Hypocrites In The Church

Are there hypocrites in the church? Surely, there are some. Paul dealt with such in his day for he said in 2 Cor. 11:13, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ." (NASU) In Gal. 2:4 he speaks of "false brethren secretly brought in." (NASU) Hypocrisy is an age-old problem. There are hypocrites about everywhere you look so why be surprised or shocked to find some in the church?

The question to be dealt with in this article is what shall we do about hypocrites in the church? Some people lay all the blame for their own failure to obey the gospel on hypocrites in the church. They talk as though they want nothing to do with such a bunch of hypocrites and it is beneath them to associate with such. They are better than that.

Certainly, the Bible condemns hypocrisy. What may surprise the reader is that the actual word "hypocrisy" is found only in 9 verses of the New American Standard Bible Update edition and "hypocrite" is found in only 2 verses of the same translation. Does that mean there is not a lot written on the subject? Not at all!

One has to remember that in defining a word one learns much by studying words that are the antonyms of the word being defined. We all know that one who is guilty of hypocrisy is one who pretends that which is not true; he pretends to be what he is not; he is a pretender and deceitful. Well, what is the opposite of that? The antonyms for hypocrisy given by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary are genuineness and sincerity. Thus, every time your Bible commands honesty and sincerity of heart it condemns hypocrisy.

One needs to read no further than Matthew to get Jesus' take on hypocrisy. He calls the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites and then says to them, "You, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matt. 23:28 NASU) When Jesus calls a man a hypocrite, as he did the Pharisees and scribes in verse 27, he did not mean it as a compliment. It is a condemnation.

In Luke 12:1, he says, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." (NASU) He goes on then to say they will not get by with it for "there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known." (Luke 12:2 NASU) What was true for them will also be true for you and me if we do not guard our hearts closely and act out of sincerity. It is easy, for example, to worship out of duty rather than sincerely from the heart, out of obligation versus desire.

Peter says to all Christians that we are to put "aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander." (1 Peter 2:1 NASU) The words Joshua spoke to the children of Israel in Joshua 24:14 are just as applicable to us today as they were to them. He said, "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth." (Joshua 24:14 NASU)

Paul's desire for the Philippians (and for us) was that they might be "sincere and blameless until the day of Christ." (Phil. 1:10 NASU) The writer of the book of Hebrews instructs us to draw near to God "with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. 10:22 NASU) God demands of us honesty, sincerity, and not hypocrisy.

No one can defend a hypocrite, nor would it be right to try and do so, but to those who complain about hypocrites in the church and use them as an excuse to not obey the gospel we ask this question, can you live the Christian life better than those you criticize or will you even try? You do know, do you not, that living the Christian life is easier said than done? Do you know that the apostle Peter himself was guilty of hypocrisy for a time? Are you making a claim to be better than Peter?

Paul said of Peter, called Cephas in this passage, that "when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy." (Gal 2:11-13 NASU)

Did David not for a time, after committing adultery with Bathsheba and after having her husband killed, act as though (pretending) he had done nothing wrong? Was he not being a hypocrite? It took Nathan the prophet with a direct message from God to get him to face up to his own hypocrisy.

I wonder, will either of these hypocrites be in heaven? Since one does not want to be with hypocrites in the church one supposes that one feels the same about being with Peter and David in heaven. Yes, we are sure that these men repented of any and all wrongdoing doing but the point is that for a time they were hypocrites. Just because a man is a hypocrite today does not mean he will be one tomorrow or that he will never repent. Maybe if you were to become a Christian and play the role of a Nathan you could save him. Do you care enough to try?

Another point that needs pursuing is this--the fact that a man is in sin does not necessarily imply that he is a conscious hypocrite. It would be easy to look at a church like that at Corinth in the New Testament and read about all of the sins in that congregation and just say that church is full of hypocrites and sinners. I want nothing to do with them. Does that attitude save them?

