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Hypocrites. We use the word often in "spiritual conversation" but few realize what exactly is meant by the term. Preachers and sinners alike refer to "hypocrites" and yet there is very little teaching about the subject. Ask a few someones to define hypocrite and you would probably get some interesting and contrasting opinions as to what it means to them.

The term comes from the Greek stage and playhouses. Back in Biblical days, the Greeks were inventing the concept of actors and actresses and scripts and plays and such. To save money and time, many times the only costume was an elaborate face mask which represented a particular character. Sometimes one actor would have to switch masks and play another role in the same play. A speaking tube would be built into the second mask to disguise his voice and seem to the audience that it was two actors. When an actor tried to fool the audience by donning a second mask and disguising his voice, he was said to play the hupokrites, the hypocrite. It came to mean anyone who tries to put up a front of something that they are really not. Someone who plays a part without in essence being that person. Someone who is not genuine. A hypocrite.

The term is used 20 times in the New Testament and surprisingly every time was from the mouth of Jesus Christ! Every time you see the word in the New Testament, it's in red letters. None of the Apostles used the term in their writings and part of the reason is that Jesus Christ was the only perfect person and therefore the only one who could rightfully moniker others with such a name. It's almost like the Apostles were careful to not use such a word in description of others. They would preach against sin and issues, but to label someone a hypocrite is something that they just wouldn't do.

There are several reasons for this. First, Jesus' ministry was marked by mildness and mercy. He preached and taught with great love and patience. He never sinned, and so when He got upset or mad, He was certainly justified in doing so. He got fighting mad twice when the moneychangers turned the house of God into a marketplace and something to exploit people with money. I'd like to see Jesus physically visit some of these tele-evangelist's studios and such and take off His belt -- that would make good television! Jesus physically drove out the money changers and shocked the disciples with the swiftness and suddenness of His boldness and anger in that area. It was like this one area of sin set something off in the mild-mannered and loving Savior. And by the way, His anger stemmed from the prayerlessness that had crept in because of the money making! The moneychangers was one area of Jesus' solicited wrath but the other area that really set Him off was hypocrites. The only time Jesus railed on people and really heatedly corrected others was when He was dealing with supposed religious people who claimed to be one thing and yet really weren't changed on the inside. They were hypocrites, wearing a mask of goodness when really they were the same old flesh. We tend to think from reading the New Testament that Jesus really teed off on the Pharisees, but it wasn't the Pharisical religion itself that set Jesus off on His wrath, but the fact that so many of them were hypocrites. The real issue was their hypocrisy, and the sincere Pharisees such as Nicodemus, Jesus talked to extremely different and milder. I think one of the reasons that the Apostles never called other hypocrites was because the Lord made it pretty clear what He thought was hypocrisy in the Gospels! Furthermore the only people "toasted" by God in the New Testament were Ananias and Sapphira who were killed by God because of their blatant hypocrisy in living out a lie. That fact alone ought to show you the seriousness and dangerous position of being a hypocrite.

The other reason why the Apostles never labeled someone as a hypocrite was because one of the chief traits of a hypocrite is verbal criticism of the supposed faults of others. Jesus was perfect, therefore He could call anybody a hypocrite that wasn't perfect, but the Apostles were all still growing spiritually and so shied away from such accusations lest they be the very thing that they preached against! When illuminated and inspired by the Holy Ghost they would preach against the particular areas where people were being hypocritical in, but they would never actually point to a person and say "you're a hypocrite." I found a quote this week that I thought interesting:

There is a little hypocrite in all of us. That is, there's somewhere in our life that we really aren't as strong as what we portray to be. Not that we all are living in willful sin, that's not what I'm saying, but simply put, we all have areas of our life that need work and none of us are perfect. And yet all of us go through times in our life where we pretend or at least tell ourselves that we're doing good and everything's alright. In those times we are hypocritical. And then something happens to remind us that we haven't got it made! I'm not necessarily preaching about that type of hypocrites in this lesson but rather about people who live their entire life with a mask of something that they are not. By that definition, a hypocrite is someone who when confronted with the truth within that they need to change, deny it and pretend like they didn't know.

