Satan's Academy Award

Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you'll hear that in today's message.

Now, let's join Adrian Rogers. Jesus Christ called the Sermon on the Mount. Once a year, the Hollywood actors and actresses have a convocation in which they give an award called the Academy Award. And these are given to playwrights and producers and actresses and actors for doing a good job in the world of make believe. And I know that many of these are talented people, and they receive great accolades, great praise for pretending they receive an Academy Award.

But I want to say that the biggest actors are not in Hollywood. They're in churches and churches. The Bible calls them hypocrites. I want us to think today as we study this sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew under this heading, Satan's Academy Award.

I want you to see what the Lord Jesus had to say about these hypocrites. I begin to read here in chapter six, verse one. Take heed that you do not your arms before men, to be seen of them. Do you see the word seen?

It is the Greek word, the Aomai. It's the word we get our word theater from. Take heed that you don't do your arms as an act of theater. Otherwise, you have no reward of your father, which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine arms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do.

Do you see the word hypocrite? Hippocrates is the Greek word for an actor, a play actor. The Greeks had actors who, in their plays, they not only use makeup, but they literally had a mask. The mask would have a handle on it. If they wanted to be happy, they put on the happy face. If they wanted to be sad, they put on the sad face. If they wanted to be angry, they put on the angry face.

If they wanted to be menacing, they put on the menacing face. Hippocrates, hypocrites, play actors. And Jesus said, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. Then verse five, and when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are.

For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. Verse 16, moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, the play actors of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces. That is, they put on a mask that they may appear unto men to fast.

Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. It's a phony world that we live in. As a matter of fact, all of us are living in a world that is surrounded by fantasy, hypocrisy, make believe.

I read according to a Nielsen report that the average high schooler, by the time he has reached his high school, not by the time he is finished, but by the time he reaches high school, will have already watched 15,000 hours of television. Now, of course, that's an entire make believe world, and that make believe-ism is not new to our day and new to our age. It was there in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus is pointing out what I want to point out in this message today, that the greatest hunger in men's hearts is for reality, and the greatest need is for reality. We have so many cardboard Christians, plastic preachers, pseudo-saints, people who are simply playing a game, and the world is turned off by it, and so is our Lord, and well both ought to be.

I've often said that the greatest argument for Christianity, and the greatest argument against Christianity, is the life of a Christian. Now, in the gospels, you find the Lord Jesus Christ dealing with sinners, thieves, harlots, prostitutes, tax gatherers, and so forth. And Jesus had nothing but words of compassion and forgiveness and love for these people. As a matter of fact, they crucified Jesus because he was a friend of sinners.

That is, he kept company with sinners, and I thank God he does, because if he didn't, he would have nothing to do with me. But, on the other hand, our Lord reserved his most severe words for these that we call hypocrites. He called them wolves in sheep's clothing. He said they were like whited sepulchers, painted on the outside and on the inside, full of dead men's bones.

And his most biting, vituperative, censorious language was reserved for these who were hypocrites, who had everything in the showcase, but they had nothing in the warehouse. Now, I want us to look at this passage of Scripture, and I want us to see three things in Matthew chapter 6. First of all, I want you to see what I'm going to call the shameful display of hypocrisy. Our Lord takes three illustrations, I've read them to you. Number one in the area of our deeds, number two in the area of our devotion, and number three in the area of our discipline.

Our deeds, almsgiving, our devotion, prayer, our discipline, fasting. And I want you to see how the Lord pointed out the hypocrisy that is so often there. Now, let's read again the first four verses. Jesus gives a warning. He says, take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them.

That is, you're in a theater. Otherwise, you have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the actors, the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. Let thine alms be in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret himself, shall reward thee openly.

Now, our Lord here is not saying that we are not to give alms. As a matter of fact, if you back up to chapter 5 and verse 42, he says, give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn thou not away. And over and over and over again in the Bible, we're commanded to give to the poor and commended when we do give to the poor. And Psalm 41 verse 1 says, blessed is he that considerth the poor. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

And all of us every day ought to be looking for ways that we can minister to those who are less blessed than we are. But what our Lord is talking about here is not what these men did, but the manner and the motive in which they did it. They did it to be seen of men. It was all a charade.

