How God Handles Hypocrites | Part 1

It's time we check ourselves before we examine others.

Listen to Adrian Rogers. Welcome to Love Worth Finding. You know sometimes we can get so caught up in trying to appear good before others that we neglect the faults and flaws of our own hearts. But pastor, teacher and author Adrian Rogers said, God doesn't look on the exterior, God looks on the heart. In Romans chapter two, the apostle Paul reveals how God handles hypocrites, specifically addressing those who will judge the sins of others while ignoring sins of their own.

If you have your Bible turned to Romans chapter two, we'll begin in verse one as Adrian Rogers tells us how God handles hypocrites. Howard Carter discovered the tomb of old King Tut back in the early twenties. And when Howard Carter finally broke into the tomb of one of Egypt's richest kings, he went in there and he found the casket, the sarcophagus. And it was a huge thing. I've seen it in the Egyptian museum.

Perhaps you have. And he opened that coffin and inside was another coffin covered with gold leaf. And he opened that and inside was a third coffin. And he opened that and inside was one of solid gold. And when he opened the fourth, inside was King Tut. And he was wrapped in gold cloth. And he had that incredible gold mask on his face.

It is so beautiful. But when they lifted that off and took off that gold cloth, there was an old, dried, withered, dead corpse inside all of that. The outward thing did not change what was on the inside. 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. Now in chapter one we talked about how God handles the heathen. In chapter two we're going to see how God handles the hypocrite. In chapter one we saw the down and out.

In chapter two we're going to see the up and out. Because Paul, who's very smart and anointed by the Holy Spirit, knew that there were certain religious people who would listen with relish, as Paul described, God's judgment upon the heathen, those who worship bugs and creeping things. And they would say, well, we're not that way. We're not that way.

We don't do that. And so they listened with these things in mind. They were indignant at the sins of others, but indulgent about their own sins. And so in this chapter, chapter two, we're going to see how God handles the hypocrites. And if you're a hypocrite, I pray to 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. Let's begin looking, if we will, here in chapter two, verse one. Therefore, thou art inexcusable.

Underscore the word inexcusable, O 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, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Go back, if you will, and look in chapter one and verse 32, knowing the judgment of God that they underscore the word they. And now notice in chapter two, verse one, therefore thou art inexcusable. It's easy to talk about they, but God is going to talk to thou.

What God is doing is saying, hey, don't talk about other people. It's time right now to examine yourself. I heard somewhere of a man went to the psychiatrist's office.

He had a scrambled egg on his head and a strip of bacon over each ear. He said, I came to see you about my brother. It's time that we stop thinking about they and begin to think about ourselves and examine ourselves, because even those who are saved may be guilty of some hypocrisy, including the man who's speaking. Faults in others I can see, but praise the Lord, there's none in me. Now we tend to want to measure ourselves by other people, but God measures himself by that perfect standard himself.

Now look in chapter two, and it's easy to see what the theme is. It's judgment. Look in verse one, O man, whosoever thou art, that judgest another, for wherein thou judgest another? The last part of that verse, that judgest doeth the same things. Verse two, for we know that the judgment of God is according to truth. Verse three, thinkest thou this O man that judgest them? Last part of verse three, do you think you'll escape the judgment of God? Verse five, the last part, the righteous judgment of God.

Verse 16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. This is talking about judgment. This is talking about the hypocrites' judgment. It's talking about the judgment of those who judge others without ever having met the Lord themselves. Now what is the hypocrites' judgment going to be like?

What is the basis? Three things. Number one, the hypocrites' judgment is going to be according to truth. Three times he uses the word according. Look at it in verse two, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth.

All right, just underscore that. Now go down to verse six, who will render to every man according to his deeds? First of all, according to truth, the hypocrites' judgment is according to truth.

Number two, it is according to deeds. Now go down to verse 16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. So the judgment is going to be according to truth, it's going to be according to deeds, and it's going to be according to the gospel. Now that's what he says the hypocrites' judgment is going to be. So we have a three-point outline, and we're going to see today how God handles hypocrites.

What's the judgment going to be like? 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 would 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. Now today we've forgotten truth. We have sacrificed truth for pragmatism. We don't ask, is it true? We ask, does it work? We've sacrificed truth for style. We don't say, does he or she tell the truth? Do I like him?

Do I like her? We're not interested in truth. We're interested in the stock market. We are one nation under greed, rather than one nation under God. Now we think we're smart. And did you know somebody said that if you were to take all of the knowledge, the accumulated knowledge of the world from creation to 1845 and let it measure an inch on the scale and using that standard from 1845 to 1945, it would have grown to three inches. But from 1945 to 1975, it would be as tall as the Washington monument.

But from 1975 on, it would be out of sight. Now knowledge is doubling, but truth never changes. Daniel said in the last days, knowledge shall increase.

What a prophecy. But the Bible says that there are men ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. God's standard is truth. God has written a Bible. It is called the Word of Truth. God has given His Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of Truth. God is building His church and the church is called the pillar and the ground of truth. God has sent His Son and His Son is the truth.