What all this means is that there is only one way to preach against hypocrisy. You must preach what a hypocrite is and then leave it up to the individuals to view themselves and see if it fits. The scriptures say:

That is God wants us who are a part of His kingdom to judge ourselves and continually examine ourselves so that we make sure we are genuine. It's the preacher's job to preach the Word of God which is the sword that does the surgery, but it is up to us to allow God to move in our life and change us. The scriptures also say:

That doesn't mean that you can believe what you believe and I believe what I believe and we both go along to heaven together. What it means is that each individual is responsible for their own salvation. Or, in other words, it's not your job to point out the faults in others in an effort to try to change them. The preacher will preach the Word of God which may pinpoint areas in their life that need to change, but it's each individual's responsibility to identify the areas in their life hit by the Word and their responsibility to let God change them. They should take it seriously because it is their God-given responsibility. If you don't make it to heaven, then you will only have yourself to blame. God expects you to make sure that you cover the vital areas of your life.

So, as I go through the characteristics of hypocrites in the Bible, I'm not doing so for you to identify these things in other's lives. If you go up to someone and use this to tell them that they are a hypocrite, then you have missed the whole point and are doing something that the disciples did not dare to do. I'm bringing up these things so that you can see if they are areas that YOU need to work on. Worry about yourself and let others and Jesus worry about them!

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Before we get to the portrait of a hypocrite, let me also say this. Our text in Job was dealing with the characteristics of hypocrites and it is written in such a way that many authorities think that this particular passage was the quotation of a much older poem. What this means is that there were hypocrites in the time before Abraham. There were hypocrites during the time of Moses. There were hypocrites during the time of Jesus and there was hypocrites during the Early Church. Even one of Jesus chosen disciples, Judas Iscariot, was a hypocrite. That tells me that there is probably going to be a few hypocrites today as well! And probably in my lifetime as pastor, I will choose more than one for a leadership position! After all, Jesus was perfect and He chose one! To be quite frank, if you can't live for God because of hypocrites, then you'll never live for God! Counterfeit coins are a testament that there are genuine coins and that they are worth something! Counterfeit Christians testify that there are genuine Christians and not everybody is a hypocrite! Not everybody is hiding behind the mask! And ninety-nine times out of a hundred when someone has come to me and said "so and so is a hypocrite" or "I can't live for God because everybody's a hypocrite," 99% of the time they end up proving that they're the ones that are hypocrites. I've learned to smile when people say that to me because they just revealed their hand of who they really are! The saying "it takes one to know one" applies and is scriptural. Judas Iscariot revealed what He had a problem with himself personally by criticizing others for it. As the old-timers used to say, "it's the empty boxcar that makes all the noise."

The next time someone points out the faults or problem of someone in the church and says "look at that, what kind of church is this anyway?" you say "it's a great church" and quote them scripture:

This is a great house and a glorious church for whom Jesus shed His blood for! Not everyone in the church has it all together and some of them will be vessels of dishonor, but don't judge the church by a few members! And don't judge the Christian by a few bad days! I may fall but I shall arise! I'm not perfect, but I am forgiven and I'm going to keep trying until I get it right or I go to meet Jesus! Thank God for His mercy, this is a great house and a glorious church! Don't look at Thomas' weak moment and Judas Iscariot and Peter's one bad night and label the whole group on just that! Don't assume everyone is like Ananias and Sapphira. Not everyone is uncommitted like Demas. This is a glorious church and as long as we keep striving for the mark of the high calling of Jesus Christ, it will be a church that gets better and better. Get your eyes off of the hypocrites and on Jesus, because they can't be on both at the same time!