What if Paul had felt that way about them--just a bunch of hypocrites that I want nothing to do with? Would they not all have been lost who were caught up in sin there? Instead, what did Paul do? He says he wrote to them in tears (2 Cor. 2:4), speaking of his first Corinthian letter, teaching, begging, pleading, exhorting them to repent. Did any of them do so?

Paul says in his second letter, speaking of the results wrought by his first letter, that "though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while--I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation." (2 Co 7:8-10 NASU)

When we say we will have nothing to do with hypocrites, we are really saying we have no concern for them; we do not love them as people; let them go to hell; I don't care. Love does not run away from people but rather toward them.

There are probably not too many Christians who have lived so faithfully for a full lifetime that they can honestly say there was never ever any hypocrisy in their lives. It may be that the public did not see it but in our inner self we have known we were not right with God. We were tempted for a time and fell. Can you do better than we have done? Great! It is time to get started.

Finally, where is the compassion? A lot that passes for hypocrisy is merely ignorance of Bible teaching. True, given time, we ought to study and gain knowledge on our own but it takes time. Many simply do not know better. I only argue for a bit of patience and compassion on all of these hypocrites that it is said the church is full of.

Yes, we all despise the idea of hypocrisy and do not have any desire whatsoever to defend true hypocrites. Much of my arguing in this piece has been for the purpose of showing that there is room for love and compassion and that even good and great men are capable of falling into hypocrisy for a time.

But are we not hypocrites ourselves when we say we are too good for all of them, when we say we are too good for the gospel, when we say we are too good for the church? Are we not pretending to be better than we really are?

In closing, I want to mention the conversation Jesus had with Peter after his resurrection when he found Peter and a few of the disciples on the sea having fished all night and caught nothing. You will find the account in John chapter 21 beginning in verse about 15. When Jesus told Peter about what kind of death Peter would die, Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved and said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?" (John 21:21 NASU) Please hear Jesus' response. "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!" (John 21:22 NASU)

My final words in this piece--if there are hypocrites in the church what is that to you as regards your own salvation? You follow Jesus. I think that is exactly what Jesus would tell you. Don't worry about the other guy unless it is for the purpose of helping him. You follow Jesus. 

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Keep Your Heart with all Diligence

If you are like me you were always a little fearful in your youth, in your immaturity, that you were perhaps not normal.  That is to say, you struggled being the person you ought to be and like Eve desired forbidden things from time to time and the thought came to your mind that is not normal, not normal for those who want to do what is right and be a good person.  Perhaps you got to the point where you questioned your heart.  Maybe you just had a bad heart.  Maybe you were just a little more depraved than others.  Since it is not possible to look inside another individual and see what they are inside (“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” 1 Cor. 2:11 NKJV) you doubted yourself.

As I grew older in life I came to realize we are all pretty much the same.  “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Gal. 5:17 NKJV)  I think the TEV translation of the last phrase of this verse nails the meaning.  It says, “This means that you cannot do what you want to do.”  So, I have not been the only one.  You must have had the same problem.

Yes, life is a struggle to do what is right and refrain from sin.  Perhaps this is why I get upset with Christians of a liberal bent.  They come across to me as saying “You go ahead and struggle, I am depending on God’s grace.”  Translated that means I will do in my life what I want and let God’s grace cover me in the end.  We are supposed to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12 NKJV) and have been given a sword (the word of God--Eph. 6:17) and a shield (faith--Eph. 6:16).  Where is the fight in liberal Christianity (a misnomer)?  Paul said he had “fought the good fight.” (2 Tim. 4:7 NKJV)  It is a cop-out to live as you want, not being overly concerned about doing wrong (sinning), feeling that grace will take care of it all.  It is a bad attitude toward God.  But, I digress. 

