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It is truly an incredible joy to be true disciples in God’s kingdom. Its awesome to see the chance that God has given each one of us to leave our past, hypocritical life to follow God truly and biblically.
Matthew 24:51
He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus is hardlined with people who are living a hypocritical life.
The place of weeping & gnashing of teeth becomes the destiny of every hypocrite.
Lets learn from the life of Jesus about how he hates hypocrisy in different people lives in different situations.
1. Hypocrisy among religious people
John 3:1-8
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus - we see him as high profile religious Jewish leader- a Pharisee, a member of Jewish ruling council.
- what kind of life do you think he could have led
- preaching in the synagogue, counseling, vital person in deciding rules & regulations
- It is sad to see, that he didn’t want others to know that he is meeting Jesus. He preferred meeting Jesus in the night.
- His conviction was revealed in secret and that too in the night.
- But the convictions of Jesus was revealed openly in the light, with no fear.
- Its sad to see Nicodemus, such a high powered man, was controlled by fear in his life.
- Is fear controlling our convictions, lately bros. & sis. In vs 2- the words of Nicodemus was very pleasing.
-His religion was a religion of nice words.
- His religion was religion of pleasing people/wisdom/knowledge.
- He was carried away by all the things, he did as a Pharisee.
- But Jesus was not carried away by his nice words.
- Jesus was not carried away by his life as Pharisee.
- In v.3, Jesus was radical in laying the truth.
- Jesus called Nicodemus to leave hypocritical life, to become a true disciple.
- Nicodemus felt so good about what he has done all these days in his life.
- He felt good about living a life pleasing others.
In what ways have we been living a life pleasing others? As disciples lets lay the truth to those Nicodemuses whom we meet everyday in our lives.
2. Hypocrisy among the sincere
Matthew 27:11-26
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.
13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?"
14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.
16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"
18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered.
22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!"
23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
- Pilate heard about the life & doctrine of Jesus / righteousness & His love for the people.
- He was sincere in understanding the life of Jesus.
- We have been sincere in many areas and in many parts of our life.
- In what ways we have been sincere before coming to the church. Praying for the peace of India & Pak, going to orphanages, helping the poor.
- Pilate made many sincere efforts to relax Jesus. Jesus overcame the pressure by using the scriptures vs. 4,7 &10
- Is our scriptural knowledge, helping in to overcome pressures of life.
3. Hypocrisy among disciples.
Galatians 2:11-21
11 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.
12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners'
16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
17 "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.
19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Peter had his convictions right when he came to Antioch.
When he saw his Jewish friends he became prejudicial.
- He started pleasing them, lost his convictions, purpose, zeal for God and his kingdom.
- When we encounter our friends from the past, how does it affect our prayer life, Bible study.
- Do we feel embarrassed to evangelise.
- Do we come back without sharing our faith with our friends.
- In order to please them, do we join them in their life style.
- Because of Peter, even Barnabas was led astray.
- Have we been leading others astray because of our lack of convictions.
- Our life as an imitator of Jesus, needs to be an inspiration for others to come close to Jesus.
Mark 7:6
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.
- Our heart go away from God, as we lead by a hypocritical life.
- When we repent, from our hypocritical hearts, our hearts will come back to God.
- Lets not be like the hypocritical Nicodemus, but lets be like Jesus
- Lets not be like the hypocritical Pilate, but lets be like Jesus.
- Lets not be like the hypocritical Peter, but lets like Jesus.
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