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Now let's get into the specifics of a scriptural portrait of a hypocrite:

I think we've covered this pretty extensively already. But Jesus taught that a hypocrite points out the little faults of others while ignoring their big problems:

A beam refers to a large log. A mote is a small "toothpick like splinter." A mote comes from a beam. Hypocrites criticize openly in others what they have a problem with in themselves and the reason that they can spot the little bit of the thing in other's life is because they live so close to a large amount of it! Hypocrites are always worried about other's failures and shortcomings and criticize it with their mouth. Proverbs says:

Like Judas Iscariot, when people are more concerned with destroying someone than saving and helping them, they usually are a hypocrite.

They make much ado about small things so that they feel justified about their “big sins.” Jesus said:

The point was not that we shouldn't pay tithes, because Jesus said that "ye ought to have done" that, but that they were making a big deal about paying tithes on their spices when they were totally ignoring the big things such as mercy, judgment, and faith. A hypocrite will make a big deal out of somebody's failure in a small affair, to try to throw light off of such matters as unforgiveness, bitterness, and rebellion in their life! That brings us to the next point:

They have trouble with true forgiveness. But John wrote to the church which must have had a few of these kind in his time and said:

True forgiveness is not forgetting, you will never forget but is rather the removal of indebtedness for what someone has done. In other words, you no longer hold them accountable or act towards them in reflection of what they did to you and you no longer hold it over their head. You are a hypocrite to not forgive because you have been forgiven of so much more by Jesus Christ!

Because they are playing a part, they are only worried about what is visible to others not what's on the inside. Hypocrites tend to not see much wrong with being careful what you take in your body, whether it be alcoholic beverages or watching an R rated movie. After all if, no one sees you doing it then it's not wrong, right? For some reason, hypocrites tend to be totally different around church folks or the preacher than they are when they are away from such witnesses.

Jesus blasted the Pharisees that loved to pray out loud for show in the marketplace and who were sure to let everybody know when they were fasting because they were doing it for the applause of men. When hypocrites know people are watching they tackle a duty or a problem totally different than if they think no one is around. Their course of action is always determined by who is around and who will find out. This is because:

When around certain people, hypocrites totally change. Depending who they are around, their humor and jokes change, their vocabulary change, their interests change, their actions change. But they forget that God sees all, knows all, and is the one to whom they will answer one day! If something is a sin, then it is a sin against God so what does it matter if a particular someone happens to be around?

And let me say this: there are people who live to please the pastor but you should rather try to please God. If I'm right with God, and you please God then you will please me!

They'll say anything to get pressure off or suspicion of their fakery gone, but they are not people of their word and they rarely do what they say that they will do. Remember that there are a lot of people who can talk the talk but you'll be judged on whether you walked the walk. Being able to talk religious and quote scripture does you no good if your actions and commitment don't back your mouth! As my mother used to say: "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

The Greek term for "double minded" literally means having “two souls” or two minds. They sincerely want the things of God at times and sincerely want the things of the world at times. They are religious at certain times and places of their daily life, but they quickly go from one to another. They are sincere in their repentance on Sunday and just as sincere in their desire for sin on Monday. James said:

"Purify your hearts." That's the cure for doublemindedness is to control what you allow yourself to think about. The scriptures say:

You must control what you dwell upon in your mind and in your desires!

They don't necessarily want truth but want to go with whatever best suits them. In our texts, Jesus said:

Don't forget that God is not just seeking for some to worship Him, but to worship Him in spirit and in truth! Worshipping God is in vain unless you teach the doctrines of the Bible! That's why we take the Word as the final authority and aren't really interested in what the Catholic Church did or didn't do five hundred years ago in this church. We want to believe the truth and if it that means throwing out the traditions of men, then so be it!

If your tradition or religious teaching contradicts the Bible or doesn't find complete Biblical support, then you'd better change your doctrine!

Isaiah, who lived at a time where it was said "they all are hypocrites" said this:

If the truth will make us uncomfortable or show us a need to change, then don't tell us. Prophecy something good and nice and pleasing. That was the attitude of the hypocritical generation. "Make us feel good preacher, but leave the issues alone" is the attitude of people who would rather wear a mask and hide the truth.

