Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees

Introduction: A Timely Warning from Luke 12

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, June 11th, 2000, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:11 At this point in our morning service of worship, I would be surprised if there are not many expecting me to say words to this effect. Now let us turn together, or I invite you to turn with me to the book of 1 Peter. But I'm not going to say that this morning. For the sake of any visitors among us, one of the things that has been a backbone in the life of this church over three decades, almost completing a fourth decade, has been consecutive, expository preaching, preaching right through books of scripture, taking great themes and working through the scripture with them in some kind of a systematic and comprehensive way. And we have almost come to the end of doing that with 1 Peter. We have just the spirit-inspired postscript, verses 12 to 14, yet to expound. But in the past couple of weeks, several personal pastoral issues have brought me again and again to a portion of God's word, which in the last few days has been like a mature eagle that has sunk its talons.

1:26 And it's just such a text that has gotten hold of my heart and almost says audibly in his ear, I'll not let you go until you preach me off you. And it's just such a text that has gotten hold of my heart and almost says audibly in his ear, and as I've prayerfully reflected on what to do with that sense of talon-like grip of the text, I have heard no voices, I've had no visit of an angel, I've had no visible appearance of Jesus saying, my son, my child, my disciple, preach this text. But I do believe that in answer to prayer and by his own ministry to the hearts of his servants, God does guide us. In these matters, and so this morning, I want you to turn with me, not to 1 Peter, but to the gospel of Luke. The gospel of Luke and chapter 12.

2:40 Luke chapter 12, and I begin the reading in verse 1 through verse 5. Luke chapter 12. In the meantime, when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples, first of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing covered up that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known.

3:22 Wherefore, whatsoever you have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear, in the inner chambers, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. And I say unto you, my friends, do not be afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom you shall fear. Fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.

3:55 Yes, I say unto you, fear him.

The Context: Jesus's Confrontation with Pharisaical Hypocrisy

4:01 Now, the central concern of this passage, is obviously our Lord's warning to his own disciples against the sin of hypocrisy. But that warning did not come out of nowhere. And I want you to take a few moments with me to note the setting in which this warning came, primarily to the disciples, but obviously within the hearing of others. This is a period in our Lord's ministry when the multitudes are saying, still thronging the Lord Jesus.

4:36 Look at chapter 11 in verse 27. It came to pass as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice and said unto him, and again, verse 29, and when the multitudes were gathering together unto them, he began to say, here was a period in which people in great throngs are pressing in upon the Lord Jesus, and he is publicly preaching to them and teaching them of the ways of God, his heavenly Father. And in the midst of this period, we read in verse 37 of chapter 11, now as he spoke, that is, to the masses, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. And he went in and sat down to meet. So here is the Lord Jesus leaving for a brief time at least the vast multitudes, accepting the invitation to go to the house of this Pharisee for a meal. And as he comes in, verse 38, when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he, Jesus, had not first bathed himself before dinner.

5:48 The Lord Jesus did not undergo the ritual cleansing that any proper Pharisee expected any proper holy man to undergo if he were to eat his meal in a way that he could regard himself, ceremonially, unclean. These were not rituals imposed by God, but imposed by the Pharisee and all the Pharisees and all of their myriad of rules which they had established for ceremonial cleansing. And it's in that setting of Jesus bypassing the expectation of the Pharisee, while a guest in the Pharisee's home, that our Lord speaks in very, very, cutting and incisive ways exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Verse 39, And the Lord said unto him, Now you, the Pharisees, speaking not just to this man, but as a specimen Pharisee, you Pharisees, cleanse the outside of the cup in the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. You foolish ones. And then our Lord perceived, to indict the Pharisees.

7:04 Verse 42, Woe unto you, Pharisees. Verse 43, Woe unto you, Pharisees. And while the Lord is indicting the Pharisees, as he's a guest in a Pharisee's house, certainly not politically correct, socially acceptable behavior, you're the guest. And the guest becomes the prophet, pulling off the mask and tearing away the encrustments of human truth, traditions, and religious sham.

7:34 Verse 45 says, And one of the lawyers, not a lawyer as we think of lawyers, but one of the great experts in the law, a companion of the scribes and of the Pharisees, one of the lawyers answering said unto him, Teacher, in saying what you're saying, you're pointing your finger at us too. Now, whether he expected the Lord to say, Well, I'm sorry. I just got carried away in my rhetoric. I didn't mean to offend you.

8:00 No, the Lord says, Go unto you lawyers also. Yeah, you got it right. What I've said about the Pharisees applies to you. And furthermore, I've got some more things to say, particularly to you.

8:12 Now, when we come to the end of chapter 11, note what Luke records. And when he was come out from Thess, here he's left the multitudes. He's gone into the house of a Pharisee at his invitation for a meal. The Pharisee takes him to task for not undergoing his and his companion's standard of ritual cleanliness, Jesus uses the occasion to indict the Pharisees.

