A hypocrite is someone who tells you to do or not do something, but they themselves do the exact opposite of what they told you. Like the saying, “do as I say, not as I do.” That is hypocrisy. The word “hypocrite” descends from the Greek word “hypokrisis” which means “acting on a stage” and “hypokrinesthai” which is “to play a part, pretend.” Basically they pretend to be something that they are not.
It’s like an actor in a movie. They act out their roles for the movie, but they aren’t that person in real life. It’s not the way they truly are. It is all a “facade”, or an appearance of something that they are not.
In Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns about false prophets who seem like they are genuine, but they really are filled with guile and deceit. They try to appear one way, but inside they are completely different. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
If we profess to believe in the holy scriptures, and we tell others to do the same, we need to make sure that we are abiding by the commandments of Christ. If you tell someone not to steal, you better not steal yourself. If you tell someone, “Lying is wrong,” you better not tell a lie. Before we judge another person about something, examine your own life first.
Matthew 7:1-5, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. “
Jesus warned the Pharisees several times in Matthew 23 because they were claiming to be righteous and keeping the Law, but they were instead filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.
Matthew 23: 13-15, “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. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 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. “
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew 23:23
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matthew 23:27-28
How can someone judge another if they are doing the same thing themselves? Don’t they know that unless they themselves change from their own sins, that God is going to judge them as well?
“And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Romans 2:3
Many people claim to be Christians, but some of them don’t believe in all of the teachings that are found in the bible. They claim that they love Jesus, but they choose to ignore some of His teachings. A Christian is someone who “follows the teachings of Christ.” If someone doesn’t abide by His words, then they are not really a Christian: they are hypocrites.
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” Mark 7:6
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16
Like the bible says, If a man says that he loves God, but hates his brother, he is a liar. God tells us to love Him, and to love your neighbor, but if someone does not, 1 John 4:20 says that they are a liar. They don’t really love God, because if they truly did, they would do what He commands.
Make sure that your walk on the path to Heaven is straight and true, and not filled with guile, deceit, and hypocrisy. Make sure that before you attempt to correct an issue in someone else’s life, you check out yourself first to make sure that you are doing what is right. Don’t be someone pretending to be a Christian. Be the real thing!
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 