Transcript Hypocrites and Backsliders: Human Nature and the Christian

Hypocrites and
Backsliders-005
Adam and Eve: Part 1 - Why
are We Here?
Why Are We Here?
Why are there hypocrites and backsliders?
2 weeks ago we read the personal testimony of
many who started their Christian lives with
enthusiasm and commitment, but who were, in a
relatively short time, so disenchanted with their faith
in that they chose to leave Christianity behind,
even inviting others to do the same.
How can this be, when God’s Word says:
“According as His Divine Power has given us all
things that pertain to life and godliness...” -- 2 Peter
1:3
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Hypocrites and Backsliders:
Human Nature and the Christian Life
"A hypocrite is a person who—but who isn't?" -- Don
Marquis
"I detest that man, who hides one thing in the depths of
his heart, and speaks forth another.”--Homer
"Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles," and
"[The superior man] speaks according to his actions.” -Confucius
Moleire: "Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all
fashionable vices pass for virtue."
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Jesus spent a great deal of time denouncing
hypocrisy; He condemned it more than
anything else.
Jesus states that hypocrites "have neglected
the more important matters of the law—justice,
mercy and faithfulness" (Matthew 23:23).
Peter advised, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all
malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and
slander of every kind" (1 Peter 2:1).
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Christian Hypocrites!
“Those Christians, they say one thing and do
another, why should we believe them? Why be
a Christian when they are such hypocrites?”
It is true that many Christians are hypocrites
and many are worse than the Unbeliever.
Famous preachers have swindled money,
cheated on their wives, and manipulated the
unsuspecting.
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The Christian Defense: “Do not judge
Christianity based on the actions of those
who claim to be followers. Judge
Christianity solely on the actions and life of
Jesus Christ. He never let anyone down.
He never abandoned anyone. He was not
a hypocrite.”
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But does this address the problem?
Are we destined, as one website says,”If
you are Christian, you are a hypocrite.”
Is there no hope to overcome hypocrisy?
Look at the carnage such hypocrisy
leaves:
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The Testimony of
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Church of Christ minister for 10 years - “What a
Waste!”
I came across some people from the Church
of Christ (conservative) and was pretty
impressed - but actually I was just pretty
naive and idealistic.”
Within a year I was preaching for the Church of
Christ. Did this for ten years. During this time, I was
so miserable that I couldn't put on any weight and
usually weighed 125 pounds. Also thought of
committing suicide frequently ... pretty much on a
weekly basis.
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The Testimony of
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The people treated me in such a mean,
contemptible fashion it was unbelievable.
Others, also, were treated poorly and made to
feel not welcome. Some were doted over and
treated like royalty.
I moved to new churches three times, and each
seemed more hypocritical than the last. Christians were
the most stingy, egotistical, racist people I knew.
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The Testimony of
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Finally, ten years into this BS, the church I was with cut
my poverty level salary by 67 percent because I wasn't
converting one family a month (as per my quota), and
because I was a Yankee and few other things.
Suddenly, I couldn't make my mortgage payments, I
went bankrupt, lost everything I had, was evicted from
my home and as a thirty-something, had to move back
in with my parents when I had a wife and two kids to
think about.
I wanted to die.
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The Testimony of
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The moral of the story is: Christianity isn't what it
claims to be.
There is nothing wrong with their highest claims
(peace, love thy neighbor, ...), the problem is they
consistently do the opposite "in the name of the Lord"
and there is something about religion that brings out
the most mean-spirited things in people. Christians
always doubt their faith, but people who leave
christianity never doubt that they made a good
choice. I can attest to that as leaving the church
was the best thing I've ever done. Won't you do the
same?”
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The Testimony of
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Why I'm An Ex-Baptist
“My parents were never really superreligious. My sister and I were in childrens
chior and Sunday school. We went to
Vacation Bible School in the summer and
also to church camp. We stopped going to
church for awhile up until i was 15. My
parents were having marriage problems and
my dad decided that we needed to start
going back to church. I started going to the
youth sunday school classes.