The apostle John said, I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth. But truth has fallen in the streets today. The hypocrites judgment however is going to be according to truth. 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. Now the hypocrite doesn't understand that God is going to judge according to truth. So the hypocrite, the play actor, has three fatal flaws in his thinking.

Flaw number one, he has the idea that outward appearance is all that matters. He thinks that somehow if he can just simply appear righteous that he will be righteous. Matthew 23 verses 25-28. Jesus is talking to the religious mafia of his day and he says, Whoa unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they are full of extortion and excess. The way men do dishes has not changed for 2,000 years. Old Pharisee doing the dishes and he's just wiping the outside and on the inside the oatmeal is crusted.

He just puts it back up there on the shelf until his wife comes and talks to him about it. Thou blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also. Whoa unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you are like unto whited sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but within are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.

Remember old King Tut? Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. The hypocrite thinks that all God sees is how he dresses on Sunday morning and how he sings and how he greets people and how he behaves and the religious people of Paul's day were in that category.

Here in chapter 2 go down to verses 21 and 22 and look at it. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preacheth that a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? You say well pastor I'm not an adulterer. Matthew chapter 5 verse 28 Jesus said if you look on a woman to lust after her you've committed adultery with her already in your heart. You say well I'm not a murderer. First John chapter 3 verse 15 says that whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.

You see so many times we think that just it's the outward part that matters. But the Bible says there's no excuse and there's no escape. You know you have to pity a hypocrite because the problem with the hypocrite is on the inside not on the outside. And so he's a pretender. You see he doesn't have the courage to out and out serve the devil and he doesn't have the true grace to really serve the Lord.

And so he is a great big actor. He is a respectable sinner but he is still a sinner. Now the hypocrite is going to be judged according to truth. His outward appearance is not going to make any difference. Here's a second mistake that the hypocrite makes.

Not only a mistake concerning appearance but he also makes a mistake concerning whether or not he's getting along in life. The hypocrite thinks that if he is not being chastised, if he's not having trouble, he's right with God. Look in verse 4. And think as thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things and doeth the same that thou shall escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Are you listening to that? You see some people have the idea that if they are not having any problems they're right with God. They have the idea that if they're healthy, if their bank account is up, if they have no problems, that evidently God loves them and everything is fine and they don't need to repent because look at all of these blessings. Friend, the blessings of God don't mean that you're right with God. God gives you blessings to bring you to Him. It doesn't mean you don't need repentance. The Bible says that the goodness of God leads to your repentance. As a matter of fact, the goodness of God only makes your judgment more severe if you deny or fall from the goodness of God. If you're being blessed now, let me beg you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and don't get the idea that God's goodness is an invitation to sin more because the greater the blessings, if those blessings are refused, the greater the judgment when the judgment comes. And I want to remind you that Sodom and Gomorrah were at an economic all-time high when the fire and brimstone fell.

You just read that. The Bible says that one of the marks of Sodom was not only did they commit abominations but fullness of bread and idleness. That is people didn't even have to work. There was so much prosperity and that's when the fire fell because the goodness of God did not lead them to repentance. Let me give you another verse. Luke chapter 13 verses 1 through 5. Now there had been a calamity and here was the calamity.

There were some people, they were walking down the street one day and a tower fell on them. And Jesus is talking about that. And by the way Jesus talked about contemporary affairs. And the Bible says they were present at that season, that told him, that is Jesus of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

They were worshiping and Pilate came in there and had them killed. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you nay, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no, nay, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Now don't get the idea that if somebody has trouble it's because God has judged them and if you don't have trouble God is not going to judge you. Jesus said whether a tower falls on you or not if you don't repent you're going to perish. And the hypocrite doesn't understand this, he thinks that outward appearance is all that matters.

He thinks that the absence of problems is all that matters. Now here is the third thing that this hypocrite needs to learn. The hypocrite needs to learn that delayed judgment does not mean no judgment. Look if you will in verse 5, But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, rather than repenting you have an impenitent heart. Treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

Now what does that mean? When God is good to you and when God blesses a nation and that nation hardens its heart against God, or when God blesses an individual and that individual hardens his heart against God, God says you're just putting wrath in the bank. You're treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.

It's one more deposit. One day the hypocrite's judgment is going to come and God is going to say, what did you do with all of my blessings? What did you do with the prosperity I gave you? You hardened your heart, you were impenitent.

You started to put deposits in the bank of wrath. 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 and 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 mass 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 are 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 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. 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? Are you so intelligent 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, 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. There's no respect of persons with God. No respect of persons with God.

It didn't make any difference whether you were Jew or Greek. God judges according to truth and God judges according to deeds. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. Maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is, what he means to you, how to receive the forgiveness that he's offering. Go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio. There you'll find resources and materials that can answer questions you might have about your faith.

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For that complete collection, all 27 powerful messages, call 877-Love-God or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thanks for studying in God's Word with us today. Adrian Rogers said, Truth is to your spirit what food is to your body, what light is to your eyes, what melody is to your ears. It's a word to dwell on today as we examine our hearts and pray for God's truth and grace over our shortcomings. Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of How God Handles Hypocrites right here on Love Worth Finding.

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