The Leaven of Hypocrisy Pt.1

Opening Comments:

Please meet me in your copy of God’s Word in Luke 12:1-7. If you’re using one of our church provided Bibles you can find your place on page number 818. This is the Word of the Lord

Luke 12:1–7 ESV

1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Prayer:

"Dear Heavenly Father,

As we gather to hear Your Word today, we come acknowledging our own tendencies towards hypocrisy and pretence. We recognize that our hearts can be deceitful and our actions often contradict our words.

Lord, we ask that You would shine your light into our lives, exposing the areas where we may be hiding behind masks or pretending to be something we're not. Help us to see ourselves as You see us, and to repent of our hypocrisy.

As we explore Luke 12:1-7 we pray that Your Spirit would convict us, transform us, and guide us towards. May our time in Your Word today be a mirror to our souls, revealing areas where we need to grow in our walk with you.

We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen."

Introduction:

In our time together two weeks ago, we looked at an event that took place as Jesus was invited to a meal in the home of a Pharisee. (Briefly go back over who they were.) The meal, got off to rocky start over the issue of ceremonial hand washing and that proceeded wit Jesus pronouncing judgment upon the Pharisee. From that we learned the characteristics of a Pharisee.

A Pharisee is someone who:

Focuses only on the external.

Majors on the minors.

Craves prominence and honor from others.

Misleads others

Creates heavy burdens for others to bear while doing nothing to help.

Honor the past work of God but disregard the present work of God.

Ultimately, they take the truth of God away from others.

This dialogue all took lace before the meal even started. Chapter 11 ended with saying:

Luke 11:53–54 ESV

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

It’s likely that the meal never actually got to be eaten due to the anger that was felt toward Jesus. Also that anger plays a role in the opening of ch.12.

“In the meantime”- Literally “under these circumstances/conditions”

What circumstances?- The Pharisees trying to trap Jesus and being openly hostile toward him by stirring up the people.

Yet though the religious establishment is stacking up against Jesus more and more, his popularity with he crowds is reaching a fever pitch. So much so they were actually falling and trampling over each other just to get close enough to hear him.

This combination of the Pharisees seeking to trap Jesus and the unruly crowd made it dangerous to be in his proximity. It’s in the midst of this chaos that Jesus begins to warn his disciples about the dangers of what Wiersbe called “The snare of popularity and the fear of man…” that could lead them into the same path of Hypocrisy that the Pharisees were guilty of.

In order to understand Jesus warning to his disciples, in our time together we are first going to:

The clarification of hypocrisy. (v.1-3)

The cause of hypocrisy. (v.4)

The cure for hypocrisy. (v.5-7)

1.) The clarification of Hypocrisy. (v.1-3)

Hypocrisy can be defined as saying one thing and doing another. We call someone who lives this way a hypocrite.

Hypocrite- One who puts on a show, acts out something he is not. It comes from a greek word that means “an actor, or one who plays a part.”

In Christianity a hypocrite is a person who tries to appear more spiritual than they really are. They pretend and hope no one will find out the truth. Their christianity is nothing more than a shallow masquerade.

If you took all of the characteristics of a Pharisee and summed them up into one word it would be “Hypocrisy”.

Luke 12:1 ESV

1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Jesus here cautions his disciples to “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

Leaven is yeast. (Jesus is not referring to the yeast itself but something akin to sourdough) Once inserted in dough, it penetrates, seeps, and works its way through the dough. It cannot be seen, but it still works. It then spreads slowly, but once it is inserted, it cannot be stopped. It continues to spread until the whole dough is leavened. Then it swells the dough. It puffs dough up, making dough look much larger than it really is. Note: it does not add to the dough. It only changes its appearance. Then ferments and sours the dough. It changes the dough’s very nature.

This is exactly what Hypocrisy does, a very small amount can grow very rapidly and quietly until it all consumes your walk with the Lord. It does to your life what yeast does to dough.

Jesus knew his disciples were particularly susceptible to this because of the public nature of their lives as teachers and preachers of Christ message. Their job wasn’t to just proclaim the message but to also live out the message.

They could be become very tempted to be one way in public when the crowds were watching and an entirely different way in private when the crowds were not around.

So Jesus reminds them that trying to hide their deeds was foolish, because nothing can truly be hidden.

Luke 12:2–3 ESV

2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

A hypocrite may get by fooling everyone for a while, but you cannot fool God. Everything will be exposed by the Lord, either in this life or on the day of judgement.

The Bible speaks of this again and again.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 ESV

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Romans 2:16 ESV

16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

2.) The cause of hypocrisy. (v.4)

Let’s look at vs. 4-7 again.