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The Testimony of
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The people were all really nice to me and I needed
friends. Eventually, I started going on Wednesday
nights to the youth meetings. They were a lot of fun.
one wednesday night, i decided to get saved. i was
listening to a speaker one night and for some reason, it
hit me. i had been living all those years without truly
knowing God. i was going to hell. i looked around and
saw all of my new friends and decided that i wanted to
be like them. i wanted to know what it was like to
experience god like that.
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The Testimony of
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i wanted to be good. … i wanted to be a part of that
group. i wanted to know that i wasnt going to die and go
to hell. i tried so hard to be a better person, but it always
seemed like i wasn't doing enough. i started attending
church everytime the doors were open.
i read my bible everyday. i told other people about my
god. i used to really get depressed that i wasnt doing
enough. i spent as much time as i could talking to the
youth ministers about what was going on. i really trusted
these people. they would tell me things like i couldn’t
call myself a real christian if i associated with nonchristians.
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The Testimony of
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i got baptized a couple of months after i 'got saved'.
i stayed involved with the church and even went on the
spring break ski trip. when i returned from the trip, i
found out that my mom had left my dad two days before
i got back. i was devastated. i didnt know what else to
do, so i turned to my church friends. i became so
involved with my church and my friends from church,
that i was never home. i could trust those people and i
knew that they cared about me because i was their
sister in christ.
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The Testimony of
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after that, i started to see that the church wasnt
all it had once been. i got tired of hearing my
friends judge other people for thier actions. i
loved everyone, i didn’t think i was better than
other people just because i was a christian. i
started to go out with my old friends again. my
church friends did not like that at all.
when i lost my virginity, i told one of my friends
from church. she swore that she wouldnt tell
anyone, but i started [to] notice the looks i was
receiving from my other church friends.
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the first time i tried pot, somehow it got back to
everyone at the church. i was an outcast after that. they
wouldnt talk to me at all. it really hurt me that all of the
people who had once been so close to me could turn
their backs on me overnight.
ive never been to church since. when ive told my story
to other people who claim claim to be christians i get
one of two responses.
#1...i must have never truly been a christian. had i been
a true christian, i would have never left the church.
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#2...all of my friends and ministers from church were
not really christians. if they were, they would have
helped me rather than turn their backs on me.
as far as im concerned, i was doing everything i was
supposed to do. most of my time was devoted to being
a christian. how was i never truly saved? the one thing
that i dont understand to this day is who the christians
really are. if i wasnt one, and all the people at church
weren't christians, where are the real ones?
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The Testimony of
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the people at my church were very
judgemental, racist, homophobic, sexist,
and they particularly enjoyed using the fear
of hell and being left behind in the rapture
as tools for winning souls.
most other churches that i have ever
visited are the same way. why would i want
to associate myself with a group like that?
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Hypocrites and Backsliders:
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The Church is Full of Hypocrites
By Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Lately I've been asking strangers if they
are Christians, and if they are not, I've
followed up with the question: “Why
not?” Last week I sat down across from
Zedekiah (not his real name) and, as we
ate McDonald's together, I asked him
some of these questions.
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Zedekiah said that he was a Christian, but has no
church and hadn't been to church in six years.
“Why not?”
He answered: “The church is full of hypocrites.”
This is not a strange implication of the Church and
the Lord's people, and I'm sure most of you have
heard it from family or friends. In the eyes of the
unbelieving world, hypocrisy is the cardinal sin of
the Church.
The world sees the church as hypocritical when
what we do doesn't match what we say. In other
words, we act as hypocrites when we talk like we
are holy and righteous, but live in sin.
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We talk about the love of Jesus, but we
despise our neighbors, we talk about family
values but cheat on our spouse or mistreat
our children.
The Bible certainly speaks of hypocrisy.
