Tag: hypocrites
Woe to the hypocrite!
Scripture reading for July 29th: Matthew 23
Key Scriptures: Matthew 23:25-28 “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. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white-washed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
In His last week on earth, Jesus talked plainly to the religious leaders about their personal hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is related to play-acting. They outwardly professed to be holy and righteous and law-abiding. In fact, others couldn’t measure up to their standards of keeping the law but what they did was done for show, not because of a pure heart or faith in the grace of God. Jesus plainly rebuked them, speaking ‘woe’ over their lives because inside they were full of greed, evil, covetousness, malice and lawlessness. They kept their appearance looking tidy, but inside they were a terrible mess. Jesus likened them to white-washed tombs that were full of dead man’s bones and all manner of decaying flesh and corruption. Jesus wasn’t trying to be mean. In fact, He was calling them to repent! God would clean the inside of the tomb if only they would humbly confess and turn to Jesus for cleansing. Each person chooses whether to continue the show or to come clean.
Matthew 23:33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
Faith confession and prayer: Father, have mercy on me and speak plainly to my heart concerning hypocrisy. It is easy to judge and blame others, but harder to apply Your Word to my own heart and life. I want to be clean on the inside as only You can cleanse me. This is my only escape from the woe of hell. Thank You for Your great mercy and the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ!
1st Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, or revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Beware of hypocrisy!
Scripture reading for January 21st: Matthew 15
Key verses: Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites!” Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
Hypocrisy is very simply ‘play-acting’; putting on a show to please an audience. The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus day had devised many man-made rules to give them control over the people and make people think that they were super-spiritual. The fatal flaw in their thinking was the fact that nothing is hidden from God! (Hebrews 4:13) Jesus knew what was in men’s hearts and correctly took the prophesy of Isaiah to reveal their false worship and failure to worship God in spirit and truth!
Hypocrisy is rampant in the time we live. Everyone tries to play to the audience of their peers and even in church try to appear as ‘super-spiritual’! God wants our hearts to be pure towards Him and for each person to come humbly before Him. He wants our true worship, not just rituals taught by men. He doesn’t want us putting on a show or saying nice words or singing great love songs to Him when our hearts are full of adultery, lying, idolatry and sin! (Matthew 15:18-19) Be quick to repent of any hypocrisy in your life!
Observation for over-comers: Stay humble and honest in your relationship with God and Christ. Ask God to search you and reveal areas in need of repentance. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
Honor with the lips only!
Scripture reading for February 18th: Mark 7
“So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teaching are but rules taught by men.”” (Mark 7:5-7)
Jesus and His disciples were always under scrutiny from the religious establishment. Jesus did not back down when they confronted Him about keeping their traditions. They majored on the traditions but had missed the commands of God that pointed them to acts of mercy and service. Their greed was behind some of these traditions! Jesus pointed to the commandment to honor your mother and father and another teaching of Moses that anyone who would curse father or mother should be put to death. These Pharisees instructed people that if they gave money to them for ‘God’s work’, they did not have to help their father and mother! (Mark 7:9-13) They had nullified the command of God by their tradition!
Jesus went on to teach that what really made men ‘unclean’ was not failing to wash their hands! “Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean’. . . For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slader, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'” (Mark 7:14-15, 21-23) Let’s check our hearts today! Only Jesus’ blood can cleanse the heart!
Practice what you preach!
Scripture reading for February 2nd: Matthew 23
Jesus had the hardest words for religious leaders who taught the Law of God. His principle was that those that had received much were responsible for much. “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see: . . .” (Matthew 23:1-5a)
Jesus taught the people to obey their religious authorities. When we disrespect authority, we disrespect God Himself. (Romans 13:1-2) These authorities were bad examples! They did not live what they taught and their deeds were done to impress men and not God! This would bring “woe” upon them! They liked the titles and positions of authority, but were not humble before God or man. (Matthew 23:8-12)
They tithed religiously even down to every tenth leaf of their spices, but neglected the more important matters of justice and mercy and faithfulness. Jesus warned them that they ought to tithe, but not neglect the more important matters of treating people with dignity. They washed their hands and dishes religiously, but inside they were full of hypocrisy and wickedness! (Matthew 23:25-28) Jesus even went so far as to call them snakes and vipers for killing the prophets that God had sent to warn them and turn them back! He, the Christ, was doing so right then! When we read these woes, we must open our own lives to the Word! Hypocrisy is a deadly sin!
Trapping Jesus!
