It is true that the Lord inhabits the praises
of his people, and the Lord is present with us
this morning as we praise him and give thanks
to him for his call to us to be his own and to
run the race of life that God has given us. Would
you open your Bible this morning, please, to
the book of Matthew, chapter seven, verses four
and five, from where we will take our text. as
we continue the series entitled Truth or Consequences.
That title implies that there is truth and that
there are consequences if one rejects the truth.
This last Sunday in Pastor Don's message you
heard about some of the consequences and especially
the eternal consequence of hell. if we spurn
the truth of God. Truth matters. Truth is the
dividing line between right and wrong, between
reality and fantasy, and ultimately between heaven
and hell. It matters. Claiming to possess the
truth is risky. especially in a PC culture of
relativism where every idea is thought to be
equally valid and where any notion of absolute
truth is considered intolerant, narrow, and bigoted.
Of course, those who know the truth, you and
I in Jesus Christ, we are to be tolerant in the
traditional sense of that word, which is that
everyone has a right to their own opinion. That
is true. And I think every one of us would agree
with that this morning, that we should be tolerant
in that traditional sense. But as it has been
redefined in our pop postmodern culture, it now
means that everyone's opinion is right. And that's
wrong. And so we cannot tolerate that idea. Today,
if you say that someone is wrong, you're frequently
labeled intolerant. And intolerance is the unpardonable
sin of the leftist politically correct ideology
that controls the culture. Claim. to have the
truth and say that is absolute, and you will
bring yourself under attack in the school classroom,
in the office place, in the friendships of your
life, even in the family circle. Claim that you
have the truth, that you know the truth, and
others will attack you. One of the common statements
that is used in attacking you is if Christianity
is true, why are there so many hypocrites? Have
you ever heard anything like that before? Such
a distinguished figure and thinker as Mick Jagger,
who as you may know is the aging leader of the
band called the Strolling Bones. I'm sorry, the
Rolling Stones. has recently recorded a song
that essentially says, why are Christians such
hypocrites? Maybe you've heard it. Well sadly,
the accusing question has some basis in fact,
doesn't it? There are hypocrites in the church.
And that seems strange, perhaps, because Jesus
himself so strongly denounced hypocrisy. Listen
to his words in this text in Matthew. It is only
one of several texts that we could read from
this morning, quoting Jesus himself, but look
at what he says in verse four of Matthew seven.
How can you say to your brother, let me take
the speck out of your eye, when all the time
there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother's eye. Jesus is using strong
and graphic language here, quite an amazing illustration
of a plank sticking out of someone's eye who
is actually trying to pick the speck out of someone
else's. And Jesus calls him a hypocrite. Jesus
warned his followers, be on your guard against
the yeast of the Pharisees. Which is, he says,
hypocrisy. Yeast, of course, is good in the sense
that it enables us to bake wonderful things and
enjoy them. But it enables that because yeast
corrupts. And because of that corruption, it's
frequently used in the Bible as a symbol of what
is bad and evil. And so Jesus says, beware of
the leaven or the yeast of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy among Jesus' followers
is not a modern phenomenon either. It has been
an issue from the very beginning of the church.
Even the leader of the apostles was guilty of
hypocrisy. In Galatians chapter two and verse
11, Paul recounts an incident when he had to
confront Peter himself. Peter, the leader of
the apostles. Here's what Paul says, verses 11
through 13. What Paul says, when Peter came to
Antioch, he says, I opposed him to his face because
he was clearly in the wrong. And here's what
he means. He says, before certain men came from
James, James being the leader of the church in
Jerusalem, and this delegation apparently had
come from the Jerusalem church to the church
in Antioch in Syria north of there. And he says,
before these men came, Peter used to eat with
the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began
to draw back. and separate himself from the Gentiles
because he was afraid of those who belonged to
the circumcision group. That was a very mistaken
group of Jewish people who thought that you had
to be circumcised to go through the Jewish rituals
and believe in Jesus. in order to be a Christ
follower. And Paul writes the whole book of Galatians
really to denounce that idea. He says you have
absolutely no obligation to the rituals of religion.
He says it is by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
And so he points out at the beginning of the
book that even Peter, years after Peter had been
the named leader, of the church in Jerusalem.
Even Peter had been afraid to cross those who
taught that false doctrine. And so he says the
other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that
by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
Now this is Paul writing about a confrontation,
a conflict that he had with Peter and with others
who were playing the hypocrite in the church
in Antioch. My point here simply is this, that
no one of us is immune to hypocrisy. None of
us, including myself, can point the finger at
somebody else and say, I've never been the hypocrite,
but you are. The fact is that all of us at some
time in our lives have played the role of the
hypocrite. So how do we respond to this accusation,
this charge that we sometimes hear? How can Christianity
be true when there are so many hypocrites? How
do you respond to that? Well, let's be honest.