Jesus especially criticized the Pharisees as
hypocrites. His six-fold accusations are
found in Matthew 23 (see verses 13, 15, 23,
25-26, 27-28, 29-31). Especially important
are Jesus' words in Matthew 23:27-28:
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“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed
tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful,
but within are full of dead people's bones
and all uncleanness. 28 So you also
outwardly appear righteous to others, but
within you are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness.”
In the Scriptures hypocrisy means playacting, pretending, deceiving. “They preach,
but do not practice.” [Matthew 23:3]
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Christianity doesn’t tell us that Humans
are good, but that all are sinners:
“10 None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no
one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they
have become worthless; no one does
good, not even one.” [Romans 3:10-12,
quoting Psalm 14:1-4; 53:1-3]
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But what does this knowledge of our
wretchedness and its forgiveness do to end our
Hypocrisy and sinfullness?
Unfortunately, nothing!
It is not Salvation that brings an end to sin, but
only an end to the penalty of sin.
There must be more that God provides; surely He
doesn’t want us to be “forgiven sinners”, but
“saints”, those “set apart for His use”, which
certainly does not include contamination of His
name with our wretchedness.
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Peter instructs the church: “So put away all
malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and
all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure
spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may grow
up in deliverance.” [1 Peter 2:1-2]
So, if commanded to put these away, are we not
to expect that the God who could raise Jesus
from the dead, would not do the same for us and
provide the means and the mechanics to do so?
Is it found in the second part of that verse?
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Is it found in, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure
spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may grow up in
deliverance [from these things]” ?
If God commands us, and He does, to “be holy, for I am
holy”, would we not expect Him to provide that
Holiness?
Is there a hint of how that may be accomplished?
Is it to be found in, “Order your life by means of the
Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh”?
Is it these “desires of the Flesh” that make us
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Yes, of course! The scriptures are clear; it is our
“Flesh”, our “sinful nature” that drags us back
from Holiness, and produces hypocrisy and
backsliding.
The answer is not to “give up” because you are a
Hypocrite, or Backslide because someone else is;
it is to learn that you can be free from the “body of
this death” and live without hypocrisy and
backsliding.
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You did not only receive the imputation of Christ’s
righteousness to your account so that you would be
acceptable to God for salvation, but you received
Christ’s Righteousness imparted to you so you would
not have to live your life by the potential you received
from your Human genes but by the potential you
received at re-gene-eration from God’s genes.
You are not just adopted, you are born of God, with the
Genetic Potential of Jesus Christ available to you.
(“According as His Divine Power has given us all things
that pertain to life and godliness...” -- 2 Peter 1:3)
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Why Are We Here?
What power, what force, would cause people who
were so excited about their new-found faith,
whose lives have changed so dramatically, to
refer to their old way of living?
To answer that question we must go back to the
beginning, not just the beginning of their faith in
Christ, though we will do that; not just back to the
beginning of Christianity, and we will do that too,
but back further, to the beginning of mankind, the
beginning of the earth, and even before that.
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Why Are We Here?
Let us begin with an obscure little sentence
at the end of 1 Peter 1:12 -"Angels long to stoop and look into these
things."
What things could it be that angels "long" to
look into?
What could it be that humanity has to teach
angels?
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Why Are We Here?
Let us look at the context of the passage to see
what it might be:
10 There were Prophets who earnestly inquired
about that salvation, and closely searched into it-even those who spoke beforehand of the grace
which was to come to you. 11 They were eager to
know the time which the Spirit of Christ within
them kept indicating, or the characteristics of that
time, when they solemnly made known
beforehand the sufferings that were to come upon
Christ and the glories which would follow.
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Why Are We Here?
12 To them it was revealed that they were
serving not themselves but you, when they
foretold the very things which have now been
openly declared to you by those who, having
been taught by the Holy Spirit which had
been sent from Heaven, brought you the
Good News. Angels long to stoop and look
into these things.
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Why Are We Here?