In the book of Proverbs, chapter 23 verse 7, we read of man, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (NKJV)  Make no mistake about it--our struggle is with our hearts within.  “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man.” (Matt. 15:19-20 NKJV)  Take special care here to notice that the first sin Jesus lists is “evil thoughts.”  Paul says we are to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5 NKJV) 

We are even told what to think about.  “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8 NKJV)

No wonder Solomon wrote, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Prov. 4:23 NKJV)  The TEV translates this in a way that makes it even clearer, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”  How true it is.  How many times in our lives have we heard the words “If you think you can, you can?”  Everything we do in life first begins with a tiny thought that grows and matures.  A seed is sown in our hearts by something we have seen, heard, read, or experienced and a thought begins to take shape as we begin the thought process.  That eventually leads to action.  I do not know of anything we do where there has not first been the thought that then led us to act.  Yes, we sometimes act instinctively but I think the reader realizes I am not talking about those kinds of things.

We say, myself included, it is so hard to control our thoughts and I agree it is but God would not give a command if we could not do it, do it at least to a major degree.  The thought comes to mind from the book of James (James 3:1-10) where we are instructed to control our tongue but it is also said that no man can tame it.  I believe James is telling us we are commanded to give it our very best shot.  The same is likely true with our thoughts.

It is hard to see how a person could be tempted without going through a thought process.  What is the difference between an evil thought and a temptation?  James says, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15 NKJV)  Paul, like James, in 1 Cor. 10:13 teaches that temptation itself is not a sin.  “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (NKJV)  Please note that Paul says temptation is “common to man.”  That means, of course, that you and I are not alone when it comes to being tempted by evil.

Temptation while not a sin can lead to sin.  On the other hand, evil thoughts are sinful in themselves (Matt. 15:19-20).  The difference seems to be what we do with the negative or evil thought that enters our mind (heart).  If it is transient it would seem to fall into the category of being only a temptation.  If it remains in the heart and we mull it around in our minds and do not let go of it but entertain it finding some satisfaction in doing so then it would seem to pass into the realm of sinful thought.  At least that is the only explanation I can see.  You will have to decide for yourself.

Perhaps a few Bible examples would help us out.  I was recently reading of the account of Achan’s sin in Joshua 7:20-21.  The Bible says, “And Achan answered Joshua and said, ‘Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done:  When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them.” (NKJV)  We are aware of temptation when it occurs.  Achan knew he was being tempted but rather than immediately running away from the temptation what did he do?  He entertained the thought in his heart, gave it thought as to taking the items, and ended up doing so.

David’s sin with Bathsheba is another example.  David’s adultery began when he saw the naked Bathsheba and began to think about it in his heart, to dwell on it.  He was not keeping his heart with all diligence nor did Achan.  One who did keep his heart and reacted properly was Joseph.  Joseph like David was tempted to engage in sexual sin.  We find the account in Gen. 39.  His master’s wife was after Joseph day after day to lie with her as Gen. 39:7 and 10 puts it.  Joseph, however, unlike David, did not entertain the thought in his heart. 

One who kept his heart with all diligence as did Joseph was Daniel.  The Bible says of Daniel in Daniel 1:8, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies … ". (NKJV)  Later it is said to Daniel, by a heavenly visitor in a vision, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved … Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard.” (Dan. 10:11-12 NKJV)  A man has some control over his heart.  We are not forced to be what our fleshly nature leads us to be.

How a man reacts to a situation where he is tempted depends on how he has prepared his heart.  David was at heart a good man but he let his guard down.  One must use all diligence in keeping his heart where it ought to be.  This does not come naturally.  Sin, other than sins of ignorance, originates in the heart.  Of the Jews who came out of Egypt with Moses God said, “They always go astray in their heart.” (Heb. 3:10 NKJV)

I used to hear it said that heaven was a prepared place for a prepared people.  I believe that is true.  Our preparation must begin within.  We must gain control of our thoughts which is just another way of saying we must gain control of our hearts for as a man thinketh in his heart so is he (Prov. 23:7).  Gaining that control begins first with a desire to do so.  It then takes self-discipline.  We need to give it our best effort making heaven our treasure for “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34 NKJV)  Our heart determines not only how our life here on earth will be lived and where we will be led (led by it) but also how our life in eternity will be lived and where.  Keep your heart with all diligence is some of the best advice you or I will ever be given.   