8:36 This expert in the law overhears it and says, Lord, you're indicting us. And Jesus said, Right on, I am. And I'll give you some more. Now, having done that, he leaves the house.

8:47 And when he comes out, notice what is said in Luke 11, 53 and 4. The scribes and the Pharisees began to press upon him vehemently and to provoke him to speak of many things, laying wait for him to catch something out of his mouth. The Lord Jesus leaves the house, but this crowd that he's indicted follows with him. And the tenses of the verbs and the verbs that are used are very vigorous.

9:18 They are continually hounding Jesus, even though he's left the house and their particular turf gone back amongst the multitudes who are hanging upon his words at this point in his ministry. And they are constantly hounding him, laying wait for him, seeking to set a trap in order to catch something out of his mouth. They desperately now want to find something in what he says that they can twist in such a way as to hand him over either to the religious or to the civil authorities. Their real prize would be to get him handed over to the civil authorities because then he could be executed in terms...

10:01 in terms of their deep desire. Now, in this overall setting, the Lord Jesus, not being caught in their traps, sees the thousands, the myriads of the crowd gathering together. This was not out in a rural setting on a hillside. Remember, he's just come out of a house.

10:24 So picture a narrow Palestinian street somewhere in one of those regions outside of Jerusalem, We're not sure whether this is the Perean ministry or part of the Galilean ministry. It's difficult to ascertain precisely where it was. But here is a narrow, crowded street, and the buzzword is, Jesus is out of the house, we're going to hear him. And the crowds are milling and pressing in, so much so, it says, that they are trampling one upon another.

10:53 This was a very unruly scene. And here the Pharisees are, following close at hand. Well, Jesus, what about this? You know, these nosy, impudent reporters, this is probably the closest we can get to it.

11:06 Someone in authority has made it very plain, I'm not at liberty to say more about that issue. And these people whose mamas never taught them manners, stick the mic under their nose and they still keep asking, baiting. Have you seen it? You understand?

11:19 That's what the Pharisees are doing. They're hounding him. What about this, Jesus? What about that?

11:23 What about this? Trying to catch him in his words. And here the multitudes, word has gone out, Jesus is here. And they all want to get close.

11:30 Close enough to hear him. So they're trampling on one another. That's the vigorous language of the passage. What is Jesus going to do in this situation?

11:38 The text says that he now turns and addresses specifically and more pointedly his disciples. Now, who are the disciples in this setting? Well, obviously, it refers to the twelve. It was at least the twelve.

11:55 And remember, Judas was one of the twelve. But there are times in the Gospels where the term disciples, disciples is used not to designate just the twelve, but those who are attaching themselves to Jesus in order to learn from him, who are manifesting, at least outwardly, a teachable spirit. And it could be that our Lord is not only speaking to the twelve, but to others included with the twelve who were nearest to him, who had been clinging more persistently and consistently to his teaching. He addresses these disciples having come out of a situation in which the state of the Pharisees was very much an issue in the mind and heart of our Lord Jesus. His concern about this leaven of hypocrisy that marked the Pharisees is not something that he had in a notebook saying, before I go back to glory, I must warn my disciples about 25, cardinal sins, and now, oh yes, I'm, no, no. This grew out of the soul of our Lord Jesus having had this fresh encounter with the wretched religious patterns of the Pharisees. Their hypocrisy, their sham, they are not only like whitewashed sepulchers

13:19 as he calls them in Matthew 23, but here he says that they are like hidden graves. People deliberately cover over the graves so that you walk over it and never know that beneath you are dead men's bones and all uncleanness. And the soul of our Lord when delivering these woes was not that of a talking head. Woe to you scribes, woe to you scribes.

13:44 Our Lord felt the realities. Our Lord was passionately disturbed about this wretched pattern of hypocrisy in the lives of these Pharisees. And though he acknowledges that this is the sin that reigned in them, now we're coming to our text. He faced the very real possibility that something of that sin could be found in his own not as reigning sin, but as remaining sin.

The Warning Issued: Beware the Leaven of Hypocrisy

14:19 And in that setting, he delivers this warning. Now then, we come to the text itself. And we'll consider it under three heads. First of all, the warning issued.

14:32 Secondly, the warning enforced. And thirdly, the warning applied. First then, the warning issued. In the meantime, when the many thousands of the multitude were gathered together, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples, first of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.

14:59 Which is hypocrisy. Now, I know that the moment some people hear the word warning, they have a knee-jerk reaction. They want a religion that is all encouragement, nothing but encouragement, that tells them nothing but the love of God and the goodness of God and the mercy of God. And the moment they hear the word warning, the veil of a negative attitude and disposition of heart and mind rises.

15:30 What do I say to that? I say simply this, in celebrating the blessedness of God's word, the Psalmist in Psalm 19 focuses upon this very fact as one of the reasons for which he blesses God for his word. Moreover, by them, the precepts of God, is thy servant warned. In the keeping of them, there is great reward.