So, the angels are aware of some story that even
the prophets of the Old testament were kept in the
dark about, that are now revealed in the church
age believer
Two questions come to the mind; what is it that is
revealed in the New testament believer, and, why
is it of interest to Angels?
Is there anything in the Bible that might shed
more light on what it is about us that the angels
are interested in?
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Why Are We Here?
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons (the
angels) of God came to present themselves before the
Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also
came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan,
From where did you come? Then Satan answered the
Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from
walking up and down on it. 8 And the Lord said to
Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there
is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright
man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from
and shuns evil [because it is wrong]?
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Why Are We Here?
Here we see an Angel, known as Satan, attending an
Angelic Convocation, and is called out by God himself
and is questioned about a believer!
Why does God direct the Angel’s attention to a Human
Being?
While this believer is an Old testament Believer, yet
has something to teach the angels; our text in 1st
Peter indicates that we as Believers after crucifixion of
Christ have greater information to offer!
Let us look back into history and even pre-history, find
out what is going on.
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Creation
Genesis 1:1 IN THE beginning God (prepared, formed,
fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and an empty waste,
and darkness was upon the face of the very great
deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering,
brooding) over the face of the waters.
(Is 45:18 For thus says the Lord Who created the
heavens, God Himself, Who formed the earth and
made it, Who established it and did not create it without
form and an empty waste; He formed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else.)
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Creation
So, here we have a seeming contradiction, the
second verse of Genesis stating that the earth
was formless and void at the creation, and Isaiah,
quoting God Himself, that He did not create it
formless and void.
2 Pe 3:5 For they willfully overlook and forget
this [fact], that the heavens [came into] existence
long ago by the word of God, and the earth also
which was formed out of water and by means of
water, 6 Through which the world that then
[existed] was deluged with water and perished.
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Creation
When did this creation of the Earth take place?
It was after the creation of angels that this took place,
as they all were present and rejoicing.
Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundation
of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know
understanding. 5 Who determined the measures of the
earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring
line upon it? 6 Upon what were the foundations of it
fastened, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the
morning stars sang together and all the sons of God
shouted for joy?
But what else do we know about the history of Angels?
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The Fall of Lucifer
Eze 28:12 … Thus says the Lord God: You are
the full measure and pattern of exactness, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in
Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone
was your covering, the carnelian, topaz, jasper,
chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and
emerald; and your settings and your sockets and
engravings were wrought in gold.
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The Fall of Lucifer
On the day that you were created they were
prepared. 14 You were the anointed cherub that
covers with overshadowing [wings], and I set you
so. You were upon the holy mountain of God;
you walked up and down in the midst of the
stones of fire 15 You were blameless in your
ways from the day you were created until iniquity
and guilt were found in you.
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The Fall of Lucifer
16 Through the abundance of your commerce
you were filled with lawlessness and violence,
and you sinned; therefore I cast you out as a
profane thing from the mountain of God and the
guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of
the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud and
lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted
your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
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The Antagonistic Environment:
Angelic Conflict
The Angelic Conflict
As an expression of His perfect essence, God
chose to have created beings functioning in the
universe on the basis of "free will."
He wanted them to express themselves toward Him
in a positive attitude from choice and not as a
programmed "robot.”
A volitional creature, however, must bow to the
consequences God establishes for deviation from
His standards.
God permitted volition in the angelic realm.
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The Antagonistic Environment:
Angelic Conflict
God is absolute righteousness.
In God's foreknowledge, He anticipated that the
opposite of His perfect righteousness would
manifest itself through a volitional creature.
Therefore, He created the Servant Class
Creature (Angels) first, and allowed them to
rebel, thus setting up an opportunity to create a
second being, the Fellowship Class, to resolve
the Volitional Conflict Issue through Grace and
Regeneration.
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The Antagonistic Environment:
Angelic Conflict
The revolt of the angels: the beginning of the
angelic conflict.
What God had anticipated came about and
the highest ranked angel expressed negative
volition toward God and sinned. Ezk. 28:1516a, 17a, 18a
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