True Hypocrites

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King James Bible StudyAnd when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, January 11, 2021
Chapters: Job 27-31
Message: True Hypocrites

Hello My Friend,

Every few months or whenever I notice a pattern that I have not given God the attention He deserves, I go into this self critical mode, confessing all my sin, telling Him what a wretch I am, that I am a hypocrite and a fraud. Well, God made me do something this morning, look up what the word hypocrite means. [Hypocrite; One who feigns to be what he is not; one who has the form of godliness without the power, or assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion.] Did you know that the word hypocrite is in the Bible thirty-one times? Out of those thirty-one times, Jesus spoke used it twenty times, speaking of the hypocrisy of the religious, [Matthew 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and 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.]

[neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.] Religion sends more people to hell than ignorance and rejection combined. The true hypocrites are not the ones who love Christ and just fail Him, they are the ones who appear to be without sin, and condemn everyone else who does not follow their ways. Oh, and by the way, it is not God who calls us hypocrites, just because we fail Him, it is Satan. When God allowed Satan to afflict Job, Satan did not hold back, he not only destroyed pretty much everything he possessed, he took away his children, health, and turned his wife and friends against him as well. As three of them sat there, basically calling him a hypocrite because no one could possibly go through so much if they were not living some sinful life. Job is speaking a parable, which is actually a plea, he feels as though God has him on trial and is pleading his case. His friends are the prosecutors, while he alone must defend himself.

[Job 27:1-10,22  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,  2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;  3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;  4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.  5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.  6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.  7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.  8  For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?  9  Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?  10  Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God? 22  For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.]

[till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.] [Integrity; The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; uncorrupt; uprightness; honesty.] Integrity is another word that gets distorted, many are quick to question someones integrity if there is affliction in their lives. If we are honest with ourselves, we are guilty of doing this to ourselves, just like I was calling myself a hypocrite. You know, having integrity does not mean that we are not going to fail God sometimes, it does mean that we never waver in our faith, and are faithful to Him, when we do sin, we come to Him confessing it, [I John 1:8-9  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.]

We may not always understand God’s ways, but we can get a good understanding of how we are to approach Him. As Job continues his parable, he realizes exactly where wisdom comes from and how we get this understanding. [Job 28:20-28  Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?  21  Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.  22  Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.  23  God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.  24  For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;  25  To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.  26  When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:  27  Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.  28  And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.]

[the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;] Fearing God is not being afraid of Him, although one should be if they are against everything He stands for, fearing God is respecting Him, loving Him, being in awe of Him, giving Him first place in our lives. When we are going through affliction, especially if it is prolonged, our natural instinct is to find the quickest solution to the problem, then when we cannot find it seek God’s help. When God’s help seems to never come, it often leads to depression hopelessness, and pondering. Job starts reminiscing about the days God blessed him, wishing things were like they use to be, he even starts reminding God of all the good things he has done.

[Job 29:23,5,7-8,12-16  Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;  3  When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;  5  When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;  7  When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!  8  The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. 12  Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.  13  The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.  14  I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.  15  I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.  16  I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.]

[When the Almighty was yet with me,] Let me tell you, when it seems as though God is nowhere, that is when He is the closest to us, and even when we fail Him He never leaves our side. Praise God! This is how God both reveals and increases our faith in Him, if He knows we will trust Him, then He will increase the blessings, much more than we could ever think. God never stops blessing us, if we are saved, we are one of His forever, that means we are preserved with eternal life and nothing can change that. However, until we come to that conclusion ourselves, we are going to remain in that self critical mode. At this point, Job feels like God has left him and basically fed him to the wolves, and wonders why He is not hearing his crying out to Him.

[Job 30:1,8-10,16-20,23-24  But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. 8  They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.  9  And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.  10  They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. 16  And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.  17  My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.  18  By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.  19  He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.  20  I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. 23  For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.  24  Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.]

[and to the house appointed for all living.] The living are the ones who are trusting in the LORD, Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Job actually does see some light at the end if all this darkness, at least, if he died he would be where he would never suffer anymore, and among the living. It is the dead, the ones who are not saved, that will be cast into destruction, [John 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.]

I will be honest and say that the reason why I got in my self critical mode is because of all that God has been blessing me with, and I failed Him. I did not go to church last night, I decided to watch it on TV, but it did not work, I also did not give my tithe, which I promised I was going to do. So, instead of just saying I’m sorry like I did several times, I went on this bender because I just getting through some affliction, and has not come to pass yet. The longer I suffer the more I start to feel like there is no end to it, that perhaps I am a hypocrite, and wonder why God is angry. Job starts to question himself, was there something he did that he was not aware of.

[Job 31:2,46,23-28,35  For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?  4  Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?  5  If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;  6  Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. 23  For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.  24  If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;  25  If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;  26  If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;  27  And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:  28  This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. 35  Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.]

[and that mine adversary had written a book.] Job thinks that God sees him as an adversary, or an enemy, and wants a book to show him exactly how He wants him to be, and assures Him that he will follow it. Oh, how sad is it that we do have God’s written Word, and so many Christians disregard it. Nevertheless, we who are faithful find it to be the most valuable possession we have. Regret is another word for repentance, it is feeling deep sorrow over wrong decisions made that resulted in the suffering. Saved, born again Christians ought to have no regrets, our sins are forgiven, and while we always a work in progress until the day God brings us home, our past does not define us. So, we cannot keep going back to our past, thinking that it is what is causing our suffering, if anything, it is our failure to move on that keeps us suffering. We must move forward, and instead of recollecting the past, keep reminding ourselves of what the future holds, [Philippians 3:13-14  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Job 30:9-10  And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.  10  They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for life, and the life You have given me. And thank Your for eternal life, and the great sacrifice You made in saving my soul from death and hell. I do not always understand the affliction I go through, but I do understand that Your hand is in them, and that You will show me the way out through my faith and trust in You. I know that I mess up and fail you often because I try to do things on my own. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me Your strength that I need to endure the affliction, let me not look, the right, left, or behind, but straight toward You, and the prize awaiting me. Keep reminding me that I have not lost my integrity neither am I a hypocrite, I just need to confess my sin, knowing that You are faithful and just to cleanse me. As long as I trust You I know You will not only help me endure, the pain will end, and I will see Your blessings unfold even more. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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