Verse of the day: Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered
together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they stepped one
upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware you of
the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
If there is one thing that the Lord desires from
us is that we are “real”. Hypocrisy has been one of the biggest hindrances of
spreading the Gospel. I cannot begin to count the times that I have shared
Christ with someone and the first thing they did was begin to tell me the story
of someone they knew, who tried to tell them about Jesus, but whose life was
completely contrary to what they were telling everyone else a Christian looks
like and lives like. Jesus described hypocrisy as leaven. How is hypocrisy like
leaven? Well, leaven can exist undetected for a time. It can be mixed in flour,
but the way that it affects the lump will not be evident until it is heated and
cooked with the flour. Leaven will take over and affect the entire lump. In a
person, it may start out small, and practically unnoticeable, but over time
will grow and become obvious as it causes them to be filled with pride over
their “religion” or “piety”. They look down on others who do not do “religion”
the way they do, and are extremely critical of others, and often give
themselves a “pass” when they are not living up to the standard they hold
others to. The hypocrite, although at first may seem to have a true heart for
the things of God, is far from humble, and is quite often deceived into
thinking that no one notices their hypocrisy. Quite often they live a secret
life of sin that sooner or later is exposed; and for this reason Jesus says in
verse 2 that “there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither
hid, that shall not be known.” As God’s children we are not to be like the
Pharisees of Jesus’ time. In Matthew 23, Jesus gives a discourse of the things
that we are to avoid as His followers so that we are not living like the
Pharisees did. In Matthew 23:3, Jesus tells the multitude to do as the
Pharisees tell them to do, but do not follow their example. Sadly, there are
many born again believers who know what the Word of God says, can teach it, and
give biblical advice, but are poor examples of what living the Word of God
looks like. Please understand, I am not talking about the person who is doing
their best to live obediently, in accordance to the Word, and occasionally
stumbles. I am talking about the person who teaches one thing, but insists on
living a life filled with secret sin and whose hypocrisy becomes evident from
the way they mistreat others and by the words they speak, when they are not in
fellowship with other believers, that bring no honor or glory to God. Jesus, in
Matthew 23:4 tells us that the hypocrite places a heavy burden on the life of
others, but they themselves are far from living it. When they do live it, it is
only for show so that others will see how “religious” they are (Mt 23:5). These
same people enjoy having titles, being recognized amongst God’s people, and
referred to by those titles. They love having a position of importance within
the body of Christ, and enjoy the pat on the back for the façade they proudly
display with neon lights pointing to them (Mt 23:6-7). There were those that
carried the title Rabbi or Father, but Jesus was clear that no one other than
the Lord Himself is Master, and the only One who deserved the title of Father
is our Heavenly Father (Mt 23:7-10). Jesus, who had every right to exalt
Himself before man, instead chose humility. He chose humility, even unto death
(Phil 2:5-8). Like Jesus, we are to approach Christianity with much humility. Jesus
explained in Matthew 23:11-12 that those who are greatest before God are those
who are willing to be humble servants. Those who exalt themselves will be
brought down low, and those who are humble in their service to the Lord will be
exalted by God. The bottom line is that true humility comes from a healthy fear
of God, a respect and reverence for the One who can not only kill the body, but
also destroy the soul (Lk 12:4-5). True humility comes from a true love of
Jesus that moves us to do our best to obey His every command (Jn 14:15). As God’s
children we must live a life that is consistent with what we say we believe. We
must live a life that exalts God our Savior and brings Him honor and glory. Let
us avoid the danger of living a hypocritical life by humbly obeying the Word of
God (both publicly and privately), and serving the Lord, and others, fearing
God, so that out of great reverence for the One who died for us we would do all
that we can not to bring shame to the Name of Jesus by the exposure of our
hypocrisy.
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