15:53 And the true child of God welcomes any voice from God of warning, that he might be kept from that which would dishonor his saviour and be detrimental to his own spiritual health. So I make no excuse in opening the passage up in terms of what it is. It is a strident clear warning. The warning is issued.

16:18 Now, look at the text. Our Lord warns in terms of a snel figure. Be aware, be awake, be alert, to a relevant present опасion, and what is the counter palance. Theため is beingirring believed that the important notice ز ken causes interest cuz I'm theik and everything else is from taking up mercy.

16:30 Now, look at the text asг dámėrën danímé dragon parallels the surprise do we call that a ordinate, or significantly, around the grounder who Philippians lovingly push one's and most faintly решил that the Lord needs it. It's what our Lord calls the leaven of the Pharisees. And what's the significance of that figure? Well, you'll remember that Jesus in one of his parables in Matthew 13 said the kingdom of heaven is like unto and then he introduces the matter of leaven.

16:52 And this is what he says concerning leaven in some way reflecting the operations of God's kingdom. Matthew 13, 33. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took, hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Hid just a little until all was leavened.

17:17 With leaven a little bit goes a long way. She hid. A little bit works secretly but effectively. Works secretly but extensively.

17:31 1 Corinthians 5, 6. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. And the apostle uses those very words again in Galatians 5 and verse 9. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

17:45 In the moment the Lord said beware with a present imperative. Be on the alert. Be conscious of the present. Be aware of the danger of the leaven of the Pharisees.

17:55 He's speaking of something in conjunction with the Pharisees which if just a little bit gets in your soul it will affect the whole. A little bit will go a long way. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And what is the reality that our Lord is addressing?

18:17 He tells us which is hypocrisy. Which is hypocrisy. Now what is hypocrisy? The word our Lord uses in classic Greek of the day referred to what one did when acting out a role on the stage.

18:36 A man who said his lines was called the hypocrite. He was the play actor. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another.

18:54 He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another.

18:59 He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another.

19:03 He wore a mask to hide his true identity while he was consciously and deliberately projecting the identity of another. a play actor and there is but one verbal use of this root word in the new testament and it to my judgment is a perfect lexicon on what the word means turn to luke chapter 20 and verse 20 when jesus said beware of that which in the pharisees if it gets in you will operate like leaven a little will go a long way a little will operate extensively and powerfully within you what precisely is this hypocrisy that is like leaven luke chapter 20 verse 19 and the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour and they feared the people for they perceived that he spoke this parable against them and they watched him that is the pharisees are watching jesus now notice and sent forth spies who here's the word hypocrite in a verbal form who hypocrisy who feigned themselves to be righteous that they might take hold of his speech and so deliver him up to the rule and authority of the governor and they asked him saying a teacher we know that you say and teach rightly and accept not the person of any but of a truth teach the way of god tell us

20:25 is it lawful for us to give tribute unto caesar or not but he perceived their craftiness you want to know what a hypocrite is here's god's answer in his own word what was in the heart at this time of the pharisees look at your bibles what was in their hearts what was in their hearts was the murder of jesus the end of verse 20 they want to take hold of his speech to what end to deliver him up to the rule and authority of the governor the governor had the power of capital punishment they did not they want him dead murder is in their hearts see that from the passage that's what they want they want jesus killed finu ended that's what's in their heart but now something restrains them from killing him themselves and what is it that restrains them we are told that they fear the people it's the fear of men that holds them back from doing openly what they long to do in inwardly so what they are inwardly is not being transformed by grace it's being restrained by other influences in pursuit of their own self

21:50 interest the scribes and chief priests sought to lay hands on him feared the people for they perceived that he spoke this parable against them so what do they do they watch him and send spies and spies and spies and spies and spies and spies and spies and spies who potentially material container without ac contamina make the foundation of their have to million and jesus disposed of so what do these and quarantine taxes that the he pocket eyes themselves they say all of us to be right in other words they put on the west Jesus with the mask of those who want to do what is right and please God. That's what a righteous man is. The passionate concern of every righteous man in any situation is what pleases God. So they know they're not righteous. They have no desire to please God. They have one desire, kill Jesus.

23:00 Trip up Jesus, get him killed. That's their desire, but they put on the mask of righteous people in they come to Jesus and they say, now we know that you're a good teacher and you teach impartially. We really admire your ethical and moral integrity as a teacher and we desperately want to please God. Can you help us know, will it please God if we pay taxes to Caesar or not? See, what were they doing? They were deliberately putting on the mask. They were saying their lines. They were playing a role, a role that they knew was not what they really were, but was assumed to pursue their own ends and secondarily in order to accommodate the climate of the people. They did not want to have the people

23:53 set against them. Now, do you see what hypocrisy is? Hypocrisy is when a man or woman, boy or girl deliberately and knowingly is living out two different people.

24:09 You live out the person you want others to think you are, while at the same time consciously remaining the true person that you know you are. Now, you let that sink in. Now, see, that's not the self-deceived person. The Bible has a whole doctrine of warning against self-deception. Let no man deceive himself. Let no man deceive you. If a man does this, he deceives himself. The deceived person believes he's something that he's not, but he believes it. The hypocrite is the one who believes it.

