Hypocrisy – Satan's Food for the Weeds

As the Holy Spirit continues to give me wisdom and knowledge, what He is making clear is satan's damaging effects of hypocrisy among believers. With our mouths we say one thing, but with our actions we say something completely contrary. If we say, with our mouth, we love Jesus and believe all He has done for us, but then we lie, cheat, steal, and promote doctrines which are contrary to His doctrine, this is hypocrisy.

Webster's definition of a hypocrite is this:

1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

2: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

In God's Words hypocrisy is defined as well: 1 John 2:4 - If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.”

As true followers of Christ, we must recognize this is the war which was predicted in Revelations 12:17 (NLT) – And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children – all who keep God's commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.

As Godly and astute students of God's Word, you understand that in this Scripture the children are God's church or His people. And as intelligent men and women of God, you also know that very few churches today work to keep all of God's commandments. But God wants to bring all His lost sheep back into the fold. What is our part? As His disciples, how do we help God with this task?

Satan has been very successful at corrupting and confusing the minds of Christ's followers – making them believe that a shallow, idolatrous relationship with Christ is acceptable. This belief started with the Roman Catholic church in 311 AD, when, for political reasons, Constantine made friends with the followers of Christ. This corruption was predicted in prophesy:

Daniel 7:25 (NLT) – He will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.

Revelations 13:5-7 (NLT) - Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty two months. And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling – that is, those who dwell in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.

Instead of teaching that we must be victorious over our sinful nature in order to be protected by the blood of the Lamb; we are teaching that we are loved and forgiven of our sinfulness and our works and behavior do not matter. Instead of teaching that we have a corrupt heart which we inherited from our father, Adam, causing us to be blind to our selfishness and hatefulness, and the only way to heal it is to obtain a deep understanding of God's Word through daily seeking and devotion; we are teaching hypocrisy that says - because Jesus died for our sins, salvation happens instantaneously and it is free and can not be lost, and all that is needed is to say the words - “I believe in Jesus.” This thinking is so foolish! Even satan believes in Jesus!

James 2:17-24 (NLT)- So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds." You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.  How foolish!  Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Here are some of the hypocrisies satan is using in our churches to deceive the foolish:

1. Teaching that all Christians are sinners – Think about what the outcome of a bull ride would be, if sitting at the gate you already knew you would get thrown before the eight second bell rang. By thinking this way, we are defeating ourselves. This is exactly the reason God said we were made holy by Christ's blood – to get our minds right. Satan wants to us to believe this, because if we believe we are saved from our sinfulness due to our belief in Christ, he will no longer have power over us. We certainly have all sinned and fall short of God's glory, but as believers in Christ, our sins were nailed to the cross and now sin has no power over us, because Christ heals us of our sinful nature when His Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. It is satan's voice which calls a Christian a sinner, not God's. We must learn to hear the difference in what God says to us and what satan says to us! This does not mean that we won't suffer because of our nature tempting us. This does not mean that we won't struggle at times. But when we believe that God can heal us of your sin, when we humble ourselves like a like a little child and beg to be healed of our sinfulness, we will be healed. This is what believing is. Those who hold onto their sin will be destroyed with it. God does not want it to be this way. He wants us all to be saved. But when we hold on to our sin with all our might and refuse to let Him heal us, we leave Him no choice. He promised us that all evil will be destroyed, and He never breaks a promise. We must make a choice whether we want to be destroyed with the sin or whether we want to live for eternity with our Savior. It is totally our choice and God is patiently waiting for each of us to turn to Him and away from the sin which He will eventually destroy. (1 Peter 1:15, Gal 5:16, Romans 6, Hebrews 10:26, Rev 3:5, Rev 21:8, Romans 2:12, Exodus 32:33)

2. Teaching that all Christians doubt God – Again, by thinking this way we are defeating ourselves. Satan has created doubt since the very beginning, with the original sin, and he is still creating doubt today. But we must recognize that doubt is the opposite of belief, so if you doubt, you are not saved. Again, we must develop the ability to be able to distinguish between satan's voice and God's. If it is not Biblical, it is not God's voice. Sin will make us blind and deaf from God's Truth and His voice. That is the void or separation sin creates. Only the deep study and understanding of His word will heal this effect of sin. Fear and doubt are destroyers of God's will for us, in the same way they destroyed the children of Israel - preventing them from entering the promised land. We do not want to be foolish like those who refuse to believe God and His promises! If we decide to be rebellious unbelievers like these children of Israel were, we will not enter into the promised land either. (Genesis 3, Romans 10, Numbers 13:31, Numbers 14:34-35)

3. Avoiding teaching the law (character) of God – Satan does not want us to know God, so he invented a lie telling Christians that this part of God's Word is no longer relevant due to the new covenant with Christ. He also does not want us to understand the condition of our own hearts, because he wants to prevent us from completely understanding our evil nature – inherit due to our Father, Adam. If we don't understand our sin, we are still blind to it and can not repent and be forgiven. When we truly seek God, we will find Him. However, if satan is teaching in our churches that this part of God's Word is no longer important, due to the new covenant, then people are being taught NOT to seek Him. Jesus taught us to be persistent. If our teachers are teaching contrary to this, they are leading the flock away from the only one with the power to heal them and they will face very serious consequences for this action. If we do not dig deep into the law of God to understand the things which displease Him, we will never truly understand the sin in the deepest regions of our hearts. Our mouths can lie, but our hearts can not. God looks at our hearts and our behaviors that reveal our heart's condition. He does not care about our words. Our words are the surface and they are shallow. God cares about what is deep inside us. In Deuteronomy 32:47, God said these instructions are not empty words – they are your very life! We should not take God's Word lightly. If He says these instructions are our life, that is what He means. He does not change His mind. However, as we teach this part of God's Word, it must be made clear that we do not worship the law, we worship Christ; but that we must study these Scriptures on the law so we can learn - who we are, how we were designed to live, and who God is. When God's Spirit resides inside us, we are freed from the law – because we are living by His Spirit and His Spirit cleanses us from our sinful nature. (Luke 11, 1 Th 5:17, Deuteronomy 32:47, Romans 6, Gal 5:16-25)

