“Eternity depends
on your sincerity. Your worth and destiny hang on whether or not you have it.
Another injury
inflicted by the hypocrite is the scandal brought upon the church when his mask
slips. Scripture says of Samson, "The dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his life" Judges 16:30. Truly the
hypocrite does more damage when he is discovered than when he seemed to be
alive in his profession of faith. The hypocrite then puts a big stick into the
hands of the wicked who have been looking for a way to bruise the saints. How
fast they can then cause division and smear the face of all believers with the
grime they see upon one hypocrite's sleeve!
Accusers of
Christianity point out a hypocrite in church and reason that the whole group of
believers is just like him. This is as absurd, of course, as to say that no
coin is worth anything because we see one brass shilling among the silver. But
this language fits the mouth of the ungodly world. ‘And woe to the man's
hypocrisy, which manufactures these arrows for them to shoot at the saints.’ It
would be better if he had been thrown into the sea with a millstone about his
neck than to live and provide occasions for God's enemy to blaspheme.
Because sincerity
covers all a Christian's weaknesses, there are several important reasons why we
should carefully search our own hearts to see whether sincerity or hypocrisy
reigns there.
Eternity depends
on your sincerity. Your worth and destiny hang on whether or not you have it.
This is your making or marring forever. "Do good, O Lord, ...to them that
are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,
the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity" Psalm
125:4-5. The hypocrite will try to crowd in with the godly on that last day and
pass for a saint, but God "shall lead him forth with the workers of
iniquity," company which is more his kind.”
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617
No comments:
Post a Comment