24:43 It knows he's two different people. He's the person with the mask. We'll appear as righteous ones. We want to know the mind of God. Well, all the while they knew who they really were.

24:57 They were in cahoots with those who want Jesus killed. Now, if you get nothing else this morning, I pray God you get that distinction, because Jesus is warning his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees. ...which is mask wearing, maintaining a dual life. The life that you know is you, and the life that you want others to think is you for the promotion of your own personal ends and ambitions. That's hypocrisy. That is hypocrisy, and it is that which Jesus identifies, that which he identifies, and it identifies. Which his soul abhors.

25:51 As I did a word study of every use. If hypocrisy you are struck. When you take your Englishman's Greek concordance. And there you go to the sermon on the mountain.

26:00 When Jesus goes to instruct the sons and daughters of the kingdom. Concerning those deeds and acts of religious devotion. And piety in Matthew 6. He speaks of prayer.

26:13 Of almsgiving. Prayer and fasting. Each instruction. Each block of instruction is preceded with the warning.

26:21 When you give alms. Be not as the what? Hypocrites. When you pray.

26:30 Be not as the hypocrites. When you fast. Be not as the hypocrites.

26:39 In Matthew 23. Seven times. Woe unto you scribes. Pharisees.

26:47 Hypocrites. Woe unto you scribes. Pharisees. Hypocrites.

26:54 Three or four different occasions in the gospels. The warning goes out. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Which is hypocrisy.

27:07 A little of this undetected. Will work its way through the fabric of your whole soul. And strangle spiritual life.

27:20 And if it reigns in you as a reigning sin. You're an utter stranger to God and to his grace. It's a serious warning. From the lips of truth incarnate.

27:32 He said to his disciples. Beware. Be constantly on your alert. With respect to this leaven of the Pharisees.

27:43 Which is hypocrisy. That's the warning issued. Now secondly. The warning enforced.

The Warning Enforced: Nothing Covered Shall Not Be Revealed

27:48 The warning enforced. How does our Lord seek to impress the disciples. With the seriousness of this issue. Well he enforces the warning.

28:00 First of all. With a sobering prophecy. In verses two and three. And then secondly.

28:07 He enforces it with an all encompassing command. In verses four and five. First of all. He enforces it with a sobering prophecy.

28:17 Look at the words of the text. But. There is nothing. Nothing covered up.

28:23 That shall not be revealed. And hid. That shall not be known. Wherefore whatsoever you've said in the darkness.

28:31 Shall be heard in the light. And what you've spoken in the ear in the inner chamber. Shall be proclaimed. Upon the housetops.

28:40 Remember the bottom line. The issue of hypocrisy is there before our Lord. Hypocrisy is deliberately wearing the mask. Living out two lives.

28:50 The one you want people to think you are. And the one that you know you are. And this sobering prophecy has two parts to it. There is the general.

29:01 Or all encompassing statement. And then there is a specific application of the statement. Look at the general statement. Verse two.

29:09 There is nothing covered up. In the form of the verb is used. The perfect. There is nothing that you have done.

29:16 That you know is displeasing to God. And your conscience affirms that it is. And you have deliberately. Covered it.

29:24 And the cover remains to the present moment. There is nothing that you have done. That you desire to be covered. You don't want men to know.

29:34 You foolishly think God may not know. But it is something that in the theater of your conscience. Is coverable. You have covered it.

29:42 And your covering has been very effective. No one sees it and knows it. Jesus said there is no thing covered. No thing.

29:52 No thing. No thing that is a violation of God's law. In thought. In word.

29:59 In deed. In relationships. There is nothing covered. No matter how effectively.

30:06 It may appear to be covered. In the present moment. But look at the text. Nothing covered.

30:12 But that it shall be revealed. Covers will be torn off. And nothing hid. That shall not be known.

30:24 In other words. A moment is coming. When the hypocrite's mask. Will be torn from his face.

30:33 And all the moral universe. Will know exactly. Who and what he really is. You see that in the text.

30:43 That is what Jesus says. To enforce this warning.

30:49 Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Which is hypocrisy. Why? Because hypocrisy is losing business.

30:56 Nothing covered. But that it's going to be revealed. And hid. That shall not be known.

31:06 Paul says in the day. When God shall judge the secrets of men. According to my gospel. Romans 2.

31:14 And verse 16.

31:16 You may sit here this morning and say. But my wife doesn't know. My husband doesn't know. Mom and dad don't know.

31:27 Nobody knows. I have news for you. If that sin is covered by anything other than the blood of Christ. In the way of thorough repentance and faith.

31:38 And where necessary dealt with by righteous biblical restitution. And confession at the horizontal level. That sin will be known. Not just to your husband or wife.

31:52 Whom you would be absolutely devastated if they knew this morning. But the whole moral universe gathered together in the day of judgment will know. Without exception. Nothing covered.

