How God Handles Hypocrites | Part 2

From the Love Word Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler, here with Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Love Word Finding. Kerry, today, Adrian Rogers in a series, Foundations for Our Faith. What a great series. As a matter of fact, Romans, as we know, is his favorite book, and he parked here in Romans. I mean, 27 messages in this series, and it's three volumes. I mean, this is in-depth how to live the Christian life. This is like sitting with a Bible professor, you know, learning the Word of God.

I mean, this is your handbook, right? You take this, and you apply it, and you execute it to your life. Well, let's hear what Adrian Rogers had to say about the book of Romans, and I want our listeners to pick up on the S-words that Dr. Rogers uses. Well, this book starts out dealing, first of all, with sin. It tells us what is wrong in the world, and Paul just kind of pins our ears back when he deals with this subject of sin, not only the sin of the pagan, but the sin of the so-called religionist. And after he deals with sin, then when we're ready for salvation, he deals with salvation.

You know, no man is ready for Calvary until he is first trembled at Sinai. And so then he deals with salvation. But then, after we're saved, we need to move on and be better Christians. So then the great apostle Paul deals with sanctification, and then he gets very deep and very philosophical and deals with the mysteries of fordination and election and predestination. All of these things we would just call the sovereignty of God. And then he gets very practical and talks to us about spiritual gifts and service and fellowship, one with another. So you think of these themes—sin, salvation, sanctification, the God's sovereignty, and then service—all of these are wrapped up in this book of Romans. Kerry, we're going to find in chapter 2 of Romans today with Adrian Rogers how God handles hypocrites. You know, some of Jesus' strongest statements were directed at people who claimed to believe in God but didn't act like it. Well, the hypocritical heart looks at the outward appearance.

Let's say it this way. They look at the exterior. Jesus looks at the interior. Well, there's plenty of people who say, well, you know, I'm not that bad.

I would never do that. And today Adrian Rogers talks about the up and out, those who think by their good deeds they've got God's approval. As we'll see today, there's no performance or pretense that will fool God. That's exactly right. There's a great Adrianism that says what's in the well will come up in the bucket, right? So God knows the heart and He searches the heart.

That's the key. And Adrian Rogers also said, if the gospel does not save you, the gospel will judge you. The same Jesus who wants to be your Savior will one day be your judge if you do not allow Him to save you. We should never confuse our work for God with our walk with God. You know, we always love hearing from our listeners to Love We're Finding.

Here's a response. Thank you for sharing the classic teachings of Adrian Rogers. These have been such a blessing to my walk with God and I've learned so much.

Thank you. The world desperately needs clear old time preaching. The fundamentals, right? The blocking and tackling of our faith. That's the ministry of Love We're Finding. We point people to the cross, but also we come alongside them for discipleship. It's perfect for the series we're in, foundations for our faith. And a matter of fact, these resources are available at LWF.org.

That's correct. Or go to LWF Ministries, the app. Everything's at your fingertips. Use it for personal growth and use it for your family. Well, with today's message, how God handles hypocrites, part two, here's Adrian Rogers. We're dealing today with hypocrites. And many hypocrites have quite a few things on the exterior. But God doesn't look on the exterior. God looks on the heart.

God sees through all of those things that we adorn ourselves with and decorate ourselves with. We're talking today about how God handles hypocrites. And if you're a hypocrite, I pray God that today you will come to the real thing.

Because you see, the devil had rather send you to hell from the pew than from the gutter. So I'm praying today that many will be saved. I'm praying also that those of you who have let some hypocrite keep you from Jesus will do it no longer. We'll be looking, if we will, here in chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, thou art inexcusable.

Underscore the word inexcusable, old man. Whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doeth the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, old man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Now, what is the hypocrite's judgment going to be like?

What is the basis? First of all, the judgment is going to be according to truth, and therefore there will be no disguise. You see, the word hypocrite means actor. It means play actor.

That's what the word literally means. And in Jesus' time, the actors would put on disguises. If they were supposed to be happy, rather than merely acting happy, they would put on a happy face, a disguise.

