Good morning and welcome in everybody. 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.
I live out in the woods and it tends to be pretty quiet out here. I have a little cat named Timmy who tends to get very bored because of this. But recently, I discovered that he had met a brand new friend. One late afternoon he was meowing very loudly outside, so I went to the door to see if he wanted to come in for the evening. But when I looked out the window, I realized that he was calling out to his new friend. I watched as a huge skunk crawled through the brush and came running up to meet him. His black coat of fur shimmered brightly as he waddled up to the house, and then the two of them ran off together like two children going out to the sandbox to play. Because of their ability to spray people, many people are very judgmental when it comes to skunks. Whenever they see this white striped creature, they tend to keep their distance from them. But wild skunks are generally docile and not very aggressive, and occasionally were kept as pets just as recently as a few hundred years ago.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
When people see a skunk, many people will walk the other way, simply because they judge by appearances. But a lot of things that we see in life are not always what they seem to be on the exterior. There is more to a book than just looking at the cover, and there is a lot more to people, then what meets the eye.
John 7:24 (KJB) Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
You should never judge by appearances, but that is exactly what a lot of people do. Someone might appear a little rough around the edges, but when you look a little deeper, you realize that they are a very kind and caring person. On the other hand, the next person might appear with smiles and laughter, but if you looked a little deeper you would find that they are a wicked and evil deceiver. Jesus knows what’s inside the heart of every person, and because of this, He called out the hypocrisy of many of the religious leaders of his day. Many of them had an appearance of righteousness outwardly, but He knew the truth of what was deep down inside of their hearts.
Matthew 23:25-28 (KJB) 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.
A hypocrite is someone who pretends to have beliefs or feelings that they really don’t possess. Normally they will act in complete contradiction to what they claim to believe. Religious hypocrisy is the worst hypocrisy of all, because those who choose to live their lives like that will lose any hope of eternal life.
Job 8:13 (KJB) …..the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:
There were men who appeared righteous on the exterior and came out to hear Jesus preach, but they were only there to find out something against him, and He quickly exposed their hypocrisy.
Luke 20:20-26 (KJB) 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.
As Jesus forewarned, this world is inundated by false prophets, many of which will stand up and preach dressed up in all types of religious garb. But it’s not because they really care about the salvation of people’s souls, it’s because they love notoriety, and just like religious leaders of old, their truest true love is to be seen by men.
Matthew 23:5 (KJB) But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
The devil can appear like an angel of light, but just underneath the surface you will find a deceitful and evil hellion.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (KJB) 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 (KJB) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Jesus warned about these types of people, and they are fairly easy to discern. For example, you will see people praying publicly in the parking lot of schools, at county fairs, on the street corners, and even published on the internet for everybody to see. I don’t think that there is anything more vain than people who are praying loudly and waving their hands in a public manner. This is the false Christianity that surrounds us today, and has permeated all levels of society. Who does these types of things? Self-righteous hypocrites. But you need to remember that the devil is very religious, and was even quoting passages of scripture at Jesus when he tempted Him in the desert.
Matthew 6:5-6 (KJB) And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Just make sure that you never judge by appearances, because somebody might appear like a decent person on the exterior, but are wicked and cruel on the inside. On the other hand, they might not appear like a person that you would want to know, but if you look beneath the surface, you might find someone who is very kind and gentle hearted, just like,……
…….Timmy’s Best Friend
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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