4. Teaching that some things in the Bible are Truth, but not all – This is how satan keeps his hypocrisies alive. He teaches the parts about God's love, but not the parts about God's wrath and punishment for disobedience. Important Scriptures like these are removed and never discussed:

• Names will be removed from the Book of Life (Rev 3:5)

• You will be judged by the law (James 2:12)

• If you do not keep God's laws, He does not know you (Matthew 7:21-23)

• When you love Jesus, you obey His commandments (John 15:10)

1. Having bylaws, missions or any doctrine not 100% focused on teaching God's Word and growing and developing disciples – As the Roman Catholic church taught us, these bylaws, missions and doctrines lead to idolatry. If the bylaws, missions or doctrines are preventing growth and development of disciples in the church, they are idolatrous. The mission of the church must always be to develop disciples for Christ, just as He taught us to do. (Matthew 28:19-20)

2. Church spending is a clear indication of idolatry/hypocrisy. If there is more money spent no buildings, salaries, and hobbies than there is on educating and creating disciples, feeding the poor, and true Gospel missionary work - then God is not being made the number one priority. Pastors and leaders tend to get caught up in the church they love and lose focus on the real reason they are there – to develop disciples for Christ. We must remember that God does not need a building or an arena. All He needs is willing and obedient children who love Him and want to do His work. This is exactly the problem in the Roman Catholic church. When we make are focus about our buildings, arenas and any tangible objects, it causes us to lose focus on God. If we want to be the true church of God, we must keep our priorities in line with God's priorities. God clearly gives prophesy about what His last-day church looks: (Romans 10:15, Rev 14:6-12)

• Making disciples and teaching them to obey (Matt 28:19-20)

• Fearing God and giving Him glory (Rev 14:7)

• Will not worship the beast or wear his mark (Rev 14:9)

1. The inability to be humble is another clear indication of idolatry/hypocrisy - We must remember that God, the creator of the universe and everything in it, humbled himself and came down here to this earth to walk in the dirt and be tempted by satan and the flesh. We should try to wrap our minds around this and truly take in what God did for us here and why He did it. If God can make Himself humble in order to save us, can't we also humble ourselves to save each other? This is what He was teaching us to do, by coming here to save us. We are supposed to live by His example. We need to recognize that having the inability to humble ourselves is a result of having a Pharisee heart, not a Godly heart. God always picks the most unlikely candidate to bring forth His message. He will not pick someone full of pride. He will pick them based on the condition of their hearts and their willingness to be obedient. This was proven many times in the Bible - when He anoints David, the smallest and weakest of the sons of Jesse; when He impregnates the virgin Mary, the barren Elizabeth and Sarah; and even when He picks the 100 year old Abraham. (1 Samuel 16, Genesis 17, Luke 1-2)

2. Once saved always saved - The logic satan uses here is that Jesus' blood washes you clean, so now, no matter how much you sin, you are covered. All you are required to do is ask for forgiveness. This is such a great lie from satan! When you believe this, it makes sinning acceptable and repentance meaningless. There is no place in the Bible where it says you can continue living a sinful life, because of what Jesus did for you. As a matter of fact, it says quite the contrary – if you do not keep God's commandments, you are a liar, and God hates liars more than He hates murders, because lies destroy more of His people than murder does. Revelations 21:8 says “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars – their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” God's Word clearly states that only those who have overcome sin will enter into His glory. We must remember that all sin is equally bad, and breaking one is just as bad as breaking all of them. Exodus 32:31-33 clearly tells us that those who accept Christ, but later turn back to sin will have their names removed from the Book of Life. Satan wants you to believe this lie, but a wise man will look to the Word of God and put their trust there. We must look inside ourselves and examine whether our hearts are like Adam's or Abraham's. There will be no sin or rebellion in Heaven. Adam's curse was to be expelled from paradise. We do not want that to happen to anyone! (Exodus 32:31-33, Ezekiel 18:24, 1 John 2:4, 1 Peter 1:15, Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 19:17, Revelations 21:8)

A Spirit filled person will have an incredibly difficult time attending a church where hypocrisy and idolatry exists. So, what happens in this situation is the words (or the hypocrisies of the teachings) will be feeding the weeds instead of the wheat (Matthew 13:24). All the good wheat will die out or ultimately leave the church, and satan will be left standing at the altar preaching God's Word – falsely – and everyone will believe him, because they are ignorant and foolish.

So, my question to the Godly leaders is – how do we effectively go to war against this evil corrupting our brothers and sisters? I see this as the greatest task we have ahead of us. As disciples for Christ, God is calling us to unite and go to war against satan and his army. This is how we show love to our fellow man, woman and child. This is how we risk our lives for Christ.

This is incredibly important for the children. They learn to build their foundations to reflect the spiritual leadership at home. We must love the children enough to build their foundations solidly – on Christ. We must fight against satan's foundation of hypocrisy, which will not hold up in a storm. We must make father's understand that foundation building based on hypocrisy is not leading the children to heaven. So, not only is a foundation built on hypocrisy teaching the children in a way which is certain to cause them great suffering here on earth, but it will also prevent them from having eternal life. If we are creating a foundation based on hypocrisy for our children, we are certainly not loving them. Loving them means leading them to heaven!

What I say here in this letter reflects the love Jesus indicated in Matthew 22:36-40 (NLT) - Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”

Much love and God's blessings to all! Amen!