The hypocrisy is a real issue. But let me suggest
a couple of things to keep in mind as we say
that. I want you to keep these in mind because
you do not need to be silenced or intimidated
by anyone who throws this accusation at you regarding
hypocrisy in the church. First of all, I want
you to remember what hypocrisy is. Its meaning
is simple. It is to pretend to be something that
you're not. To pretend to be something that you're
not. Jesus denounced the Pharisees because they
put on this show of external righteousness, pretending
that they obeyed all the commandments of God
when internally, he knew that was not the case.
They were very proud of their external self -righteousness
and put others down because of it and Jesus called
them publicly hypocrites Years later Peter was
guilty of the same He was fine eating and drinking
and associating with the Gentile believers Until
this party of legalistic Jews arrived from Jerusalem,
and he changed his behavior He felt intimidated
and pressured to follow these rules of strict
separation from the Gentiles that had been laid
aside. He knew what the truth was. He had lived
according to the truth and then he fell backwards.
He acted otherwise and he played a role in order
to please people. And he denied the truth that
he knew. Webster's Underbridge Dictionary says
that hypocrisy is a person who, a hypocrite rather,
is a person who pretends to have virtuous character,
moral or religious beliefs or principles that
he really does not possess, especially a person
whose actions belie his stated beliefs. Hypocrisy
is derived from the Greek word hypocris. That
word meant playing a part on the stage. It referred
to the Greek actors who put on masks in order
to represent the character that they were supposed
to be. In old days, that had no negative connotation
to it because that was a part of the theater
language of that day. But then it was used in
the New Testament in a different way. of those
who simply play a role that does not represent
who they really are. In their very fine book
entitled I'm Glad You Ask, Ken Bola and Larry
Moody talk about different forms of hypocrisy.
They say, for example, hypocrites are those who
join a church for the wrong reasons. Have you
ever known anyone like that? Over the years,
I've met some. who joined the church not because
they wanted to identify with its spiritual mission
and believed in its values necessarily, but they
joined the church for social reasons. Or they
joined the church because of business reasons
or because they were maybe pressured by family.
Hypocrites. They point out also that, hypocrisy
is having a greater love for orthodox doctrine
than for objects of that doctrine. This goes
right to the heart of what the Pharisees were
about. Hypocrisy is spiritual leaders who maintain,
who make rather, solemn public, who maintain,
let me go back, spiritual leaders who maintain
a super spiritual image. Have you ever known
someone like that? You're almost afraid to be
around them because they seem to be so in tune
with God but the reason that sometimes that that
is the case is because they're hiding something
else in their lives and they give this pretense
that they never fail and they never sin and because
of that we see them as being holy when in the
fact The fact of the matter is that there's something
less perhaps. Hypocrisy can come looking like
that. It can also be found among those who make
solemn public vows and then flagrantly violate
them. People who stand before God in a congregation
and say that they take this person till death
do us part and they promise to be faithful. and
then they go out and commit adultery. That's
hypocrisy. Or those who join a church promising
to support that church and pray for that church
and be a part of the life of that church and
then attend only on Sundays and are not involved
otherwise. Hypocrisy. When we take a solemn vow,
when we say publicly that we're going to do something,
then we ought to take that very seriously. You
see, there is this terrible tendency in all of
us to compartmentalize our lives and then to
rationalize our hypocritical behavior because
of that. We put our lives into boxes and we say,
well this is my church life, this is my family
life, this is my work life, and this is my school
life. And I can be one way in this compartment,
another way in this compartment, I can act another
way yet in this compartment, and over here I'm
like this. Folks, that is the very common way
that people approach their lives today in our
world. It is a very dangerous way to live because
we become self -deceived. We think that somehow
then we can justify what we do because what I
do over here in this part of my life, It doesn't
affect what I do in this part of my life. That's
hypocrisy. There are people who go to church,
they go to youth group, and yet when they're
around their non -Christian friends, they act
and they talk like something else. Like they're
not Christians at all. There are those who present
themselves as Christians and yet have a completely
different persona when they're online or they're
in chat rooms or their own personal space on
the internet where they post pictures and say
things and make claims that do not honor Jesus
Christ. That's the very thing that Jesus was
condemning so strongly, hypocrisy, in people
who claim to be godly. and the followers of himself.
Hypocrisy is living a lie. Hypocrisy is putting
on a mask. Hypocrisy is being an actor on the
stage. It's being this performer who goes through
his routine and then when he leaves stage, he's
something else altogether. Hypocrisy is covering
your faults. so as to convey an impression about
you that is untrue, something that doesn't correspond
to reality. It's being two or more people, depending
upon the group that you're being around. The
story is told about a mother who prepared a wonderful
dinner for some guests who came over, and they
sat down at the table, prepared to eat this meal.
