“And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness” (Luke 11:39).
TEXT — Luke 11:37-54
Message
Hypocrisy can be described in many ways. It is professing to be what one is not, denying what one is, claiming ignorance of what one knows, claiming knowledge of what one is ignorant of, teaching others to do what one cannot do, doing what one cannot teach, acting to suppress the truth in anyway and setting standards for others apart from oneself.
In many parts of Christ’s teachings, He warned believers against behaving as the Pharisees do. One of their traits, which He condemned in our text is hypocrisy. The Lord told His disciples (and believers today) to be wary of the leaven of the Pharisees because all that men do in the open and secret are laid bare before God, the ultimate Judge. In all, the Lord reiterated the sovereignty of God and the need to fear Him. The disciples were warned not to fear men who can only kill but God who can both kill and cast into hell. He knew that the fear of men will breed hypocrisy in the disciples.
The Church is bedeviled by hypocritical actors who operate in the garb of Christianity. Many who profess to know Christ have embraced the leaven of hypocrisy. While some become hypocritical in order to please themselves or silence their consciences, others want to please someone, somewhere.
The Lord sternly warns against the leaven of hypocrisy in its entirety. Believers are to shun this cancerous leaven in their day- to-day dealings with God and man. This is because the teachings of the Pharisees have become more common and seemingly authoritative in our world today. Yet, believers must recognise that the world’s corrupting influence can only lead to the slippery slope of hell. And you must never be entangled therein.
Thought for the day
Hypocrisy and apostasy not only sound alike, they lead to the same place – hell.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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