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Regrets

While it would be wonderful to live life with no regrets there are few if any of us that will.  Regret is common to mankind for no one lives a perfect life always making the right decisions and doing the right things.   I think it would do us some good to look back at some of the Bible's famous men and see if they had any regrets.  By doing so it may give us a degree of strength to go on and not give up. 

Adam, the first man, no doubt had great regret.  He once lived in an earthly paradise with an unending life ahead of him having free access to the tree of life.  For food all he had to do was reach up and pluck it from the trees on which it grew.  There was no need to store it or do hard labor for it, as it would always be there.  God walked with him in the garden and thus for a time he had full fellowship with God.  Adam gave it all up. 

Do you not think while he was toiling the soil by the sweat of his brow fighting the thorns and thistles and realizing his destiny was to become dust himself, that he must die, that he had also brought this same destiny upon his children, that he was responsible for what they would have to go through, that he often looked back on how it once was and deeply regretted what he had done? 

Samuel was a great man of God.  I do not recall a single passage that speaks ill of Samuel.  He was God's man and judged Israel all the days of his life (1 Sam. 7:15) and, furthermore, he was a prophet of God ((1 Sam. 3:20).  In the New Testament we find him listed in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, along with others in what one might call faith's all of fame.  And, yet, we find this, "Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel." (1 Sam. 8:1 NKJV)  And then a little later we find this, "But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice." (1 Sam. 8:3 NKJV) 

Do you not think this grieved Samuel greatly?  The thought comes naturally to mind when a child goes wrong where did I fail, where did I go wrong in raising him or her?  There is possibly no other regret that cuts deeper than this one.  We think to ourselves if I had just done this or that differently.  We blame ourselves.  I failed my child or my children. 

I do not claim Samuel sinned in the way he raised his family for I have no way of knowing but I do believe parents naturally blame themselves, at least to an extent, and have regrets about how they parented their children when their children go astray, singular or plural.  When one looks back in time there were a number of great men of God listed in the Bible who could not have qualified to be an elder in the church in the New Testament era, one of the requirements being "having faithful children" (Titus 1:6 NKJV), due to the kind of lives one or more of their children lived.  I also suspect being the godly man he was that Samuel regretted making his sons judges of Israel after him. 

David was another great man of God.  Here is what God thought about David after his death, speaking of King Abijam, the scripture says, "His heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father." (I Kings 15:3 ESV)  Then in the latter part of verse 4 of the same chapter we read, "David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." (1 Kings 15:4b ESV)  He also is listed in faith's hall of fame in Hebrews 11 verse 32.  Certainly, we all expect to see David in heaven. 

Yet, David had occasion for regret in his life.  Yes, the most obvious was committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah her husband murdered.  No doubt he looked back on that occasion many times in his life with deep regret.  Not only had he done this great evil it also brought with it great consequences resulting in much harm later to others.  Hear the words of Nathan the prophet, "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.  Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.  And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.'" (2 Sam. 12:10-11 ESV) 

What was the evil that came down the road?  Absalom, a son whom David loved, murdered another son of David--Amnon.  Awhile later, Absalom sought to take the kingdom away from his father and even have his father put to death.  David had to flee to save his own life.  In a battle that brought defeat to Absalom, David commanded those in charge of his army, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." (2 Sam. 18:5 ESV)  You know the story of how in disobedience to David's orders Joab killed Absalom.  You also remember the deep grief David suffered over this. 

The Bible says when David learned of Absalom's death he was deeply moved and wept.  "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!  Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam. 18:33 ESV)  What sorrow, what regret!  Had David not brought this upon himself by his sin?  Much like Adam, he could look back with deep regret over his sins.  It had cost him dearly and resulted in much harm to others he loved deeply.  To me the Bible is clear that had David pursued a different course in his life regarding Bathsheba and Uriah the life of his own family would have turned out differently.  Solomon later had another son of David's put to death--Adonijah.   Prophecy was most certainly fulfilled. 