It was all a game. They were actors trying to get praise of men and glory of men through their giving. As a matter of fact, the Pharisees had by this time developed a little silver trumpet. And when they were ready to give money to the poor, they would gather the money that they were going to give to the poor. They would go into the marketplace where there are a lot of people there, and they would put the little silver trumpet to their lips, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.

They would blow it. And when they would, the poor, knowing that the trumpet had sounded, would come. And then others would turn their attention to this little theater that was going on there. And then out of their bags, they would give alms to the poor.

Everybody could see them. And they were doing it to be seen of men, not primarily because they cared for the poor. Now, there's nothing wrong with giving to the poor, and I'm not saying that everyone who does this in public is a hypocrite, but so often it's all theater. It's not something they do around the clock.

It's not something they do around the year. It's all something to say, look, I am giving to the poor. How wonderful this is. But, my friend, that's exactly what our Lord was talking about so long ago. These who are simply doing this, they're doing their deeds to be seen of men, to have glory of men. Our Lord goes on to say that when you give, you don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. He's not talking about in the matter of giving your gifts to the church or something.

He's talking about just simply spontaneous acts, unplanned acts of giving to those who have need. When you see someone, you move with compassion, and you do it in an uncalculated way. When you reach into your pocket, you pass somebody on the street, you reach into your pocket, where do you keep your change? In your right pocket, you're right-handed. Where do you keep your change in there? You just reach in and you give what is there. You just simply reach and give it. But if you're a calculator, what do you do? You let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. When you want to count your money, what do you do? You put it here. You count it. Then you give.

You see, when your left hand knows what your right hand is doing, no longer is it spontaneous. Our Lord is just simply saying, don't give to be seen of men. Don't be so exacting when you give. Just let it come out of your heart. Just let it flow out of your heart, and God will see it, and God will never forget it. Now, he talks about hypocrisy in the area of our deeds, and then he talks about hypocrisy in the area of our devotions. Continue to read verse five. And when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, that is empty language as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be ye not therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him. Now, it is not wrong to give in public. It is not wrong to pray in public. As a matter of fact, the Bible encourages us to pray in public. The Bible commands us to pray in public, and we read some wonderful things about public prayers.

For example, in Acts chapter four, verse 24, this episode in the life of the apostles, and when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, that is, they were praying together, and said, Lord, thou art God which hath made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. We should never be ashamed to pray in public. I hope when you go to a restaurant, if you're used to thanking God for your food at home, that in a public restaurant, you thank God for your food. You're not ashamed of that. I was when I had a little baby that was taken critically ill. That little boy is in heaven right now. His name is Phillip.

He died on Mother's Day, but I picked up Phillip out of his crib when I could see that he was not breathing, wrapped him in my coat, and drove through blinding tears to the hospital and burst through the doors of that emergency room and delivered that little baby to a kind nurse, and I said, please, please do something if you can, and there in the corridor of that hospital, I dropped to my knees to pray. I didn't care who saw me. It didn't make any difference if anybody saw me praying. They might have said, well, he's a fool, a freak. They may not have known what I was praying about.

I'm sure they didn't. I didn't care what people thought. I wasn't praying to be seen of men. I didn't care if people did see me, but Jesus is not opposed to public prayer at all. What he is opposed to is praying to be seen of men like the young lawyer who had just gone into his business.

He hung out his shingle, brand spanking new law office, not one client, waiting for his first client. When he hears someone walking down the hallway, he says, aha, perhaps this is a client that I can impress, so he picks up the telephone, and nobody is on the other end of the telephone. It's simply a mock conversation.

The phone has not even rung, but he's pretending to be talking. He says, yes, no, I'm sorry. I cannot see you tomorrow. I've got a heavy corporation case.

Perhaps the week after next, if you'll talk to my appointment secretary, I may be able to help you. I'm very busy. Thank you, sir. Goodbye. At that time, the man is here, and he says, now, sir, what may I do for you? He said, well, I'm from the telephone company.