Scripture reading for January 30th: Matthew 22
Towards the end, the Pharisees and Sadducees were trying to trap Jesus so that they could charge Him with religious error and do away with Him once and for all. They were jealous of His authority and the crowds of people that followed Him. One such effort was recorded by Matthew. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:16-17)
Jesus was immediately aware of their evil intent. He called them what they were–hypocrites! He then asked them to show Him a coin of that day and asked whose inscription was on the coin. They answered that it was Caesar’s. “Then He said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”” (Matthew 22:21)
There are those today that argue that Christians should refuse to pay taxes because of the evil things that are done with the money by the government. Others argue that the tithe is an Old Testament law that doesn’t need to be obeyed because we are under grace. Jesus would not be trapped. The human mind reasons to find loopholes for selfish reasons and takes the Word of God out of context. Jesus spoke truth in a simple manner! Taxes are due to Caesar! He and His own disciples paid them! (Matthew 17:27) The tithe is owed to God because of who He is: Lord of heaven and earth! Let’s be sure we are not seeking to “trap” God by twisting His own holy Word!
The evil is on the inside!
Scripture reading for February 24th: Mark 7:1-23, Psalms 40:11-17, Proverbs 10:13-14
Jesus’ disciples were criticized by the Pharisee’s for eating without washing their hands, according to the traditions of the elders. The Pharisee’s told them that they were “unclean” because of this and defiled. They asked Jesus why His disciples weren’t washing and Jesus spoke clearly to them about their traditions that were violating the heart of God’s truth.
“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (Mark 7:6-8)
Jesus proceeded to teach the crowd that had gathered that what goes into a man is not what defiles him, but what comes out of the inside that makes him unclean. (Mark 7:15) When someone eats something with unclean hands, that only goes into his stomach and then is eliminated from his body. Things from the outside don’t go into the heart but the stomach. In saying this Jesus was declaring all foods as clean. This was a radical departure from what the Pharisees understood from the Law! (Mark 7:19)
“He went on, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'” (Mark 7:20-23)
Jesus spelled out what causes defilement. It was not food or failure to wash the hands. It was evil in the heart that came through the lips. Notice how many of God’s commandments are represented here with this list of evils. At least five are covered! Thinking and speaking evil defile a man and render him ‘unclean’ in God’s sight.
There is only one way to be free from this defilement and become clean inside. It is by repentance! We take responsibility for the evil things within us and ask God for mercy and forgiveness. After confession and repentance, we seek God’s power to live free from our sinful habits and please God by living in faith and obedience to His Word. With the inside clean, we will not be just putting on a show!
Woe to you hypocrites!
Scripture reading for February 2nd: Matthew 23:1-19, Psalm 22, Proverbs 6:20-26
Hypocrisy was one of Jesus’ pet peeves. The word for hypocrisy implies “play-acting”, and describes a person who learns a part to put on a show. Unfortunately, religious people are very prone to this type of thing and it made Jesus angry. He addressed the crowds that came to Him concerning their teachers and leaders. He told them that they should obey them and show them respect as they taught the law of God, but that they should not do as they did. They simply did not practice what they preached! (Matthew 23:3)
Hypocrites do what they do for men and not for God. They like to be seen as righteous and above the common person. They wear special clothes, like to have titles and social prominence and preeminence. In Jesus’ day, the liked the title of “Rabbi” which meant “teacher” and “father” which was a term endearing respect. Jesus reminded that they had one Father, who was in heaven, and one “Teacher” who was the Christ! If they truly wanted to be great, they should be the servant of all. (Matthew 23:5-12)
Hypocrites, by play-acting, actually hinder God’s kingdom from advancing because those who lead in this manner are really building up their own kingdom. They are still part of the devil’s crowd and have not experienced true redemption. They teach others to do as they do instead of humbly repenting of their sins and finding true freedom by learning from Christ and finding God as their heavenly father. They build large followings of people that use them as their “teacher” and “father” and learn to put on the same show for men!
Woe is the end result of a lifestyle of hypocrisy. Woe is trouble and heartache and ultimately weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is God’s displeasure for eternity as a consequence of seeking man’s approval by putting on a religious show. It is a condition that Jesus wanted no one to experience! My prayer for myself is that God would continue to reveal hypocrisy in my own life and lead me in His ways. I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Wouldn’t you rather too?
Lip service!