32:06 That shall not be revealed. Nothing hid. That shall not be known. That's the general all encompassing statement.

32:14 But now look at the specific application of the statement. Wherefore. You see there's a logical connection. Wherefore.

32:23 Our Lord moves from the general to the specific. Wherefore. Whatsoever you have said in the darkness. Shall be heard in the light.

32:33 And what you've spoken. Spoken in the ear. In the inner chamber. Shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

32:41 So often our Lord does this. He moves from the general principle to a specific application. Having said no thing. That includes anything.

32:50 Thought. Word. Deed. Action.

32:52 Relationship. Nothing covered. That shall not be revealed. Nothing hid.

32:57 That shall not be made known. And therefore. I want to get very specific. And he homes in on two aspects of the use of our tongue.

33:05 Whatsoever you have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light. Now what is our Lord talking about? Well one of two things. Or maybe both.

33:16 The things you've said in the darkness. That is. No one else is around you. To see you.

33:21 To see what your relationships are. You may be talking to yourself. But most likely what our Lord is doing is saying this. Whatsoever you've said in the darkness.

33:29 That is. You've said it to people with whom you would not be associated in public. Because that would. Pull the mask off.

33:36 And show who your real friends are.

33:41 So you wait till it's dark. And you seek out a companion. Who is one with you in your devious desires. In your unclean lifestyle.

33:52 In your deception. Whatever it is. You think the darkness has hidden people from seeing who I really am. Because I'm with my kind in the darkness.

34:04 The day of judgment will be flooded with the light of the continent. So that John says in Revelation 20. From whose face the heaven and earth fled away. From the brightness of his presence.

34:19 Whatever you have said in the darkness. Shall be heard in the light. Now note. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers.

34:30 Get the picture.

34:32 You want to share a secret. You get someone into a out of the way closet. And you shut the door. And you whisper.

34:39 Right in the ear. You want to make sure. Nobody knows. Oh you want this person to know.

34:45 Because they are one with you in who you really are. A liar. A deceiver. An adulterer.

34:54 An adulteress. A pornographer. A schemer. Whatever it is.

35:00 You know your own kind. Who really have an affinity with you in your sin. And so you get them in the closet and shut the door. And the Lord uses a graphic picture here.

35:11 He said. What has been whispered in the ear shall be proclaimed. And he uses the verb.

35:19 Proclaimed as a herald. When you wanted a whole town or village to hear the message of the king. Delivered by the. The herald.

35:28 The official emissary of the king. He didn't have a loud speaker system. He didn't have megaphones. So you'd go to a house.

35:37 Somewhere in the center of the town. And you'd go up on the roof. Like the four did when they were letting down. That paralytic.

35:44 And you would stand on the roof. And fill your lungs with air. And tighten your diaphragm. And you would herald out the message of the king.

35:52 The message of the king. The whole village would know it. From little children to grown adults. To old men and women sitting on rocking chairs.

35:59 In the front step of the local nursing home. Jesus said that's exactly what's going to happen to the hypocrite. Whose true self is revealed. In his secret messages.

36:11 On his computer. Mom and dad won't know.

36:17 In his secret telephone calls.

36:21 In the little secret whisperings. Down in the corner. Where the lockers are. In Trinity Christian school.

36:29 When you've got your secrets. With your buddy and your girlfriend. That you know. Are playing the game like you are.

36:38 Presenting the nice little picture. Of the sweet little. When you know you're devious. And deceptive.

36:45 And lying.

36:48 Jesus said. All the words. Whispered in the ear in the closet. Will be thundered from the rooftops.

37:01 The mask will be torn off. The whole moral universe will know exactly. Who and what you.

37:15 I am meek and lowly of heart. Jesus said the meek and lowly Jesus. Brings that awesomely frightening reality. Before us in his word.

37:27 What has been spoken. Spoken in the ear. And in the inner chambers. Proclaimed.

37:35 Upon the house.

The Warning Enforced: The All-Encompassing Command to Fear God

37:40 Why are you proclaiming things secretly in the ear. Why are you communicating words in the darkness. Because you don't want everybody to know what you really are. You got your nice little circle.

37:54 Who know what you are. And you're glad for them to know who and what you are.

38:00 But you don't want the rest of the world.

38:03 That's a hypocrite. That's hypocrisy. That's hypocrisy. That's hypocrisy.

38:09 And Jesus warns. He warns. In this sobering prophecy. And remember.

38:17 Judas. Was part of that crowd. And he was so clever with the mask. The very night he's about to go out and tell the chief priest.

38:27 It's time to do our thing. When Jesus whispers. What you do do quickly. Remember what the writer says in the gospels.

