HYPOCRISY

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HYPOCRISY

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at
the table eating, the following discussion took place. Judas in cold-blooded
hypocrisy shared the fellowship of this meal.

ANGEL-1 It is easy for humans to
become enraged or shocked by what Judas did; yet when they profess commitment to
Christ and then deny him with their lives is also betrayal of Jesus. It is
denying Christ’s love to disobey him, it is denying his truth to distrust him;
it is denying his deity to reject his authority. They need to ask themselves if
their words and actions match? If not, they need to consider a change of mind
and heart that will protect them from making a terrible mistake. Jesus said,

JESUS “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of
the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your
gift.

ANGEL-2 Broken relationships can hinder their relationship with God. They
are hypocrites if they claim to love God while they hate others. Their attitudes
toward others reflect their relationship with God. Jesus also said,

JESUS So
when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the
truth, they have received their reward in full.

ANGEL-2 Jesus use the term
hypocrites to describe people who do good acts for appearances only – not out of
compassion or other good motives. Their actions may be good, but their motives
are hollow. These empty acts are their only reward, but God will reward those
who are sincere in loving Him and their neighbor. How do humans become
hypocrites?

ANGEL-1 Sometimes they give money to the Church, to get prestige;
instead of caring for the people around them. Jesus said,

JESUS Everything they
do is done for men to see. They make their Bibles well displayed and unread, as
well as they are well dressed. They love the place of honor at banquets and the
most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the
marketplaces and to have men call them as their leader.

ANGEL-2 And yet they
know the Scriptures, from what they hear in Church, but do not live by them.
They don’t care about being holy – just looking holy in order to receive the
people’s admiration and praise. Today, like the Pharisees, many people who know
the Bible do not let it change their lives. They say they follow Jesus, but they
don’t live by his standards of love. People who live this way are hypocrites.
They must make sure that their actions match their beliefs. Jesus went on to
say,

JESUS “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.

ANGEL-1 Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you are not and have no
intention of being. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they worshiped
God for the wrong reasons. Their worship was not motivated by love but to appear
holy and to increase their status. Humans become hypocrites when they (1) pay
more attention to reputation than to character, (2) carefully follow certain
religious practices while allowing their hearts to remain distant from God, and
(3) emphasizing their virtues but others’ sins. Much of this Hypocrisy comes
from their leaders modeling. Jesus said,

JESUS Every plant that my heavenly
Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are
blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into the pit.

ANGEL-2 Anyone who listens to the teaching of blind leaders will risk spiritual
blindness as well. They need to make sure that those they listen to and learn
from are those with good spiritual eyesight – and that they teach and follow the
principles of Scriptures. Jesus said, JESUS Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You
yourself do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over
land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him
twice as much a son of hell as you are. ANGEL-1 By getting caught up in the
details of their laws and regulations, they completely missed God, to whom the
laws pointed. A religion of deeds puts pressure on people to surpass others in
what they know and do. They must make sure they are not creating hypocrites by
emphasizing outward obedience at the expense of inner renewal.

When they are meticulous about the details, they lose their perspective on inner
purity. They develop corrupt hearts. Jesus put it this way,

JESUS Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the
cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind
Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also
will be clean.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like
whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are
full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside
you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy
and wickedness.

ANGEL-2 When Christians live merely as a show for others it is
like washing a cup on the outside only. When they are clean on the inside, their
cleanliness on the outside won’t be a sham. Another way that Jesus stated this
was,

JESUS Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that
will not be made known.

ANGEL-2 Human selfishness will act like yeast, and soon
will expose them for what they really are – power-hungry impostors. Each of them
must resist the temptation to settle for the appearance of respectability when
their hearts are far from God. They need to put their faith into action.

If humans only appear to have faith without putting it to work in their lives,
they are like a fig tree that withers and dies because it bears no fruit.
Genuine faith means bearing fruit for God’s kingdom.

It is dangerous to pretend to obey God when their hearts are far from him
because God knows their true intentions. Their actions must match their words,
or else Jesus will say,

JESUS May you never bear fruit again! And they will
wither and die a spiritual death.