It was a very hot day, and she had worked hard
that day to prepare the meal, and little Johnny,
four years old, was at the table. She says, Johnny,
would you lead us in prayer? And Johnny said,
well, I don't know what to say. And she said,
well, just say what you hear me say. And so he
prayed, and he said, oh Lord, Why did I invite
these people over on a hot day like this? You
know, we need to work on getting our internal
and our external coordinated. To get them matched
up, because that's what integrity is. Integrity
is when we're whole and we don't have these compartments.
We're whole. We're not one way when we're with
our friends at school and another way when we're
with our friends at church. We're not one way
when we are at work and another way when we come
to the Bible study. Integrity is when we are
whole. We have it together. Now the fact is that
none of us have it perfectly together. None of
us. That's what the race is about. We're pressing
on in that direction. But let none of us be content
to be hypocrites. Let none of us live in such
a way that our lives are compartmentalized and
we think that this is normal. It is normal in
our world. It is not normal for the followers
of Jesus. But let me think with you for a moment
also regarding what hypocrisy is not. We've talked
about what it is, and it makes all of us a little
uncomfortable, doesn't it? But let's talk about
what hypocrisy is not. First of all, hypocrisy
is not limited to Christians. Every religion,
every profession, every social group, every workplace,
every movement is infected with hypocrites. Professionals
in our world are infected with hypocrites. There
are physicians who perform abortions. People
who have taken a vow to protect human life and
they take human life. There are mental health
professionals who manipulate clients for their
own personal gratification. As we have been so
tragically reminded even this last week, there
are school teachers who abuse and even seduce
their students. Hypocrites. There are politicians
who position themselves to be moderate. That's
how they want to appear, but in reality, they're
leftists. There are conservatives or... politicians
who say they're conservatives and yet they have
no problem voting to make government even bigger
and more powerful. There are union officials
and civil rights leaders who claim to be for
the little guy and for the oppressed and yet
who are really in it for the money and the power.
Hypocrites. There are environmentalists who drive
gas guzzling SUVs. There are PC Nazis who demand
tolerance, but who threaten those who disagree
with them. There are contractors who bid a job
and then they don't perform according to what
they promised to do in the contract. There are
employees who claim a certain number of hours
on the time card and yet they don't really actually
work that much. There are applicants... who lie
on their resumes about their qualifications in
order to try to get a job. What I'm saying to
you is that hypocrisy is not limited to Christians.
Remember that when somebody accuses you of being
a part of a movement of hypocrites. Hypocrite
is endemic in our world. I am not justifying
hypocrisy in saying this, believe me. Don't misunderstand
me. I'm not saying because there are hypocrites
everywhere, it's okay to be in the church. I
am not saying that. But what I am saying is that
it's endemic in our world. It's common. It's
everywhere in the world, in every strata of our
society. Why then is the charge so hurtful when
it's applied to Christians? The answer is because
of Jesus. And because the world knows enough
about Jesus that we who follow him should be
above reproach. That's why it hurts so much when
a Christian is known as a hypocrite. Secondly,
hypocrisy is not what many people assume. I go
back to Boa and Moody again in their book where
they summarize it by saying this. There are some
false assumptions about hypocrisy. Assumption
number one, that profession means possession.
There are many people in our world who take it
for granted that because someone claims to be
a Christian, he is one. However, you and I know
that's not the case. Only a genuine believer
can be a Christian hypocrite. And frankly, many
of the accusations that are leveled against Christianity
are the misdeeds of false believers, not real
Christ followers. So there's that false assumption
that profession means possession. It doesn't.
The second false assumption is that Christians
claim to be perfect. That Christians claim to
be perfect. A lot of people have that idea of
us. The authors write, some non -Christians put
Christians in a lose -lose situation. On the
one hand, they impose a double standard expecting
Christians to behave on a level that they themselves
never think of attaining. And on the other hand,
they're offended by righteous behavior because
of their inward sense of guilt. And when their
Christian friends behave in a godly manner, they
assume it must be a show and equate piety with
pretense. The truth is that no one knows his
own faults more than a genuine child of God.
Isn't that true? No one knows his own faults
more than a child of God. And no true child of
God, really, if he's in his right mind, if he's
walking with Christ, is going to claim to be
perfect. We know very well we're not perfect.
Thank God we're forgiven. False assumption number
three, not only do Christians, the false assumption
that they're, Christians claim to be perfect,
but a third false assumption is that all sin
is hypocrisy, and that is not the case either.
