Consistency Is The Opposite Of Hypocrisy

I fear that much of what takes place today in name of worship is little more than the lip service offered by the Pharisees. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees: "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men"(Matt 15:7-9).

If we are to be true worshippers, worshiping in spirit and in truth, then we should examine ourselves and our worship to see that the two are consistent. Someone once said that more people lie in church on Sunday during the singing of the hymns than any other time during the week. That statement may not be far from true as we sing songs like, "I surrender all," yet in truth we have surrendered very little.

I submit to you that no action can please God. Only action accompanied by a right heart. We may give of our time, our resources, and our money, but if we do so with the wrong motives then we still fail to please God.

If our lives are consistent with our words and our worship, then we will have avoided hypocrisy.

Pride: A Self-Destructive Attitude (Sermon: Luke 2:1-20)

Christ displayed an attitude of submission and humility. Yet, instead of following His example, we often exhibit pride--an attitude that will always lead to self-destruction. Proverbs tells us: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace,but with the humble is wisdom" (11:2). Proverbs also reveals that, "Pride goes before destruction,and a haughty spirit before a fall" (16:18).

Here are some reasons I believe pride is so self-destructive. First, it keeps us from recognizing our weaknesses. Some have mistakenly understood humility as looking down on yourself, but true humility involves not the discounting of ourselves but a accurate estimate of ourselves. Pride causes us to overestimate our abilities and character. The second reason that pride is self-destructive is related to the first. Because we over estimate who we are, we often enter a state of denial about our personal needs which keeps us from taking the action we need to take.

For example, a husband gets into an argument with his wife. Both say things that are inappropriate to the other. Yet, because of his pride he cannot admit that he did anything wrong in the situation. Therefore, he is unwilling to apologize or take any steps toward reconciliation.

Or consider an alcoholic who believes she has everything under control. "I can stop anytime I want," she says. Yet the truth is, she can't go a day without alcohol. It is absolutely controlling her life. As a result, she will not seek help.

Perhaps the most critical scenario is the person who because of pride cannot admit that they have sinned and need forgiveness. Because of their pride, they may never repent and receive God's forgiveness. What a tragedy to be without Christ because of pride.

Yes, pride has a high price. Toy with it long enough and it will cost you everything. Christ was humble; if we are to be like Him, we must repent of our pride.

Jesus’ Fulfillment of the Old Testament (Sermon: Matthew 1:18-25)

Matthew teaches us that Jesus’ birth fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament (Matt. 1:22-23), but what does it mean to fulfill something? I believe that we see two prominent ways in which Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. First, promises made in the Old Testament come to fruition in Jesus and His ministry. For example, Zechariah prophesied: “behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Accordingly, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Mark 11). Psalms foretells of the crucifixion: “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet” (Psalms 22:16). And so He was pierced as they crucified Him.

A second type of fulfillment is seen in Jesus’ replacement of the Old Testament feasts and institutions. For example, Jesus replaces the Passover lamb. Paul tells us: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). Thus, we do not celebrate the Passover today, because Christ is our Passover. In celebrating Him, we commemorate the Passover.

These are but a few examples of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament. They teach us that God has been working throughout history to bring about His plan of redemption and that the events of Christ’s life, including the betrayal and crucifixion, were all part of God’s plan.

Learning To Read All Of The Bible (Sermon: Acts 4:23-31)

The sovereignty of God is a phrase that scares many people, and yet it is so clearly taught in Acts 4:24. In the light of recent trends toward Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention and among evangelicals as a whole, many Christians have had a knee jerk reaction to extreme views of predestination (I specify “extreme” because predestination is also clearly taught in the scripture, Ephesians 1:11) that deny the free will of man and in turn they have rejected any notion of the sovereignty of God. In doing so, they have thrown out the baby with the bath water.

Many false teachings and distortions of scripture arise from someone trying to interpret a single teaching or passage of the Bible in isolation from the rest of the Bible. As a result, many false teachings are passed on by well meaning people who had no intention of distorting the Word of God. The old adage, “you can be sincere and be sincerely wrong,” still applies to scripture. So we too must guard our understanding and teaching of scripture, lest we unknowing accept or teach false doctrine. How can we do that? One of the best things we can do is to read the whole Bible. We must interpret every passage in light of the overall teaching of God’s Word.

Do I believe in the sovereignty of God? Yes. Do I believe in the free will of man? Absolutely. How can the two seemingly contradictory ideas be reconciled? That is a question for God, not for me. I only know what God reveals to me through scripture, the rest I must accept by faith. I only know that the Bible teaches both and so I must accept both. To believe without having all of the understanding or evidence is called faith. And if we read the entire Bible and seek to follow all of it, it will indeed require faith.

The Unhindered Gospel (Sermon: Acts 4:13-22)

In Acts 4, we find the Sadducees trying to stop the preaching of the Gospel, but their efforts were in vain. In fact, each time the unbelieving Jewish leaders tried to stop the spread of the Gospel they actually spurred it on. Here in Acts 4, when Peter and John were commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, they went back to their fellow believers and had a prayer meeting. What was the result? They were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. When Stephen was stoned, it launched the first major missionary movement of Christianity. Believers all over Jerusalem feared for their lives and so they fled. But as they fled to different parts of the world they carried the gospel with them.

Not only was the gospel unhindered by persecution, but it also refused to be held by geographical, social, and ethnic boundaries. The early believers were commissioned to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and so they were. Samaritans and Gentiles, viewed as the scum of the earth by the Jews, were brought into the early church by those Jews who became believers in Jesus Christ.

Often today, we hear dismal reports about the future of the church. Yet, we should remember what Jesus said: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). The gospel was unhindered in the days of the early church, and today it is no different.