I came to hook up your telephone. Now, that's the kind of prayer that our Lord is talking about when there's nobody on the other end of the line. We're just simply praying to be seen of men, to be heard of men.

Why do we pray? Our Lord tells us very clearly how to pray, not as a hypocrite. First of all, we do not pray to impress God. Now, it's not the logic of our prayer, and it's not the language of our prayer that impresses God.

Look, if you will, in verse 7. And when you pray, use not vain repetition as the heathen do, for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Now, you don't have to be a poet in order to pray. Have you ever heard anybody say, oh, I can't pray, I can't pray. Well, can you talk? Can you talk to another human being? Can you not talk to God? Do you think you have to be Shakespeare in order to pray?

Do you think you have to use King James English in order to pray? When my children were small, suppose I came home, and my daughter, let's say Janice is there, and she needs to go to Walgreens to buy some things, and she says to me, Hail, yon eminent pastor, on thy sojourn home. I beseech thee that thou wouldst grant to thine daughter, thy second daughter Janice, one dollar that I may sojourn to yonder apothecary, and procure some things to do some cosmological changes to my face. I say, Janice, what is that? Would you say that again, honey? Daddy, can I have a dollar?

I need to get some cosmetics. Wouldn't that be a lot simpler? Wouldn't that be a lot simpler? Do you think I'm going to be impressed by the fact that she uses all of this kind of language? Have you ever heard anybody pray that way? Jesus said, you don't pray to impress God. You don't pray to impress God. It's not the language of your prayer.

You're not heard for your much speaking. Dwight L. Moody one time, I'm told in an evangelistic crusade, they called upon a man to pray, and the man prayed on and on and on and on and on. And finally, Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist, said, while this brother's catching up on his prayer life, let us stand together and sing so and so.

And they stood together and sang. And God used that. God used that to bring conviction to people because Moody sensed in his heart that man was just a pious fraud. He was praying to be heard of men. And sometimes that happens to us.

Sometimes we slip in these little things. I can remember I'd had a very, very, very hard and long day. I'd preached three or four times. I had dictated.

It seemed like a stack of letters. And you know, when you dictate a letter, you frequently end the letter this way, in Jesus' name, Adrian Rogers. And I had dictated all these letters. And as a man came to me at the end of the service, he said, I must see you.

I have a severe problem. I must see you. Friend, I was weary, bone weary. But I said, very well, come on back and let's talk. And I talked and listened.

And oh, he did have a real problem. And my heart was moved with compassion. And I said, all right, let me pray for you. And I prayed my prayer. And when I finished my prayer, I said, in Jesus' name, Adrian Rogers. And I said, oh, my soul, did I say that? God, did he hear me say that?

I know you heard me say that. I thought to myself, how easy we slip into these little phrases that we just simply say that we rattle off. Why do we pray? Number one, not to impress God. And number two, not to inform God. Look at verse eight. He says in verse eight, he says, your father knows what you have need of before you ask him. You don't tell God anything God doesn't already know. You don't inform God. I've asked you before, has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God? God knows it all. He knows what you have need of.

He knows what you're going to say before you say it, whether you don't say it. You don't pray to impress God. You don't pray to inform God. What you do pray is pray to invite God and enjoy God. Now, God could do it without us. If God already knows what I have need of, then why do I ask God to give me what I already need? And God already knows what I already need. Why do I ask God? Because God has given me the privilege to fellowship with him and to partnership with him in prayer.

Prayer is one of the greatest acts of love and kindness that God could ever extend to you because God allows you, God enables you to join with him in the ruling and the administration of the universe and the affairs of men. Some time ago, I was invited to go preach to a college and my schedule was such I could not come. They said, if we send a private airplane for you, can you go? I said, well, if you'll do that, I will go. And so they sent a private airplane. I went out, got on that airplane, we took off.

We were flying over Arkansas. And the man said, do you know how to fly an airplane? I said, no, I don't.

We're sitting side by side. He said, would you like to try? I said, yes, I would. He said, all right, you sit here, you do thus and so and do thus and so and put your feet here and do this and watch this and so forth. And so as we passed the time flying over Arkansas, he let me fly that airplane.