If they were to be sad, they'd put on a sad face. If they were to be fierce, they were to put on a fierce face. They were wearing masks. They were wearing disguises. And Jesus said in the religious world, there are some who are hypocrites, they're actors.

They are wearing disguises. But Paul says that the judgment is going to be according to truth. God is going to pull off the mask.

There will be no disguise. Not profession, not pretension, not performance, but truth is the standard. God knows the truth, and God will judge every hypocrite by the truth, no matter what office he holds.

Truth is to your spirit what food is to your body, what light is to your eyes, what melody is to your ears. Why doesn't God judge right away? I'll tell you why God doesn't judge right away. Because God waits for all of that sin to ripen.

You see, you put it in the bank, and at the judgment you collect with compound interest. When you sin against God, your sin does not just end here, it goes on and on and on, and the ripples touch the shores of eternity. And then finally, God says there's coming a day of wrath in the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And so the judgment is going to be according to truth. According to truth, God is going to rip off the mask, and God is going to say, outward appearance doesn't matter. God is going to say the blessings that I gave you, that didn't mean you were right with God. And God is going to say, just because I didn't judge you now does not mean that I will not judge you.

And any hypocrite, you're living high, wide, and handsome. You are not getting away with your sin. You're not.

You are not. After thy hardness and impenitent heart, you're treasuring up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Now, you're not going to escape. He says in verse 3, that thinkest thou that you will escape?

The word think is a technical word. It means, have you figured out a way to escape? Do you think that somehow you, that you're going to escape the judgment of God?

You can't do it. Houdini was an escape artist, but he didn't escape death, and he did not escape judgment. Now, today, you may escape. You may escape by you. Your sin may go undiscovered.

How many of you have ever broken the speed limit and didn't get arrested? Your sin may be undiscovered. You may be unapprehended. They may not be able to catch you. Or you may go unpunished. You may get a high-powered Washingtonian lawyer, but you will not escape the judgment of God. You will not.

You will not. Do you think? Have you connived? Do you think that you think that you shall escape?

No. God will rip off the mask. The judgment of the hypocrite is according to truth.

That's the first thing. Now, I want you to see the second thing. The hypocrite's judgment is not only according to truth, but it is according to deeds. So, not only is it going to be without disguise, but it's going to be without distinction. Notice it now beginning in verse 6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds? According to his deeds. You see, you're not saved by works, but you will be judged by works. Somehow, we get the idea that certain people, maybe Americans or maybe Baptists, have a special distinction, but we do not. Go down to verse 11. No respect of persons with God. No respect of persons with God.

It didn't make any difference whether you were a Jew or Greek. Paul is going to show in Romans 3 that the entire world is guilty before God. Sometimes, when I am interviewed on television, the interviewer thinks he's going to put me in a hot box, make me seem like I'm a racist, or make me seem like I'm a bigot. And so, he will eventually ask this question, if he's pretty shrewd. He will say, do you think a Jew without Jesus is lost? Now, you can just imagine, if you're in front of the modern, urbane audience and being interviewed like that, what a question like that says. Because if you say, yes, I believe that a Jew without Jesus is lost, you, number one, are looked at as a racist, and number two, as a bigot. Isn't that right?

Of course. If you say, no, I believe he's saved, what you have done is absolutely dishonored the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of all people. Do you know what I tell a man when he asks me that question? I say, friend, I believe that one of my own children without Jesus would be lost. It doesn't matter whether he's a Jew or a Gentile. It's not a matter of race. It is not a matter of place.

It is not a matter of face, whether you're male or female. It is a matter of God's grace. Do you know it or do you not? There is no respect of persons with God. Nobody is lost because he's a Jew, and nobody is saved because he's a Gentile. God judges according to truth, and God judges according to deeds. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You see, so many people have the idea that God's going to grade on the curve. We're bad, but we're not as bad as somebody else, and so these religious people in chapter 2 had laid themselves out in the gutter alongside the pagan in chapter 1, and they'd measured themselves by the pagan, and they said, well, I'm a little longer than the pagan, and God is going to grade on the curve, but God doesn't grade on the curve. As a matter of fact, James said, in James chapter 2, verse 10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point the same as guilty of all. You see, God demands absolute perfection, and none of us in ourselves can provide it, and that's why we need the gospel. That's why we need the righteousness of God that comes by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Suppose, is there anybody here who would say that you've always kept all God's 10 commandments?