38:34 They thought Jesus was sending him out. To get some last minute vittles for. The remainder. of the Passover he had worn his mask so well and rehearsed his lines so perfectly they had no suspicion none whatsoever Judas heard these words he obviously didn't heed them and his mask got torn off before the day of judgment as his conscience screamed I've betrayed innocent blood throws down his money and the priest and the leader say what's that to us and he goes out and hangs himself so by the time we come to Acts chapter 1 Peter sees fulfilled in Judas the prophecy that one the familiar friend who would betray Messiah another should take his place God tore the mask off in time but too late for Judas God does occasionally tear the mask off in time remember Achan he thought he'd committed the perfect cover-up he took of the accursed thing and hid it in his tail and I can just see Achan that night no thunderbolts come out of heaven everything looks fine I've very

39:58 effectively hidden it the next battle Israel's defeated Joshua and the elders go down in their face and cry to God and God says get up off your face time to stop praying and it's time to start searching out the sin in your midst and by using responsible inquiry and the casting of lots God zeroes in upon Achan

40:22 to make Christ short off the stop God he Zweib did you still any a mop certainly peel cat coal seed was revealed and he's a leper to the day of his death God may uncover some of you here in mercy or in judgment but sooner or later everything covered shall be revealed and everything hid shall be made known what has been spoken in the dark shall be heard in the light what has been spoken in the ear in the inner chamber shall be heralded from the housetop you see the reason some of you don't come clean now is you say how can I the embarrassment my parents hearts will be broken if I tell them who I really am

41:48 my teachers would be grieved I might get kicked out of Christian school what would my elders think what would my husband, my friend, it doesn't matter the whole universe will know in that day if you don't uncover it by thorough repentance and fleeing to the fountain open for sin and unhappiness and uncleanness whatever the present embarrassment it is nothing to the irreversible embarrassment of judgment in hell but then he gives an all encompassing command to buttress his warning look at what he does some commentators see in verses four and five a couplet along with the next verses in which the Lord Jesus merges from the warning against hypocrisy into an encouragement of disciples to make an unashamed boldness a bold confession of Christ no matter what the cost may be and therefore he starts at the lowest level don't fear those who if you openly confess him will be able to make you a martyr only God can send people to hell men can't don't be afraid of them verse six are not five sparrows more positive perspective on being an open bold confession your heavenly father cares for you verse eight everyone who shall confess me I will confess before my father

43:16 but whether verses four and five should be attached more intimately with the following context one thing is clear any average reader of his bible sits down to read what the holy ghost gave through the pen of Luke make some connection between the warning enforced by Jesus with this sobering prophecy and now his words of an all encompassing command and what are those words first of all he says I say unto you my friends only other place where he says this is in the upper room discourse henceforth I call you no more servants for a servant knows not what his lord does I call you friends I say unto you my friends he's speaking to his own don't be afraid of them that kill the body and after this have no more that they can do I'll forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him who after he has killed has power to cast into hell yes I say unto you fear him! what's he saying? you want a cure for hypocrisy? here it is live in the fear of God that's it live in the fear of God what's it mean to live in the fear of God?

44:30 to fear God it means that I live with the consciousness that the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good all things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom I have to do I live my life before the face of God! I have set the Lord always before me for he is at my right hand that I should not be moved wherefore we make it our aim that whether sober or beside ourselves we may be well pleasing unto him to live in the fear of God is to consciously live before the face of God that in any situation along with others in the light in the darkness all is a light to my God Psalm 139 you've searched me and known me you know my down city my uprising you understand my thought from afar not a word in my tongue but lo, O Lord, you know it all together I have no secrets you know them all together you have beset me behind and before and laid your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful to me I cannot attain unto it where shall I go from thy presence? if I ascend up into heaven you are there if I make my bed in Sheol you are there if I jump on the first rays of the sun as it breaks out across the mountain I dwell in the Mediterranean Sea and I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me

45:58 beautiful and you see the Psalmist is glad that he's encompassed in God because he's living in the fear of God but when you're living in hypocrisy you hate the fact that you're encompassed by God and you become a practical atheist at the point you whisper your secret into your buddies or your girlfriends ear thinking no one knows I can cover it that is practical atheism you've either said God does not exist or somehow you've pushed the delete button in God's perception of what you said God has no delete buttons friends none whatsoever God's computer has nothing that can be erased from its hard drive some of you to come to grips with that before the Lord proves in the day of judgment that every word of this passage is true to your everlasting shame fear God that's the issue the Lord Jesus said would you be delivered from hypocrisy from the living of two lives projecting two persona then stand before God in the nakedness of your guilt

47:23 and plead for the cleansing of the blood of His Son and the renewing work of His Son and the renewing work of His Spirit that you might live for the very purpose for which God made you as an image-bearer live in communion with Him live before His face with joy and liberty as His son or His daughter and when you think and when you say and you do that which you know displeases the God before whom you live the only covering you seek is the covering of the blood of His own dear Son and you plead His promise if we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and where necessary like Paul you say I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense to God and to man living before the face of God in the presence of image-bearers of God where you know there's something that needs to be rectified if you're to live transparently you're willing to confess it no matter how humbling it is here's the man who in a moment of weakness has bought a pornographic magazine filled his mind with images other than that of his wife he's not only sinned against God he's sinned against his wife and he goes home after he's indulged this base appetite he's a Christian the Spirit of God is grieved he looks at his wife and he's ashamed time comes to embrace her and he feels dirty but then he acts like it