Of course, he was sitting right over there. He could fly it without me, but I'll guarantee you I couldn't fly it without him. He had his hands on the controls. I had my hands on the controls. Now, what we were doing was having fellowship and he was allowing me to participate with him where he didn't need me, but I needed him desperately.

But that was a delightful experience for me to be able to fly that airplane. And that's the way prayer is. God can do it without you.

God knows exactly what you have need of before you ask him. But God enables you to be one with him and God teaches us a dependency upon him and a fellowship with him. And therefore, God tells us that that is the way we are to pray, not to impress God, not to inform God, but to invite God and to enjoy God in this matter of prayer. God is not going to force himself upon you. Now, here's the third area that our Lord is talking about, not only in our deeds and not only in our devotions, but also in our disciplines.

Look in verse 16. Moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that is, they wear a mask, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward, but thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face, that thou may appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Now, fasting is right and proper. And there's nothing wrong with a public fast. Often in the Bible, public fast we're called. There's nothing wrong with fasting and letting other people know that you're fasting.

But you do not fast to be seen of men. Now, what is fasting? Fasting is doing without food and other pleasures for spiritual reasons. It's not trying to lose weight after the holidays.

That's not what it is. It is doing without food and other pleasures for spiritual reasons. Now, Jesus did not say if you fast, but when you fast, he expected us to fast.

But you can fast with the wrong motive and you can fast with the wrong method. These Pharisees would disfigure their faces. What they would do would put ashes on. They would put dirt on their face.

They would tear their clothes and they would go around with a gloomy look on their face, trying to act religious and trying to act humble. You don't ever act humble. If you act humble, you are very proud.

Nobody is to act humble. If you act anyway, you are an actor. As a matter of fact, a strange thing happens to me sometimes. Sometimes people will ask me, strangers that I do not know, are you a preacher? I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not. I'm not ashamed of the fact I'm a preacher, but how do they know I'm a preacher before I've said anything or before I've said anything spiritual? They say to me, are you a preacher?

I say, no, I've just been sick. I don't want them to know I'm a preacher by the way I look. Now I'm not ashamed that I'm a preacher. But you know, I think a preacher ought to dress and act so that nobody will suspect he's a preacher when they don't know he is and will not be surprised he is when they find out he is. I mean, we ought to be natural. We ought to be normal. We're not posturing. We're not posing. We're not somehow going through life, trying to look holy or trying to act holy.

We just simply are what we are by the grace of God. And our Lord is saying to these people, you in the area of your deeds, in the area of your devotions, in the area of your discipline, it's all an act. It's all a charade. You're pseudo saints, cardboard Christians, false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing. And that's what our Lord warns against. And so you see these sickening displays of hypocrisy. Now I want you to see the sinister danger of hypocrisy. In verses five, six, 16, all of these verses, our Lord is telling us that people do this to be seen of men. Therefore, hypocrisy is rooted in idolatry.

Now, what is the danger of this idolatry? Well, number one, it deceives. These people who see you, if you're a hypocrite, are deceived by you. If they think you're something that you are not, then you have deceived them.

Now, that's not the worst thing about it. Not only does the hypocrite deceive others, he deceives himself. For example, I'm speaking today to some doubtless who are hypocrites. I'm speaking to some today who are very faithful to this church, who give their money, who teach Sunday school, maybe they're a deacon, maybe they're a staff member, but they've been a hypocrite so long that they don't know they're a hypocrite.

I mean, this is their way of life. They have deceived themselves, and the sad thing is that they deceive others, and then you have, if they are a religious leader like the Pharisees were, you have this terrible tragedy, you have the blind leading the blind. Now, our Lord said in Matthew chapter 23 verse 13, listen to it, Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. The sad thing about the hypocrite is not only is he going to hell, but he's taking others with him. Verse 14, woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour widows' houses, and for pretense make long prayer. Therefore, ye shall receive the greater damnation. Now, it's bad enough to go to hell as a pure pagan, but the hypocrite is going to have the hotter place in hell, the greater damnation. Verse 15, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye come past sea and land to make one proselyte. You know what a proselyte is? That's a convert to your religion.

