Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
On November 12 1956, something was sighted by the USS Glacier, approximately 150 miles west of Scott Island in the southern ocean. It was huge, measuring approximately 159 by 20 nautical miles, which is roughly equivalent to the size of the island of Jamaica. It was the largest recorded iceberg in history thus far, known as B-15, which had originally broken off of the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica. Incredibly, over 60 years later, a large piece of the original iceberg was still moving and was located near the Falkland Islands. It’s amazing to think that something that size can actually float in the water, but most of it we can’t even see. It has been claimed by the U.S. Geological Survey, that 90% of an iceberg lurks below the water line. This means that we only are seeing a very small part, while a huge portion of it remains completely hidden from our view.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
The lives of some people can be very similar. At first glance they can appear beautiful, loving and kind, and they gently float across the sea of life. But like an iceberg, the public only gets to see a tiny glimpse of a person, the things that are above the surface. If you were to take a look a little bit deeper, just below the water line, a huge mountain of danger, duplicity, deceit and deception is completely hidden from our view. For a hypocrite, the only thing that you are allowed to see is the tip of the iceberg.
Matthew 23:25-28 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 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.
When somebody is filled with hypocrisy, they do not express their genuine character. They are insincere and dishonest in the expression of their true feelings. Hypocrisy is deceitful, displaying a false representation of what is actually going on inside the heart. They are two-faced, showing one side in public and another in private. They are actually a complete liar, saying things that they know are completely untrue or misleading. Let’s look at a couple examples.
Acts 5:1-11 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
A hypocrite will disguise one’s true intentions by deceptive words or actions. For example they might call their employer on the phone and begin to cough and wheeze, explaining to them that they can’t come to work because they are very sick. The truth is, the way that they appear on the exterior is really not what is going on inside. They actually want to go swimming with a friend who is visiting from out of town for the weekend.
Luke 20:20-26 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
Hypocrisy is showing yourself one way to the public, but there are a lot of things going on underneath the surface, hidden from sight. Appearances can be very deceiving.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
We can’t see inside of a person’s heart, but Jesus does, and He rebuked some of the religious leaders of His day for their hypocrisy. Eventually, all of the hidden things of the heart will be exposed because in the end, Truth will prevail.
Luke 12:1-2 ……Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Mark 4:22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
Matthew 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Some from within the church will depart from scriptural teachings, and instead of accepting the error of their way they will choose to live lives as religious hypocrites who are destitute of the truth.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;…
There are some people who wear their heart on their sleeve, but for others, if you were to take a look inside, you will find things that completely contradict what they display outwardly. They are really not the person that they seem to be, because for a hypocrite, the only thing that you are allowed to see is the…..
…..Tip of the Iceberg.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️
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