Hypocrisy

Beware of Hypocrisy
it is a slow rising Leaven

Luke 12:1 "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

Hypocrisy is not just a sin of the lost, but if the saints need warning of it, they must be subject to involvement with it, too.

Text

Luke 12:1 "…Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

Beware!
Of the corrupting force of Hypocrisy.
Of the cancerous sin of Hypocrisy.
Of the paralyzing debilitation of Hypocrisy.

Queen Mary told her Granddaughter
the future Queen, Elizabeth II, remember that life is made up of Loyalty. Loyal to your friends. Loyalty to things beautiful and good. Loyalty to your country, because you love it. And above all
Loyalty to God, which holds all the other Loyalties together.

Luke 12:1 "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

We are warned to beware of Hypocrisy
It is tricky.
It is crafty.
It is subtle.

And we are told to …

Eph 4:22 "… ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;"
Eph 4:23 "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;"
Eph 4:24 "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Because it will be revealed

Luke 12:2 "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."
Luke 12:3 "Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops."

The Huge Problem with Hypocrisy
is of course, the deceitfulness that is involved.
But, there is another problem that is close on the heels of deceitfulness.
The Problem of it being revealed.

Hypocrisy will be revealed.
Nothing is covered, that will not be known.
Nothing spoken in darkness, that will not be Revealed in Light.
Nothing whispered, that will not be Shouted from House to House.
Everything hidden, will be uncovered.

(Hide and Go Seek)
What father has not played Hide and Go Seek with his 2-3 year olds?
The cute thing about it is …
They have no realization about hiding.
They are not aware of their size, nor the size of what they hide behind.
When Lisa, our daughter, was 3 years old, she would go hide behind the curtain, which only covered her from her knees up.
Or just go stand in a corner and cover her eyes.
That is the Problem with Hypocrisy.
We think we are covered, but nothing is hid from God.
We think we are hid, but even eventually men will see our true self.

(Hypocrites in the Church)
What one of us have not been told by some backslider or worse, that they will not come to Church because of all the Hypocrites that are there.
Intending to show the Hypocrites as small, insignificant creatures.
But what do you call those that attempt to hide behind the small and insignificant, the hypocrites?
They are either 3 year olds or Hypocrites.
Do you see how Hypocrisy cannot be hid?
It hides behind the small.
It hides under the transparent.
It hides behind the loud, who only draw attention to themselves.
Self uncovering.
The backslider attempts to hide from church, behind the hypocrites, the very person they claim is responsible for their not coming to church.

Because it is the Result of Fearing Man

Luke 12:4 "And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do."

Fear of man's power will cause hypocrisy
Causes Respect of Persons.
Causes Discrimination.
Causes Mistreatment of the Weak.

Man can only kill the body
then after death …
he has no hold,
he has no weapon,
he has no terror left to bind you with.

Luke 12:5 "But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him."

Man should fear God, not other men …
We are not to be terrified of God
But should be respectful of God
Giving Him sway in our life
Giving Him place in our life
Giving Him leadership in our life

There should be some recognition of the devil as well
But he is not to be respected
He is to be resisted

"Resist the devil and he will flee from you"

He is to be rebuked by the Lord in our lives

Jude 1:9
"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."

Luke 12:6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?"
Luke 12:7 "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Fear of man's estimation of us will cause Hypocrisy

Don't fear being invaluable
God cares for the least of the birds …
The sparrow is defenseless
The sparrow is meek
The sparrow is harmless
The sparrow is not one to store up for winter
But,
The sparrow is cared for by the Lord
So,
If the sparrow is cared for
What do you think your chances are?

Fear of men
will also cause a person to be Hypocritical in their witness for the Lord

Luke 12:8 "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:"
Luke 12:9 The Lord says

If you back Me upI'll back you up.

"But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God."

But,
If you don't back Me up
I will tell them all you are a Hypocrite.
I will deny your denial.
I will expose your cover-up.
And remember…

Prov 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Now if you are lost
and are listening to this in this Auditorium or listening to this by tape.
Pay close attention to this next verse …

Luke 12:10 "And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."

If you are lost and Blaspheme the Holy Spirit you can never be saved.
If you are saved then all your sins are paid for already.

Fear of man's opinion will cause Hypocrisy

Luke 12:11 "And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:"

Do you know why?
Because you will be tempted to Hypocritically blame the others.
Hide behind ignorance.
Claim your victimization.
Excuse yourself in some other way.
Or, lie your way out of it.

Or, be proud in your answer and say
something sarcastic
something cute
something to show them up
something dreamed up on your own, and not God led.

Luke 12:12 "For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say."

Fear of man's control will cause Hypocrisy

The Church of Jesus Christ is paralized today
because it fears the control of Man
because it fears the control of the Liberals
because it fears the control of the Cults
because it fears the control of the Government
Do you see the Hypocrisy of this?
When we do this we act as if the livelihood of this Church is up to us.

The only problem God is having with the control of the Church
is with the Christians in the Church.
Pardon me, the Hypocritical Christians in the Church.