Of course not. Well, you say, I've only broken one. I don't believe that, but let's suppose you'd only broken one. Here's a man dangling over a fire by a chain of 10 links.

Nine of those links are made of forged steel, and one of them is made of crepe paper. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point the same as guilty of all. The hypocrite is going to be judged according to his deeds.

Now, let me show you how this goes, first of all, by his actions. Look in verse 6. Whatever he does is going to judge him.

He's going to render to every man according to his deeds. That just means according to sins. What kind of sins? Sins of commission, sins of omission, sins of the flesh, sins of the spirit.

You see, the most respectable man, woman, or boy, or girl is just as lost as the worst criminal on earth without a second birth. Now, you may not believe that, but Jesus told Nicodemus, unless you're born again, you can't even see the kingdom of God. Not only verse 6 are they going to be judged according to their actions, but also they're going to be judged according to their attitudes.

Look in verses 7 and 8. To them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life, but unto them who are contentious, that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation, and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil to the Jew first and also of the Gentile. What is that talking about? It's talking about your attitudes. He's talking about some who come to church seeking God and the some who come to church wanting to be contentious. Hey, folks, I've been preaching long enough to know that there are people out there who are mentally arguing with me right now. You don't like me? You don't like what I preach? And your mind is saying, I think I can find some fault in what that man is saying. Friend, that'd be easy to do.

I can do that. I mean, if you come to church, if you come to the house of God or anywhere and you're looking for something to criticize, friend, you can find it starting with a man standing in the pulpit. I'm going to tell you something else. If you come looking for God today, you can find God because He's here. You're going to find what you look for. There are some who are seekers and there are some who are scorners. And the Lord says that when it comes to judge, not only is He going to judge actions, He's going to judge attitudes. Are you looking for God? Are you looking for some loophole?

Are you looking for something to criticize, something to find fault with? Well, I'll guarantee you, you'll find it. But if you come looking for God, He's here.

He's standing, knocking at your heart's door. The hypocrite's going to be judged by his actions. He's going to be judged by his attitudes. And I'll tell you what else he's going to be judged by, his advantages.

Now, here's the one that ought to frighten some of us, not only his actions and his attitudes, but his advantages. Look in verses 9 and 10 of this same thing. Ah, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. But glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For there's no respect of persons with God. What does that mean? Why to the Jew first?

Because he had the greater advantage. He's going to say to the Jew is given the oracles of God and God has blessed the Jew. And we're going to think about that in chapter 3. Look in verse 1. What is their advantage then hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision? Much in every way chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. They have the Word of God.

They have the Old Testament. And so therefore unto whomsoever much is given of the same shall much be required. You see, listen. God holds you responsible for being in this service today. God is going to judge you because of your advantage. There are millions of people on earth who sit in darkness who have never even once heard the name of Jesus. You see, God knows what you've heard.

And unto whomsoever much is given of the same shall much be required. How sad it would be to go to hell from the jungle, but how much sadder it would be to go to hell from an air-conditioned upholstered church. How sad it would be to sing in the choir and go to hell. How sad it would be to usher and go to hell. How sad it would be to sit on the platform and go to hell. Jesus said, Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, when I prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works, and then will I profess unto them, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. They didn't get saved to lose it.

They never had it. They went through the form of religion, but they were never saved. And how is the hypocrite's judgment going to be? Well, number two, according to his deeds, his actions, his attitudes, his advantages, God takes all of that into account when he comes to the judgment.

