Are You Living Like a Hypocrit?
Matthew Chap. 23
Back in the day I just dearly loved Andy Griffith
And Barney Fiffe And John Wayne
And Hoss Cartwright & Little Joe
And today its Mel Gibson and Brad Pitt
Bruce Willis - and I don’t know many!
What are these people??
What do they do??
They’re Actors, or Pretenders!!
They set the stage!!!
That’s what a Hypocrit does!!!
And that’s what the devil does!!!
He is a liar, he is a thief, he is a pretender
He is a Hypocrit!!
He’s a fallen Angel!!!
And the Scribe’s and Pharisee’s who are of
the devil, they were the great actors or pretenders
Of their day!! and the things they sought after,
Taught, and wrought, were their stage masks!
The Bible Says:
Having a form of godliness but denying the power
Thereof!
Jesus’ last condemnation was of the Pharisees
And Scribe’s And It
Completely fills up Matthew chap 23
And this is His final and official rejection
Of these folks at the temple!
It was their one stronghold of influence and
Security!!!
Their Influence and admiration
And all else they did, was only to be seen of Men!
Vs 2 says they sit in Moses’ seat
That symbolized authority of their teaching.
Romans 2;19 says;
And art confident that thou thyself art a
Guide of the blind, a light of them
Which are in darkness!
A Hypocrite demands respect as a teacher
They want to be called Rabbi
In Hebrew means my great one or my teacher
Who are our Pharisees & Scribes and Saducees
They are here today just like they were
Here in Jesus’ day
Do you recognize them today when you see
Them on TV or in public with their crosses
Around their necks with Christ hanging on it dead
People listen to me Jesus ain’t dead!!!
These Are the ones that don’t recognize the
Cross on their Buildings and so forth.
There was a church in Defiance Ohio that,
its congregation out grew the Building and it
was sold to Another denomination and the
first thing They did was cut all the
crosses down on The Church house!!!
Needless to say they didn’t last very long!!
Because you can’t survive without Christ!!
And if you’re an enemy of the cross
Then you sure don’t have Jesus livin in
your heart!
And I’ve asked people if they went to church
This past Sunday
And they say I quit going there because they
Weren’t nothing but a bunch of Hypocrites.
I said honey would you rather go and worship
The Lord with a few hypocrites or would you
Rather go to hell with all of them!!!!!
People are always shopping with hypocrites
I know for a fact that they’ll spend a hundred
Or so at wal-mart.
And they’re always goin out to eat with them
At Chi-Chi’s or Olive Garden and especially
The Chinese joint up town!!
But it’s just to terrible for them to go to
Church With them hypocrites!!!!!
Matthew 23;3 says
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe,
that observe and do;
but do not ye after their works:
for they say, and do not.
So you see they reject their own work!!!
They want you to live it but they cant live it!!
In social or religious life,
They are in love with power and the place
and the pride
The praise, and the prominence
Matthew 11:29 says
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me
For I am meek and lowly in heart
And ye shall find rest unto your souls!!!
Matthew 23:5 says
But all their works they do for to be seen of
Men - They make broad their phylacteries,
and enlarge the borders of their garments
A hypocrite’s works are done to be seen by
Others just Like the hypocrites today
Their outward style of dress and nice forms of
Religion made the sum of their godliness!!!
And a phylacteries is a small box containing
A parchment or skin which bible verses were
Written.
Like Exodus Chap 13
Or Deut. Chapter 6
And Deut. Chapter 11
These are worn on the foreheads or on their arms
Most people wore them only during prayer
But the hypocrites or the Pharisees
Wore them continually
And even sought to enlarge them so that
It would attract more attention
Now Jesus didn’t condemn wearing them
But He condemned them being shown in public.
Matthew 23;13 tells us
How they rob men of truth and life
And how they reject truth and life
It says;
But woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men; for ye neither go in
yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are
entering to go in!!
see it said shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men
or in other words
you putting stumbling blocks in the way of
the sinner coming to repentance and conversion
I would hate to even think that I stood in the
Way of someone coming to the lord!
Wouldn’t you???
In VS. 14 it tells us of how you would receive
The greater damnation or condemnation!
We have to be so careful people
This means we would receive a more
Severe sentence!!!!