Sin can have deep consequences in this life not only for ourselves but also for those we love and care about.  It is not as we sometimes hear "my life" and no one else's business.  There are always consequences for good or ill for others in our acts or lack thereof.  But the subject is regret.  There is no doubt about regret being in David's life as he thought about these things in reflection from time to time. 

In the New Testament, we also find great men of God who undoubtedly had regret.  We can readily name two--Paul and Peter.  Paul said he was "not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." (1 Cor. 15:9 NKJV)  Elsewhere he calls himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).  I believe there is every reason to believe that Paul was at the least indirectly responsible for the deaths of some Christians.  When Stephen was stoned to death the Bible says "Saul was consenting to his death." (Acts 8:1 NKJV)  In Acts 22:4 Paul says, "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women." (NKJV)  Paul says the persecution was "to the death."  One wonders how many mothers were in the group of those who were persecuted leaving behind children as orphans.  Do you think Paul had regrets?  Do you think those regrets ever completely passed from his thoughts as he lived day by day? 

Peter's case is too well known to recount here but we are all well aware of his regret having denied Jesus just at the time when Jesus could have used support the most. 

A lesser-known case is that of James and John.  Do you remember when Jesus was heading to Jerusalem how he sent messengers before him and as they came to a village of the Samaritans how those living there refused to receive him?  James and John responded by saying to the Lord, "Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them"?  (Luke 9:54 NKJV)  Jesus answered by saying, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." (Luke (:55-56 NKJV)   As you know James was killed not long after the church was established but John lived a long life.  Do you not think that John looked back with regret when he thought about the kind of man he once was, a man willing to bring about the death of others?  He is known as the apostle of love and yet there was this in his life, the very opposite of love.  It had to hurt as he looked back.  There had to be regret concerning the kind of attitude he once had. 

Then there was the other time when James and John came to Jesus asking that they might sit, "one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your glory." (Mark 10:37 NKJV)  There would have been no problem with this if it had not been for leaving others out seeking only glory for themselves.  The Bible says, "When the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John." (Mark 10:41 NKJV)  In time to come James and John could look back and regret the attitude they once had. 

We have seen enough examples to make the point.  There are often in the best of men things they look back on with regret.  Things they wish they had done differently, attitudes and actions they deeply regret or things they wish they had done but didn't.  These regrets can drag us down and destroy us if we allow it. 

When I look at you or you look at me we think we know the person we are seeing if we have been acquainted with them for any length of time.  That is not necessarily the case.  We do not know the inner man and the sorrow he or she may be carrying deep within.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 2:11, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?" (NKJV)  There may well be a very deep regret within others that we know not of and cannot see, a burden that is carried every day.  

Sometimes we see those who are overly righteous so to speak.  They feel they have led exemplary lives and perhaps their sins have not been as great as that of others except for one thing--their attitude.  One is reminded of the two men who went up to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee prayed thanking God he was not like the tax collector. (Luke 18:10-11)  He busied himself telling God the good things he was doing and how he was not doing evil and yet Jesus says of the tax collector "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other." (Luke 18:14 NKJV)  The Pharisee did not deep down feel a need for God for to him his works were of such a quantity and quality as to fully justify him.  He had no sense of sin and guilt, had no regret.  

When we begin to think too much of ourselves we ought to stop and consider.  If I am so good why do I need Jesus' blood?  There is not a person on the face of the earth who has lived such a life that on its own merits deserves anything other than eternal hellfire.  A nasty attitude toward others is just as bad as anything else and even more distasteful to others.  It is disgraceful and unbecoming a Christian. 