That is, they would go over hill and dale, land and sea in order to get somebody to join their religion. And when he is made, ye make him twofold more a child of hell than yourselves. What is wrong with this hypocrisy? Number one, it deceives.

Number two, it defrauds. Look, if you will, in chapter 6 and the last part of verse 2. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. Look in the last part of verse 5. I say unto you, they have their reward.

Look, if you will, in verse 16. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. Now, the word reward here is a technical word, and what it means is payment in full. Just like somebody does some work for you and they give you a bill and you pay them and then you write paid in full.

That's the technical word that's used here. And what that means is this, that if you do this to be seen of men, if it's a theater, you're an actor, you do it, and they applaud, that is your pay and God writes down paid in full, paid in full. There's no more reward. You get paid here, you will not get paid there. You are paid in full. You see, you have defrauded yourself.

When you get what you want now, you will not get what you want then. When you stand before the Lord, there will be no reward. You have been paid in full.

You have defrauded yourself. You have cheated yourself at the judgment seat of Christ. I am convinced that most of what we will be rewarded for are things that we've forgotten. You know, if we remember it, if we say, look what I did, God, God will forget it.

But if we forget it, God remembers it. In Matthew chapter 25, our Lord talks about the time when he comes to reward his saints and he said, I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was in prison and you visited me. Our Lord says, and you'll say, but Lord, when were you hungry? And when were you thirsty? And when were you naked?

When were you in prison? I don't remember this. And the Lord will say, inasmuch as you've done it unto the least of one of these, you've done it unto me. You know, the kind of service that is rewarded is the service that's just natural.

It just flows out. We're not aware, well, I'm doing a good deed now. Well, I'm giving to the poor now. Now I'm praying now. That's all sham.

That's all hypocrisy. You just live your life and let it flow out of your heart and let it be real. And you won't be keeping a record, but I'll guarantee you God keeps a record and not a cup of cold water will be given in the name of a disciple, but what a person will receive his reward. How terribly we defraud ourselves. But not only does it deceive, and not only does it defraud my dear friend, it destroys. Now you're in chapter six. Just go to chapter seven and look in verse 22. Jesus said, he's talking about these same hypocrites.

Listen to it. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? So there are going to be some preachers in this crowd. And in thy name have cast out devils. There are going to be some exorcists in this crowd. And in thy name have done many wonderful works.

There are going to be some church workers in this crowd. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. Hypocrisy is iniquity. Acting in religion is iniquity. God hates it. God hates it. And it will destroy your soul in hell. I've told you many times, the worst form of badness is human goodness when human goodness is a substitute for the new birth.

It would be sad enough for the drunkard, the harlot, the prostitute, the thief, the murderer, the arsonist to die and go to hell. But for someone who's sung in the choir to die and go to hell, someone who's served on a church staff to die and go to hell, somebody who sits in the pew, who sings their songs, who gives their money, who goes through all of these things to die and go to hell, those who say, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in thy name. And in thy name we cast out devils. In thy name we did many wonderful works. And they didn't lose their religion.

They never had it. They're pseudosaints, cardboard Christians, false apostles. And our Lord says, beware, take heed that this be not true about you. Now, let me come to the third and final thing very quickly. I've talked to you about the shameful display of hypocrisy, given three examples. I've talked to you about the sinister danger.

It deceives, it defrauds, it destroys. Now let me talk to you about the serious discernment. Notice how our Lord begins this in chapter six, verse one, where he says, take heed.

Do you see that? Take heed. Many times the hypocrite does not know that he's a hypocrite. In order for me to preach this message, I had to do some genuine heart searching. I had to ask myself, is there some hypocrisy in me? Is there a little Pharisee in me?

Let me give you some questions I had to ask, and I think you'll have to ask. Have I ever failed to obey God because I wondered what other people would think about it? Have you ever failed to praise God or to do something that you felt you ought to do because you were wondering what others would think? Then, my dear friend, you're more concerned about men than God. Do you ever do service for God, and how often do you do service for God that goes undetected, that you don't tell anybody about? You really don't want them to know about it.