Luke 12:4 ESV

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

Do you notice a repeating word in those verses? Fear (Repeated 5 X’s)

This informs us that the basic cause of hypocrisy in the life of the disciple of Christ is the “fear of man.” (v4)

The fear of man sneaks in when we are more concerned about what other people think of us than we are God. So, we try to impress them in order to gain their approval even if that means lying, which is hypocrisy.

For the 12, that fear could come about because of the threats and vitriol against Jesus that could spill over to them as his followers. Jesus knew this fear, its natural human weakness.

But the fear of man is a trap.

Proverbs 29:25 ESV

25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

It is a trap because it is both a physical fear and a psychological fear.

For the disciples, to be publicly open about their faith in Jesus could bring about their death. (Physical fear)

For us, in a free nation, it is more of a psychological fear. It comes in the form of our over anxious need for everyone around us to like and affirm everything we do. Because of this, it manifests itself as people pleasing, value compromise, peer pressure, or not sharing our faith.

Fear becomes a snare to us, be it physical or psychological when we allow it to influence our decisions rather than the Lord.

So instead of being genuine we just pretend to be something we’re not. Being genuine puts us in a vulnerable position, and no one enjoys that.

But notice what Jesus says here in v.4. All any man can do to you is affect the temporal. At worst, they can take your life. That’s all they can do. Men have no power over your eternal destiny, only God does!

If that’s the case, why are we so worried about what others think of us?

3.) The cure from Hypocrisy. (v.5-7)

The number one way to keep from becoming a hypocrite is to have a

A.) Proper fear of the Lord. (v.5)

Luke 12:5 ESV

5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Man can take away the temporal things of this world away from you but only God has the power to cast a man into hell.

Jesus isn’t saying that if they fear men, that God is going to cast them into hell because he’s more vindictive than the Pharisees are.

On the contrary he’s reassuring them, that in the end, God will hold all people accountable for the evil that they do.

Jesus is reassuring them, that though they may die a martyrs death for following him, their persecutors will be held accountable to God because he is the perfect judge of the universe.

A proper fear of the Lord, will free us from the fears of man.

One theologian defined the “fear of the Lord” as

“Awe: Emotion in which dread, veneration, and wonder are variously mingled, as: (a) a profound and humbly fearful reverence inspired by deity or by something sacred or mysterious; (b) wondering reverence tinged with fear inspired by the sublime” (Webster’s). Biblical use: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” (Psalm 33:8 NASB)

Joseph Bayley as quoted by R. Kent Hughes, Luke: That You May Know the Truth, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 40.

1.) v.6-7 lay out for us 4 attributes of God that should drive our fear of the Lord.

Luke 12:6–7 ESV

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

a.) God’s providence- God sees, knows, cares, and oversees all the events and happenings on earth—even for the little sparrow that is so common and forgotten.

b.) God’s omniscience- God knows every little happening and all that is, even to the most minute detail. He knows when a single sparrow falls to the ground. He knows every hair of a person’s head, even the number of hairs. There is nothing he doesn't know.

c.) God’s omnipotence- God is able to control the events that happen to the believer, no matter how detailed and minute. He can control and work them out for good to such an extent that there is no need for the believer to fear. Because he alone is all powerful.

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

d.) God’s love. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and of God.

Romans 8:35–39 ESV

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Friend, when we see God for who he is (Provident, omniscient, omnipotent, all loving) and man for who they really are, we learn really quickly one should be feared and one shouldn't.

A proper fear of the Lord conquers all other fears and is the first step to keeping from hypocrisy.

Conclusion:

Today we've explored the clarification, cause, and cure of hypocrisy. We've seen how hypocrisy can creep into our lives, often fueled by the fear of man. But we've also seen the cure: a proper fear of the Lord. When we stand in awe of God's providence, omniscience, omnipotence, and love, we're freed from the fear of man and the temptation to hypocrisy.

So, let's ask ourselves:

- Are we living authentically, or are we pretending to be something we're not?

- Are we more concerned with what others think of us, or are we focused on pleasing God?

- Are we allowing the fear of man to control our decisions, or are we trusting in God's sovereignty and love?

May we remember that God sees everything, knows everything, and is in control of everything. May we fear Him alone, and may that fear drive us to live genuine, hypocrisy-free lives. Let's strive to be authentic followers of Christ, unafraid to stand up for our faith, even in the face of adversity.

Next week in our time together, we’re going to unpack v.8-12 “The Consequences of hypocrisy”.