It matters not how bad a life a person, or even a Christian, has lived in the past.  When a person repents and comes to God or back to God, as the case may be, they deserve all the honor and respect that can be given one of God's children whom Jesus came to earth to save.  No matter how bad a life they may have lived they are just as good as you in God's eyes no matter how good a life you have lived or think you have lived.  You probably never committed the sins David did but would you dare say, because you have not, that God sees you as superior to David?  We sometimes, despite ourselves, carry about a sense of superiority.  We did not do this or that and we become the Pharisee that went up to pray. 

Remember the account of the man who sent workers out into his field at different times of the day in Matthew 20?  When evening came those who had worked longer felt they deserved more money than those who had worked fewer hours and in some cases far fewer hours.  They felt the landowner was unjust when he gave the same amount to every man regardless of the hours worked.  It seemed unfair to them.  We have to be careful that we never develop that kind of attitude toward our fellow man and especially toward one another, brethren in Christ.  The attitude of we have done more, we have been better, we deserve more, is unchristian.  The truth is we deserve nothing, nothing that is but punishment for our sins, the sins we think we don't have. 

Why do people sometimes develop this kind of negative attitude?  Perhaps there are other reasons as well but here are a couple that come to mind.  One, they are unwilling to be honest with themselves for they find more comfort in self-deception.  The Bible says, "Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts." (Prov. 21:2 NKJV)  God said in Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV), "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"  If we want to be self-deceived it is not hard to do so. 

A second reason some develop this negative attitude is their ignorance of the scriptures.  Some do not know the scriptures well enough to know what is and is not sin.  There are all kinds of sins apart from just sins of commission but some are relatively unaware of this.  If I do not love my brother have I sinned?  Some act as though as long as they do a man no harm all is well.  Is it?  Did you do him any good if and when he needed it? 

We sometimes blame a person for his or her past and want to see it corrected before we accept him or her.  There are a ton of things in our past we cannot correct and if that is to be the standard of Christian love toward another it is a standard that sinners can never attain to.  How do you correct the past?  There is only so much any of us can do to correct the past. 

We want mission impossible out of people sometimes rather than accept them as full-fledged brothers and sisters in Christ.  We will love them later when everything has been corrected.  The trouble is that it is often impossible to correct the past no matter how much we might desire to do it. 

I would like to reflect on the men mentioned in this study.  Of the men we have studied some were already children of God at the time events unfolded in their lives that brought them regret.  I guess Paul would be the only exception.  Of the six men we have mentioned I believe we all agree that we expect to see at least five of them in heaven.  As for Adam, I am only willing to say that I do not know what happened in the many years after his fall in the garden.  Did he repent?  Did God forgive him?  I suspect he did but the Bible does not say so I cannot know.  

Because we are all in the same boat together should we not fully accept one another with all of our faults of the past and count them as but nothing (the assumption being we have repented and turned to God)?  We have all sunk our own boat and all of us are reaching up to Jesus for salvation.  We are all hoping with Christian expectation that Jesus will reach out his hand to us as he did to Peter when Peter was sinking in the water he had been walking on.  Only Jesus can save us. 

The past is the past but we can help one another, comfort and console one another, and help one another get to heaven.  We all have regrets but we all can have hope if we will, as the old song goes, but trust and obey.  The time comes when we must move on.  The past cannot be undone and we do not want it to destroy us.  Paul gave us inspired advice when he said, "But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way."  (Phillipians 3:13b-15a ESV)  

The inspired advice is let the past go.  Look to the future.  That is the best advice you will ever get on this subject--inspired advice.  Turn loose of the past, let it go.  Christ has called us to freedom, not to bondage.  

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Never Give Up

When we learn the truth of the gospel message, come to believe it, and then sincerely obey it we sometimes expect more of ourselves than is humanly possible to deliver.  When we first come out of the water of our baptism we are determined that we will not sin, we will live sin-free.  This attitude is to be highly commended but is also unrealistic.  

Many who obey the gospel do so when young and thus their expectations about life are not in accord with reality.  They have little idea of what it will be like to live as an adult in the real world with the pressures that people face daily.  When they are confronted with them, when they are no longer sheltered but must face them head-on, they begin to stumble here and there on occasion.  Discouragement settles in for the one who was sincere in his or her gospel obedience. 

