tears in 00:33:52.900 --> 00:33:55.960 his eyes. He embraced Yaakov and he said, thank 00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:59.619 you for being in my life. And then he pointed 00:33:59.619 --> 00:34:05.880 to the heavens and he whispered, you wear his 00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:13.559 coat very well. Don't you wanna wear Jesus' coat 00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:21.119 well? Let's pray. Lord Jesus.