Usually hypcrites don't want to study the Bible in too much detail, lest something shed light on what they need to change. When they do get interested they ask loaded questions trying to make themselves feel better and avoid the issue of their rebellion. We find a good example of this in Mark:

They were trying to catch Jesus in a slip or in a mistake so that they could say "Aha, see we don't need to listen to Him in the other things, too" If you ask questions trying to slip up the man of God or get him twisted in an effort to justify the real issue, then you are playing the part of a hypocrite.

That is, they only serve God for what He has done for them today. Their faithfulness depends upon yesterday and today. Jesus identified such a group that were following Him:

I can judge by the spiritual response of my message on Sunday mornings, whether or not certain people will be there Sunday night or the next week. If they got a good blessing then they might show up. They are serving God for the loaves and fishes. We have some that visit this church when revival really gets stirred up and the pastor is preaching evangelistically. When he's red hot and blowing and going on the communion table, they want to be there, but announce a teaching series for Wednesday night and everything else suddenly comes up. They want spiritual food that tastes good and is miraculous but they don't want to put the time and effort to get a good foundation. In our other text, Job said that the hypocrite:

He's like a tree growing around a big stone with it's roots running down the stone and then into the shallow top layer of the soil. In other words, a hypocrite's roots never get too deep. They never really develop a prayer life on their own. They don't regularly fast. They don't make faithfulness to church services throughout the week one of their main priorities. They never read or study the Bible much on their own. They don't memorize scripture. They don't really bother getting a hold to and being solid on the basic doctrines of their salvation. They really can't answer to you why they do what they do or believe what they believe. They are shallow Christians. The problem with this is our last point:

Job made it clear that it won't be long until such a tree is gone and blown away. It doesn't take a major storm to get the hypocrite dislodged -- only a minor blow will do. A small misunderstanding. A sermon preached too passionately. A minor crisis for which suddenly the hypocrite wants God to jump at his prayers. A distraction and missing church for a couple of weeks. A little pressure at home from family. Too much month at the end of the money and the hypocrite's gone. They were in it for the loaves and the fishes and their root system isn't strong enough to be in it for the long haul. They're not prepared for the storm!

Remember this, that the most nourishing meal that you will ever eat only lasts temporarily. Most of you stuffed yourselves on Thanksgiving but you were hungry at lunch time today. Just because you get a special touch by God or hear a good sermon doesn't mean that you can fast spiritually for a few weeks or months. You need to put some roots down by continually partaking of God's table. I'm talking about commitment. Nobody wants it today it seems, but without it you will not last long living for God. Especially not long enough to make heaven! And you can't put down roots jumping up and moving over there and then moving again and such and such. You put down roots by staying in one place and growing deeper in God! Such a Christian will stand in the time of the storm!

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The hypocrite? What happens to him? Good question, and one that is answered by our text in Job. After comparing the hypocrite to a reed that grows up quickly only when the circumstances in the miry water is perfect and yet fades away quickly with no root system and no real substance to stand against the wind, the writer then says:

Job 8:13-14 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: 14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. 15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

The hypocrite's hope! The hypocrite's hope is that despite his lack of stability and realness with God and despite his hidden sins that he just might make it into heaven in a moment of strength, or that he might slide through and be saved anyway. But the scripture declares that the hypocrite's hope shall perish as quickly and as easily as a spider web is brushed away. One day he will be forced to lean upon the house of cards that he has built and it will all come crashing down.

The spiritual house that you will dwell in tomorrow is the spiritual house that you are building with your actions and life today. Jesus said that what is done in secret will be shouted from the rooftops and that what is done right in secret will be rewarded openly for all to see. Put God first and seek to please Him first and you will find that the spiritual house that you have built is a place of joy and peace and contentment. And one that will protect you from any storm. Be a hypocrite and you will find that the shelter of your walk with God is just an illusion, a spider web that took quite a time to build and create and yet just a moment to sweep away.

But our text in Job ended with a promise:

The word "perfect" here means "complete and morally pure and right." Please God on the inside today and it will not help but show on the outside in your life of tomorrow! Your actions and attitude are painting your future, make sure that a portrait of a hypocrite is far from your life!