Scripture reading for January 22nd: Matthew 15:1-28, Psalm 17:1-7, Proverbs 4:5-9
Religious people often bothered Jesus. They were following Him around and looking with a magnifying glass at His actions to find out if He was keeping their laws. They were so focused on His actions, that they missed who He was and entry into the kingdom of heaven. Today, we have opportunity to see how Jesus dealt with religious people and to check our own hearts for traces of this kind of hypocrisy!
“You Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips; but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teaching are but rules taught by men.'” (Matthew 15:7) The Pharisees and teachers of the law had come to Jesus questioning why He and His disciples did not wash their hands before they ate, as was the tradition of the elders. Jesus turned the tables on them and questioned as to why they broke God’s commands to satisfy the traditions of the elders! He confronted their hypocrisy by quoting Isaiah the prophet. Hypocrisy is play-acting. It is saying we stand for truth and obedience to God’s commands but fail to live correctly ourselves.
These religious leaders were saying that they honored and worshiped God, but Jesus said their worship was in vain. It was empty and useless because it did not come from a heart that was sold out to God and dependent on His mercy. Their worship was based on tradition, not humble obedience to God’s commands! True worship in it’s essence is complete obedience and lip service is not true worship!
Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “‘Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.'” (Matthew 15:11) Washing hands cannot cleanse a heart that is unclean! Only repentance and faith in Jesus can do that! Jesus had offended the religious Pharisees with his strong statements. But Jesus had acted in love, hoping to wake them up and save them and their followers from sin and death. We must check out our own hearts and actions. Do we give lip service to following Jesus, or have we repented and put our trust in God’s mercy? Religion is bondage but faith brings liberty!
The evil is inside, hypocrite!
Scripture reading for February 24th: Mark 7:1-23, Psalms 40:11-17, Proverbs 10:13-14
Jesus’ disciples were criticized by the Pharisee’s for eating without washing their hands, according to the traditions of the elders. The Pharisee’s told them that they were “unclean” because of this and defiled. They asked Jesus why His disciples were doing this and Jesus spoke clearly to them about their traditions that were violating the heart of God’s truth.
“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (Mark 7:6-8)
Jesus proceeded to teach the crowd that had gathered that what goes into a man is not what defiles him, but what comes out of the inside that makes him unclean. (Mark 7:15) When someone eats something with unclean hands, that only goes into his stomach and then is eliminated from his body. Things from the outside don’t go into the heart but the stomach. In saying this Jesus was declaring all foods as clean. This was a radical departure from what the Pharisees understood from the Law! (Mark 7:19)
“He went on, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, com evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'” (Mark 7:20-23)
Jesus spelled out what causes defilement. It was not food or failure to wash the hands. It was evil in the heart that came through the lips. Notice how many of God’s commandments are represented here with this list of evils. At least five are covered! Thinking and speaking evil defile a man and render him ‘unclean’ in God’s sight.
There is only one way to be free from this defilement and become clean inside. It is by repentance! We acknowledge the truth that these evil things within us are sin and breaking of God’s laws and that we have done it. We turn from doing those things towards God for mercy and help to escape these thoughts and actions. We use our mouth to ask for mercy and commit to truth! Try it today!
As a hen gathers her chicks!
Scripture reading for February 3rd: Matthew 23:20-39, Psalm 23, Proverbs 6:27-35
Mother hen’s are very protective. I remember a story that happened after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. A prairie chicken mother was killed instantly and frozen in time by the searing wave of heat that came from the eruption. A worker in the area a few days later came upon the charred body of the hen and gave it a kick with his foot. Out from under the body of the hen came a small brood of live chicks who had survived by huddling under their mother who gave her life protecting them.
Jesus used a similar example as He looked out over Jerusalem after giving the religious leaders a prophetic warning of their need to repent of hypocrisy and find a true relationship with God. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.'” (Matthew 23:37-39) God’s heart is to save His people just like the prairie hen gave her life to save her chicks. The problem with sinful man is their willingness to come to Jesus for salvation. Religious people like to work for their salvation and put on the religious shows that Jesus had just labeled ‘hypocrisy’. When God tried to warn them by sending His messengers the prophets and now His own Son, they killed the prophets and now were ready to do away with the Son!
God, Himself, must draw a person before they can be saved. (John 6:44) The Holy Spirit works through preaching to convict of sin, righteousness, and the coming judgment. (John 16:8-10) Jesus Christ is the way, truth and life, and no one can come to the Father but by Him. The Trinity is unified in their desire to see all saved and come to safety under God’s protective wings. The only thing keeping us away is our willingness to welcome their help!