48:51 none of that's there he's a hypocrite he's wearing a mask what he's saying by his attempts to smile and embrace her like nothing happened is dear I've made no major dent in my marital fidelity to you that's being a hypocrite he has he's got to make that right with his wife the son who gives the impression that he's resisting the pressures to indulge in the unclean that bombards the eyeballs that is available from a few clicks with a mouse yet he's indulged it in a moment of weakness he looks at his dad and he feels dirty and filthy and he knows the only way to deal with that is not only confess it to God but confess it to Dad and to Mom and he won't do it and he smiles like everything's that's being a hypocrite that's being a hypocrite some of you sit here in this place your hearts have long since left this place you'd like a ministry much more suited to whatever yet you smile at your elders you greet them as though your heart is where it was five years ago that's being a hypocrite that's wearing a face that's wearing a mask and what you really are you have your own little circle you let them know that's the real you and you veil the real you from others need I get more specific in the applications what a wretched sin is hypocrisy that's why Jesus said beware of it be constantly on the alert

Application to Believers: Non-Hypocritical Love and Integrity

50:18 against it beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy and our Lord tells us why we ought to be humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble humble But it can be a torturous, subtle expression of remaining sin. Hypocrisy was the reigning sin of the Pharisees. And that's why in Matthew 23, 51, Jesus said, He will appoint his portion with the hypocrites, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. If hypocrisy is the reigning sin in your life, you have no biblical grounds to say you're a Christian.

51:38 But I want to speak to God's people, in whom it is not a reigning sin, the passion of your life is to live before the face of God and your fellow men with biblical uprightness and integrity. And you know that Jesus died in the language of Titus 2 to redeem you from all iniquity and to purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.

52:04 God commands us in Romans 12 in verse 9 to love one another with, and the little alpha privative is put in front of the word hypocrisy, hypocritical, with a non-hypocritical love. Brethren, when we shake hands and when we embrace and plant a kiss on the cheek, let it never be a Judas kiss. If you have a lot against your brother, go tell him. It doesn't say go and mask it.

52:32 Let love be without hypocrisy. First Peter 1, 22, having been born again, unto a living hope in chapter 1, yes. But then Peter goes on to say, you have been begotten by God through the word unto unfeigned. There's the same word, non-hypocritical love to the brethren.

52:55 Is your love to your brothers and sisters non-hypocritical? Is the face you wear your face or a mask?

53:06 Only you can answer it. I can't answer it.

53:10 Is your expressed appreciation for your wife, your husband, non-hypocritical? You children to your parents, you see, confessed and forsaken secret sin of the mind and the eyes and the heart does not come into this passage. I don't want any tender soul to go out unnecessarily wounded. You say, but what about those vile thoughts that I've had?

53:33 Those thoughts of envy? Must I put? No, no. If you go to God with the thoughts as earnestly as though they were deeds, my friend, those are not covered.

53:43 But by the blood of Christ, the Lord's talking about sin that's not dealt with biblically. Not dealt with in the way of gospel dynamics and covered that way.

53:57 Do I need to confess to you the sins with which I struggled in the very process of preparing sermons? No, there are things known only to me and to God, but they're not being covered.

54:15 My Christian brother, sister, can you say sitting here this morning, by the grace of God, I love my brothers with a non-hypocritical love.

54:26 I'm walking in the light as he is. Is in the light. Proverbs 23, 17. Be thou in the fear of God all the day long.

54:36 Do I live before the face of God?

Application to Unbelievers: The Liberating Joy of Exposure

54:40 And to you who are not Christians,

54:45 you hear the words of Jesus.

54:49 Hypocrisy of a reigning sin is an evidence that you're not in the state of grace. You may think you've effectively fooled mom and dad and 90% of the people around you, but you haven't fooled God. Young people, you have your own little circle that they know and you know what the terms of your relationship are. And one thing is clear, it's not godly.

55:16 You know, they know, God knows. You go on living that way with hypocrisy as a reigning sin in your life. You have no biblical grounds to claim you're a Christian.

55:28 And one of the most wonderful joys that awaits you, and if I could only entice you with the joy, is to come out of the dark and to live a life thoroughly exposed before the eye of God. It's the most liberating thing in all the world. You never need fear if somebody's going to find a tape recorder in the closet where you spoke your words in the ear in secret. You never need fear that someone's got an infrared camera is going to take a picture of you speaking to someone in the dark that in the light you would never have spoken to.

56:01 It's the most liberating thing in all the world to live before the face of God. You've got nothing to fear. Nothing to fear. You fear him.