Now let's come to the third way. How is God going to judge not only according to truth and not only according to deeds, but here's something very strange. He's going to judge the hypocrite according to the gospel. Look, if you will, here in verse 16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Now, what on earth does that mean? In the day when God is going to judge the secrets of men according to my gospel. He said it's according to truth, it is according to deeds, and now it is according to his gospel. Well, what is his gospel? Well, you don't have to guess about what the gospel is. In Corinthians chapter 15 verses one through three, Paul said, this is the gospel that I preached unto you, how that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he was raised again, the third day according to the scriptures.

That, friend, is gospel truth. And if that gospel does not save you, that gospel will judge you because that is the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, what does the resurrection of Jesus Christ have to do with judgment? Well, he is the judge.

The Bible says the Father judges no man, but he has committed all judgment unto the Son. The same Jesus who wants to be your Savior will one day be your judge if you do not allow him to be your Savior. But listen to me and listen well.

Everybody listen to me. You're going to meet Jesus Christ. If you do not meet Jesus Christ in salvation, you meet him in judgment. If the gospel does not save you, the gospel will condemn you.

How is that? Well, Christ is the judge. Now, you can't hold court if the judge is dead, and God raised up the judge.

And you can't hold court if the defendant is dead. And God will raise you up. You cannot crawl up in the grave and pull the dirt over your face and hide from God. The Bible says in Acts chapter 17, God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he raised him from the dead.

What does that mean? That means that the resurrection of Jesus Christ that is meant to save you is the very resurrection that will condemn you, and the hypocrite picks death from the tree of life. You see, the gospel is a saver of life unto life or death unto death. It is a two-edged sword. But, my friend, that blessed blade will cut to heal or to slay, but it is a sword today, and you're going to be judged according to the gospel.

Listen, listen. It is not that you could not be saved. It is that you would not be saved.

And there's the Lord Jesus in agony and blood dying upon that cross for you, and you wrap yourself in your robes of self-righteousness, and will not receive the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, one of these days, God is going to reveal the secrets of the hypocrite. Notice, if you will, in verse 16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. What does that mean? It means secrets that have been repressed, sins that you've committed that you've forgotten about.

You've put them away. Secrets that have been repressed. Secrets will be revealed. One day, God is going to reveal your heart. One day, he's going to open the door, and skeletons will come out of closets. The Bible says that God is keeping books, and every word, every idle word, every thought, every deed, it's there. And that judgment, the judgment of the hypocrite, is going to be for many worse than the judgment of the heathen.

For under whom ever much is given, much shall be required. I'm speaking to a number of people today. You're not hypocrites, but you're not saved. Do you know why you're not saved? You're not saved because you've been looking at somebody else who claims to be a Christian, and you say, well, if that's Christianity, I don't want it. Friend, it's not Christianity. Put your eyes upon Jesus. I believe some people are going to die and go to hell because they set up late one night and watched some money-grabbing, money-grubbing evangelist, and they say they're all that way.

Friend, they're not all that way. You let some hypocrite keep you from Jesus, you'll spend all eternity with every one of them in hell. Give your heart to Jesus.

Give him all your life. Don't be whitewashed. Be washed white by the blood of Jesus.

Have reality. If you're not saved, cast yourself on the mercy of God. Don't bring yourself righteousness. Bring your sin to Jesus.

In my hand, no price I bring, simply to thy cross I claim. Pastor, would Jesus save me today? Friend, he wants to save you. He is knocking at your heart's door, and he will save you. Romans 1 says there's nobody so bad they can't be saved.

Romans 2 says there's nobody so good they don't have to be saved, okay? Do you know what you need to do today? Give your heart to Jesus. And I want to ask you to pray this prayer.

Just pray it if you're not certain that you're saved. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I need you. Today, I open my heart. Right now, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I yield you my life.

I trust you, Jesus, to save me. And if you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page. You'll find it at lwf.org slash radio. We have answers there that you may need about your newfound faith.

There's a response section as well. Tell us your testimony, or tell us how this message has impacted your life. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Knowing the dangers of hypocrisy, are there any areas in your life that you need to confess to repent of? Pray and ask God to examine your heart so that you can identify your struggles and live authentically and truthfully. We hope you'll join us next time for more profound truth Simply Stated right here on Love Worth Finding.