We have to make sure we are prayed up
In everything that we do and say!!
VS. 14 said
They devour widows’ houses
And for a pretense make long prayer
We can’t be taking advantage of helpless
People
And making an outward show of religion!!
And in VS. 15 it tells us how they want to
Win people over to their sect
But not to God!!!
It says
For ye compass sea and land to make one
proselyte, And when he is made ye make him twofold More the child of hell than yourselves
they are grinding and rootin new converts
right into their trap of being a hypocrite!!
They are blind to the truth
And they profess to be the only guide
To religion
And they will manipulate religion and turn
It all around so they will receive the most
Personal gain and glory and honor]
And you and I both know that God
Gets all the glory praise and honor!!!
BUT WHAT THEIR DOIN IS GOIN TO HELL
AND TAKING OTHERS WITH THEM!!
And one of my favorite scriptures here
In Matthew chapter 23 is
VS. 24 it says
Ye blind guides which strain at a gnat, and
Swallow a camel!!!!!
We cant strain out the minor details
And take out the most simple part
Of serving God!!!
And on down it says
For ye make clean the outside of the platter
But within they are full of extortion
And excess!!!!!
You cant display outward religion and
Self righteousness and ignore
All the inward holiness in life for God
People listen to me
We have to dig in God’s word and know it
And we have to discern it
And we have to listen to God when He speaks
And we have to take heed to what He says
We have to give God our all!!!
He is worthy of our all!!!
Matthew 23:9 says
And call no man your father upon the earth;
For one is your Father
Which is in Heaven
I ain’t gonna even take that one any further
It’s already said plenty!!!!!
Except for Acts chapter 7 says
Members of the Sanhedrin were called
Fathers But this was not to be a practice
among Christians!
The fathers of Matthew 23 were the
Hypocrites Who used it solely because
of religious position
And power!!!
ARE YOU LIVING LIKE A HYPOCRIT??
If so you’ll receive antagonism against God
And not to mention Oppression
And the Damnation of your souls
And False Vows
And outward show and false cleanses
Self Righteousness
Boasting and self conceit
Matthew 23:30 says:
If we had been in the days of our fathers
we would not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets
they were worse than their fathers
because they killed the Messiah and
his followers
ye serpents
ye vipers
how will you escape the damnation of hell?
They rejected the greater light
They killed the greatest executive of God
The Son from heaven
And they refused all offers of God’s mercy
And it was confirmed by the greatest signs
And wonders of all times
Judgment was to fall in a greater
Measure than any other generation!!!
James 3:1 says:
My brethren be not many masters knowing that
We shall receive the greater condemnation!
Vs 2 says
For in many things we offend all
If any man offend not In word
The same is a perfect man
And able also to bridle the whole body!!
These are powerful words from Jesus’
Brother!
Listen to VS 3
We put bits in the horses; mouths
That they may obey us; and we turn about
Their whole body!!!
Jesus teaches us how to be in humility
Luke 14:11 says:
For whosoever exalteth himself
Shall be abased; (or humbled) and he that
Humbleth Himself shall be exalted!
We don’t have to try very hard to be a hypocrite
We have to be very careful
The scribes and Pharisees weren’t careful
They didn’t want to straighten up
They just wanted power
I however want to make it to heaven
And I want to take everybody with me
That I can
Do you want to make it to heaven tonight??
If so read Chapter 23 of Matthew
And this is telling us what not to be like!!!
Don’t live out the characteristics of a hypocrite
Don’t live out the woes it tells us about
Watch out for the false vows
Don’t make an outward show
And the false cleanses
And don’t have Self Righteousness
And don’t have self conceit or Boastings
Matthew 23:36 says
Verily I say unto you
All these things shall come upon
This generation!!!
People stay prayed up
1st Thess. Says
the dead in Christ shall rise first
then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air
and so shall we ever be with the Lord!!
Stay ready Church
1st Corinthians says
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye
at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible
and listen to this part
AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED!!!
Are you ready tonight to be changed???
You know in the twinkling of an eye
Is pretty quick!!
If not wont you come to this altar and
Give this man named Jesus a try!!!
Jesus died that terrible death
So that we may live!!!!