Don't get me wrong.
If there is trouble in the Church.
If there are good people hiding Hypocritically behind separation, and in the process running off the helpless, they need to be dealt with by the Church in God's way.
But the Lost are all God's Problem.
All by Himself.
We don't need to run them off
We don't need to make them pay.
We just need to be a good witness of the saving power of Jesus Christ.

Because it is a Disguise
The problem with Hypocrisy is that it is so Hypocritical.
Hypocrisy seldom shows itself as Hypocrisy

We are told in

1 Cor 5:7 "Purge out therefore the old leaven…"

But most of the time the old leaven is purged to make room for a new Leaven, a new Hypocrisy, because Hypocrisy is so Hypocritical.

It seeks to disguise itself
in Victimization.

Luke 12:13 "And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me."
Luke 12:14 "And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?"

What is this man doing?
Attempting to expose his brother …
In the evil that his brother is doing.
In the righteousness that his brother is doing that does not seem fair.
In attempting to use Public Opinion to change his brother.

This man seems to be Victimized
but Jesus does not go for the ploy.
Our problems are not the fault of everyone else, our problems are ours.
To make someone else seem responsible is to throw over the whole ordeal a greasy, grimy, moldy Tarp of Hypocrisy.

Jesus does not drop the issue
He goes right on in the next verse talking about how …

Coveteousness drives Hypocrisy

Watch how lust for things,
will cause self to use hypocrisy on oneself.

Luke 12:15 "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

Change your mind about the important issues
Ownership of goods is not important.
Control of goods is not important.
The vision of others seeing us with goods is not important.

Here comes the explanation
of how Coveteousnes drives Hypocrisy

Luke 12:16 "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:"
Luke 12:17 "And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?"
Luke 12:18 "And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods."
Luke 12:19 "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."

His self deception
has caused him to not look at the real self

The real self
Is a horder.
Is a Gear Mongerer.
Is a Stuff gatherer.
Is a Pile Sitter.
Is the Prophet of Possessions.
Is the Priest of Privilege.
Is the Pope of Property.

Luke 12:20 "But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"

Don't act Hypocritical
as if you are in control of your destiny,
as if you are the master of your future,
as if you have no one to respect or answer to …

You can't take it with you
No one has ever seen a Hurst pulling a U-Haul.
No one has ever seen a Grave Plot with a Basement.
No one has ever seen a Tombstone inscribed with a Balance Sheet.
No one has ever seen a Will with a Return Address.
No one has ever seen a Mansion in Heaven, made by Hands of Men.

Luke 12:21 "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

The one that lays up treasure on earth is a fool
Just like this Certain Rich Man.
A Hypocritical Fool.

Hey You!
That wants his brother to share the inheritance, life is more than inheritance.
See how lust for goods can turn you into a Hypocrite?

Because it works in altered Appearance

Luke 12:22 "And he said unto his disciples, …"

Not talking to Old Sour Grapes
who is worried about his inheritance any more but to the Disciples.

"…therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on."
Luke 12:23 "The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment."

Life is not about
eating and drinking, even the Wholesome Food & Drink,
wearing clothes, even the Modest Clothes,
the things of this world, even the Churchy Things.

Illustration of receiving
what is given without pretense

Luke 12:24 "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?"
Luke 12:25 "And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?"
Luke 12:26 "If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?"
Luke 12:27 "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
Luke 12:28 "If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

God gives
with value
with importance
with lasting endurance

Man hypocritically attempts
to care for himself

Because it works in the pursuit of normal things

Luke 12:29 "And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind."
Luke 12:30 "For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things."

Because it will cause you to seek the wrong Treasure

Luke 12:31 "But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Luke 12:32 "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Luke 12:33 "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth."

Illustration

Every one sees things differently
When the statistician looks at the crowd
he sees a unit.
When the physicist looks at us
he sees. a math formulae
When the chemists looks at us
he sees compound of substances.
When the biologists looks at us
he sees a specimen.
The behaviorist sees an animal's behavior.
The psychologist sees a mental type of suffering.
The philosopher sees conscience experience.
The historian sees our rise and fall.
The economist sees our cycle of production and consumption.
The postman sees us as an address.
The politician sees us as a voter.
The burucrate sees us as revenue.
The preacher sees us as tithers.
The nursery worker sees us as breeders.
The neighbor sees us as hypocrites.
But God sees us for what we are.

Luke 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Illustration
Someone wrote of Fredrick the Great, a Monarch of another era. That he loved Music. But that he didn't love music as much as he loved the Flute. And that he didn't love the Flute as much as he loved his own Flute.
He hid behind Music so he could hear himself play.

Luke 12:35 "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;"

Nothing hid here
Belt is tight, so nothing under the shirt
Lights burning, so nothing hid in the darkness.

Luke 12:36 "And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately."

Are you ready?
Hypocrisy put aside, all that is hid is now in the open,
all that was kept in darkness is now in the light.

 Top

SermonDocs.com
1996 to 2010