All sin is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when there's
a willful pretense, when there's a choice to
pretend to be something that is contrary to the
truth. In a sense, hypocrisy is a compounding
sin. What I mean by that is that there's the
initial sin, whatever it is in one's life, and
it's compounded by my lying about it and pretending
to be something I'm not. And so it is really
a compounding sin in a certain sense. Making
a claim. to be in the truth, but not walking
in the truth is what hypocrisy is. So there are
people who have false assumptions about hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is not what many assume it is. The
third statement I want to make, and that is that
hypocrisy is not attributed to Jesus, ever. That
was never once a charge made against him. but
it is his followers who sometimes fail. Jesus
himself, however, is the very antithesis of hypocrisy.
Never is it found in him. And as I say, the world
almost innately understands this. And that's
why the charge against you and me is so offensive.
to them when we sin and try to cover it up because
they know Jesus is not a hypocrite. Finally,
hypocrisy is not acceptable as an excuse. What
I'm saying here is that everyone else in the
world, if everyone else in the world were a hypocrite,
that would not excuse a person from responsibility
for his own choices and his own life. You see,
the standard is Jesus, not somebody else. If
you're holding out on a relationship with Jesus
Christ because of someone else's sin and their
hypocrisy, my friend, you're the loser. You're
the loser. Don't allow resentment in your heart
over somebody else's hypocrisy. to keep you from
experiencing the forgiveness and the life that
is found in Jesus Christ alone. Don't try to
use hypocrisy as your excuse for coming to Jesus,
for not coming to Jesus. We have to acknowledge
that there are hypocrites in the church. What
I say to you, my brothers and sisters, is don't
be one. Be sure. that there is one fewer hypocrite
than many people think there are. Be authentic
and real about your faith walk. You can't control
anyone else and the choices they make, but you
can control your choices. You can choose to be
real, and Jesus will be pleased. Remember this,
that the truth of Christianity rests on the person
of Jesus, not the performance of his people.
For those of you wondering about hypocrites in
the church, let me just share this. You can count
on it. There are some. Because people will fail
you. Even the best of us, even Peter, even the
most well -intentioned of all of us, will at
some time be a hypocrite. So don't place your
faith in others who are very much just like you,
but place your faith in the Son of God alone
because he is absolutely worthy of your trust
and your faith. Above all, don't go to hell because
somebody else failed and may be going there.
You don't have to follow the hypocrite into hell.
Ravi Zacharias is one of the finest apologists
for Christianity in our day, in my opinion. He
shared a story recently that is found in Marie
Chapion's book, Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy.
Perhaps you've read it. It is a book that follows
the Yugoslavian Christian churches suffering
under a cruel and corrupt church hierarchy. a
church hierarchy. One day, she tells the story
of one day an evangelist by the name of Yaakov
who arrived in a certain village in Yugoslavia.
He commiserated with an elderly man named Simraman
on the tragedies he had experienced and he talked
to him about his love for Christ. Simraman abruptly
interrupted Yaakov. and told him that he wished
to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded
Yaakov of the dreadful history of the church
right there in his town, a history that was replete
with plundering, exploiting, and indeed even
the killing of innocent people in the name of
the church. My own nephew was killed by them,
he said, and angrily he rebuffed any effort on
Yaakov's part. to talk to him about Christ. Zimmerman
said, they wear those elaborate coats and crosses
signifying a heavenly commission, but they're
evil designs in their lives I cannot ignore.
Yaakov, looking for an occasion to get Zimmerman
to change his line of thinking, said Zimmerman,
can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal
your coat and put it on. and then break into
a bank. And suppose further that the police sighted
me running in the distance but could not catch
up with me. One clue, however, put them on your
track, and that is the recognition of your coat.
What would you say to them if they came to your
house and accused you of breaking into the bank?
I would deny it, said Zimmerman. Ah, but we saw
your coat, they would say, retorted Yaakov. The
analogy quite annoyed Zimmerman, who told Yaakov
to leave his home. Yaakov continued to return
to that village and periodically would befriend
Zimmerman, encourage him, and try to share the
love of Christ with him. Finally, one day Zimmerman
asked, Yaakov. How does one become a Christian?
And so Yaakov taught him the simple steps of
repentance of sin and of faith in the finished
work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to
the shepherd of his soul. Zimmerman bent his
knee right there in the soil with his head bowed
and he surrendered his life to Christ. and he
rose from his feet, wiping away the tears in
his eyes. He embraced Yaakov and he said, thank
you for being in my life. And then he pointed
to the heavens and he whispered, you wear his
coat very well. Don't you wanna wear Jesus' coat
well? Let's pray. Lord Jesus.