Spurgeon's Exhortation: The Cure and Consequences of Hypocrisy

56:10 You fear nothing else. I want to close this morning by reading the words of Charles Spurgeon. We would say in our day he was just a 25-year-old kid when he preached these words. Think of it.

56:25 25 years old. The maturity of an aged giant.

56:30 And after preaching on the sin of hypocrisy, approaching it from a totally different way from the exposition that I've sought to give this morning, this is what Spurgeon said when he came to the end of his sermon. But now for the cure of the hypocrite. What shall we do to cure ourselves of any hypocrisy that may exist among us? Let us recollect that we cannot do anything in secret even if we try.

56:55 The all-seeing God apprehended in the conscience must be the death of hypocrisy. I cannot try to deceive when I know that God is looking at me. It is impossible for me to play double and false when I believe that I'm in the presence of the Most High and that he's reading my thoughts. The secret purpose is of my heart.

57:16 The only way in which the hypocrite can play it, wherever I am, upon my bed or in my secret chamber, God is there. There's not a secret word I speak in the ear of a friend, but God hears it. Do I seek out the most private part of the city for the commission of sin? God is there.

57:35 Do I choose the shadow of night to cover my iniquity? He is there, looking upon me. The thought of a present deity. The secret mystery, if it were fully realized, would preserve us from sin.

57:47 Always looking on me, ever regarding me. We think we're doing many things in secret, but there is nothing concealed from him with whom we have to do. And the day is coming when all the sins we have committed shall be read and published. Oh, what a blush shall crimse in the cheek of the hypocrite when God shall read the secret diary of his soul.

58:12 What a blush shall crimse in the cheek of the hypocrite when God shall read the secret diary of his soul. What a blush will be on the cheek of some of you when God reads the diary of your soul. Oh, my fellow professing Christians, let us always look upon our actions in the light of the great out-reading of them in the day of judgment. Pause over everything you do and say, Can I bear to have this sounded with a trumpet in the ear of all men?

58:37 No, take a higher motive and say, Can I endure to do this and repeat the words, Thou, God, seest me. You may deceive men and deceive ourselves, but God, you cannot. God, you shall not. You may die with the name of Christ upon your lips, and men may be deceived about you.

58:58 And they will say that he's gone to his reward. But Christ will say, away with him. He shall wring you, and if you have not the ring of pure gold, of grace, he shall nail you down as a counterfeit, wringing a coin to see if it's the real thing. He shall strip the mask off you.

59:17 Virtue is most adorned when unadorned the most. To detect you, you shall be stripped naked, and every cloak shall be torn to shatters. How will you endure this? Will you dig into the depths to hide yourself?

59:32 Will you plunge into the sea to find a way of escape? Will you cry for the rocks and the mountains to hide you? No. The all-seeing God shall read your soul, shall discover your secrets, shall reveal your hidden things, and tell the world that though you did eat and drink in his streets, though you preached in his name, yet he never knew you.

59:54 You were still a worker of iniquity and must be driven away forever.

60:01 And then he closes with this sober entreaty. Come, let us for one second reflect that we shall all soon lie upon our deathbeds a few more months, and you and I shall face the cruel, tyrant death. It will be hard work to play the hypocrite then. When the pulse is faint and few, when the eye-strings break, and when the tongue is cleaving to the roof of your mouth, it will be in vain to try hypocrisy then.

60:30 O may God make you sincere, for if you die with an empty profession, you die indeed. Of all deaths, methinks, the most awful is that of the hypocrite. After death, for him to lift up his eyes and find himself lost and forever. O make sure work of the salvation of your soul.

Pastoral Plea and Prayer for Deliverance from Hypocrisy

60:54 Dear people, this sermon has not sprung from ill will in my heart. It has sprung from agonizing hours of intimate pastoral dealings with the sin of hypocrisy in this church. And I have reason. I have reason to believe that my dealings of the past couple of weeks and the dealings of other of your elders has not yet totally purged the leaven from our midst.

61:29 God help us.

61:38 Our Father, we feel very keenly our earthiness when we draw near to such statements of our Lord that bring us to that awesome hour when all of the assembled nations shall be gathered before that throne of burning purity and absolute justice based upon perfect knowledge and equity. O our God, we pray, have dealings with our hearts. Have dealings with those who know, sitting here this morning, that they are wearing the mask. O God, may they not resist the overtures of your exposing grace and mercy. But may they run to the fountain open, for the Lord is with them. And may they run to the fountain open, for the Lord is with them. And may they run to the fountain open, for the Lord is with them.

62:30 For sin and uncleanness, where the vilest of hypocrites can be cleansed and washed and made new. We pray for us, your people. Help us to know our own hearts. Help us to detect the mask wearing.

62:47 Lord, deliver us. O deliver us, we pray, from every single form of hypocrisy. Have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon those of us who lead.

63:00 O God. God, whatever else we are, make us real, we pray. And have mercy upon your people in this place. We pray that this day there would be some blessed mask tearing, some mask removing, honest dealings with you and one another.

63:20 We call upon you to do it for our good and for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.