THE SERIOUSNESS OF HYPOCRACY

It is interesting how we rank sins. My nephew has noted that different Christian denominations rank sins differently. He said divorce is about at the top in the denomination we belong to. But he told me a story of a similar church in a different denomination that was considering making someone he knew a deacon. They never questioned his divorce, but they would not ordain him, if he couldn't quit smoking.
I don't mean to minimize these or any other practices God's people treat as serious. But we often overlook hypocrisy, which is the sin Jesus condemned most severely. Jesus spoke so much about hypocrisy that I will not attempt to draw out everything He said about it. That might be a worthwhile subject for future blogs. But looking at one passage we can see some crucial reasons it is such a plague on our spiritual lives.
In Matthew 23:25-26 Jesus condemns the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”

Hypocrisy is devastating because of
The Seriousness Of Whom You Impress.

I am too horrified at the ways I have been a phony in my life to share them with you here. But I can tell you, I often catch myself trying to impress other people. I want others to think I am smart, or honest, or manly, or good. Trying, even wanting, to impress people makes them into false gods. God sees into your heart. He is not pleased with what impresses other people.

Hypocrisy is dangerous because of
The Seriousness Of Whom You Deceive.

You know that being a fake doesn't fool God. You may deceive other people some. Probably the more people you deceive, the worse the cancer in your soul. But the person you deceive most is yourself. The Pharisees were blind to the fact that appearing to be good, or close to God, didn't make it so.

And hypocrisy kills because of
The Seriousness Of What You Miss.

Pretending to be smart may not always keep you from learning. Pretending to be strong may not always make you week. Pretending to be rich, may not always make you poor. But pretending to be holy always offends God. Trying to appear good to people will cause you to overlook the corruption in your heart. Hypocrisy will make you miss God's forgiveness. And there is nothing worse in this life or the next than missing a relationship with God. And even as a child of God, a fake spiritual life will corrupt your relationship with Him and stunt spiritual growth.

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TO YOU

Several months ago I wrote a blog post that was primarily on Jeremiah 29:11. I was reacting to something I heard said from the pulpit. The preacher said we could not take this as a promise if we were not Israelites being sent into exile. I took exception to this in my blog, showing that this verse has universal application. But in this post I want to apply this truth to Scripture as a whole. Look with me at something Jesus said in Matthew 22:31-32

And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Jesus addresses the Sadducees in these verses. But he quotes the words spoken to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. Jesus asks them, “Have you not read what was said to you by God.”
It is crucial to understand that God speaks to you in His word. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that,

“These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

Some of you are rightly thinking, “But we need to approach Scripture with spiritual discernment.” Most of us know examples of misusing Scripture. The old joke tells of someone opening the Bible for direction and blindly stabbing his finger in and landing on, “Judas went out and hanged himself.” This startled him enough that he thought he had better look for another. So he stabbed his finger again. This time he landed on, “Go thou and do likewise.”

But God's people can discern. We are enlightened by the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 reads,

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

That is a powerful statement. “We have the mind of Christ.” Let me point out how these verses say God speaks. Verse 14 concludes that the things of God are, “spiritually discerned.” Let me suggest what this means. Spiritual discernment is only given by the Holy Spirit. It means the Spirit of God speaks to us personally and as gathered believers in the church. This does not mean we will never misunderstand Scripture. But it does mean He will speak to me in His word correcting my thinking.

You might ask, why then do we have so many denominations? I don't think I am qualified to answer that comprehensively. But let me tell you an experience I have had. Many years ago our church participated in a National Day of Prayer gathering and another pastor invited me to join a pastors’ prayer meeting. I started meeting with them weekly. The group had two Episcopalian pastors. There were some Congregationalists. There were a few more Presbyterians from several Presbyterian groups. There was a Lutheran pastor. And in those early days, I was the only Baptist. I prayed regularly with those men for over ten years. A week never went by when we did not quote or read aloud some scripture. And my impression was that we never disagreed on how to apply a verse in our lives. That was because God speaks through His word.

More than 40 years ago I was leading a group of adults in my church to memorize Scripture in our mid-week services. One week I was helping them memorize Acts 27:25.

“Wherefore sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God that it will be even as he has told me.”

A lady in the group shook her head saying, “What does it mean?”

I answered, “God has said some things to you, too.” And this truth immediately dawned on her. God will speak to you in His word. And you can confidently apply it to your life.

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THE WEDDING GARMENT

What is the wedding garment in the parable in Matthew 22:12? In the parable recorded in the first verses of Matthew 22, when those who would not come to the king's wedding feast were destroyed, the servants were sent out to bring anyone they found, good or bad, to the wedding feast. But when the king came in to see his guests he found one without a wedding garment. “Friend,” he said, “how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” And there was nothing the man could answer. The king commanded his servants to bind him hand and foot and send him out into the outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus consistently uses this phrase for those who will be excluded from the kingdom of God. I believe it has to describe hell.

I think the wedding garment represents three things in our lives.

I believe it must represent intimacy with Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus said the problem with many who preached and healed and did miracles in His name was that He had never known them. I am told by reliable sources that the wedding garments may well have been supplied by the king himself. You did not get one because you were born into a wealthy family, or because you knew the best tailor in town. You could only get one from the King. Salvation is not simply affirming a creed or even mouthing a prayer. It is a relationship where in we know Him because He knows us intimately.

I believe the wedding garment must also represent the transformation of life that intimacy with Jesus produces in us. Romans 12:2 calls us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. And new birth must include such life transformation.

Finally, I believe it represents the fruit of the Spirit produced in and through us. In Matthew 7:16-20 Jesus said we would know false prophets, and I assume true disciples, by their fruit. I believe this begins with love, joy, peace, and such in us. But it also includes such fruit in those we influence by the Holy Spirit of God.

Jesus applies this parable by saying, “for many are called but few are chosen.” I don't believe it is consistent with the gospel to say that those who are chosen are chosen because of their good works. In that parable we would assume that there were bad people who had a wedding garment. And we are not told that this man was better or worse than others at the table. I rather think Jesus is saying we will know those who are truly chosen by God from the fruit His personal intervention produces in our lives.

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