The thinking becomes I have sinned, and then I did it again either in the same way or another way, and then again, and the first thing you know it seems like you are trapped in a body that not only insists on sinning but has power over one’s own will.  We become discouraged and cease feeling good about ourselves.  We think I am not good enough; I cannot live the Christian life; I am just not a strong enough person.  

The truth is that almost all of us at one point in time or another have felt that way.  What do we do when that happens?  Too many just gradually give in to those kinds of feelings and give up.  But, is the situation hopeless?  Does it have to be that way?  I would like to take a look into the lives of some of God’s people who seemingly had the same problems I speak of here and see what they did that was sinful, what led them to do it, and how they handled it in the hope that it will help all of us. 

There is no doubt that Moses was a great man of God.  He spoke with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration before Christ’s suffering thus we know he was a saved man.  The Hebrew writer says of Moses, “And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant.” (Heb. 3:5 NKJV)  Yet, we know God would not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land because of his sin.  What was that sin? 

While the children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness after having come out of the land of Egypt they came to a place later called Massah and Meribah, a place where there was no water and a place in which the people grew thirsty and began to complain to Moses.  Moses went to God concerning the matter and God directed him to go to the rock there and speak to the rock and strike it with his rod and water would come forth.  Moses did this but failed to give God the glory instead saying before striking the rock, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:10 NKJV)  We infer from this that he was speaking of himself and his brother Aaron who was with him.  God was left out of the picture and not given the glory.  For this Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.  (See the accounts of this in Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 20:2-13, Numbers 20:24, Numbers 27:12-14, and Deut. 32:48-52.) 

Moses was such a great man of God that God spoke to him face to face.  “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11 NKJV - see also Num. 12:8 and Deut. 34:10).  Please note that this is said of Moses 16 chapters after the events concerning the water at the rock, after Moses’ sin.  So, what was it that would cause such a great man of God to sin the way he earlier had? 

The answer is the very same thing that gets to us as Christians today--pressure on the job, stress in our lives.  Moses in Exodus 17:2 says to the people who were complaining, “Why do you contend with me?” (NKJV)  The very next verse, verse 3, says, “the people complained against Moses,” and it gets so bad that in verse 4 Moses says to God, “What shall I do with this people?  They are almost ready to stone me!” (NKJV)  That is pressure on the job.  When Moses says they are almost ready to stone me we should not think that he is speaking figuratively but stoning was a real possibility if things did not soon get better.  

The Psalmist says with regards to this event, (Psalms 106:32-33 ESV), “They angered him (God--DS) at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.”  Moses grew angry and bitter at the people and spoke rashly out of passion rather than calmly with forethought and failed to give God the glory.  When we speak in the heat of passion there is seldom any good that can come out of it. 

I have used Moses as an example for us today for how often it is that Christians find themselves in very high-stress situations, under all kinds of pressure, and the result is that we too end up like Moses and sin under stress.  What kinds of sin?  A whole host of sins could be mentioned, here are a few.  We begin to put God on the back burner and give him second place in our lives feeling that there is not enough time to do everything.  Attendance at worship services begins to lag, Bible reading ceases, prayer time diminishes, there is no time for good works, and we begin doing whatever it is that is required of us to stay in good standing in our job even if it means sacrificing our Christian life.  It is easy to eventually end up as a Christian dropout. 

This can happen and it does happen all of the time--the more professional your job, the more responsibility you have, the more of an executive position you hold the tougher it becomes.  Expectations are so great and the kinds of people we often work with are far from having Christian character, just the opposite, and it makes it very difficult to survive as a Christian.  With all the attempts to get the most out of the least, it seems everyone is under pressure on the job no matter what position they hold--blue collar or white collar. 

I want to say there are no easy answers to these kinds of situations that we find ourselves in.  I heard one preacher say words to the effect that we can quit our job.  Yes, and then what?  Will the next job be any better?  This is America in the twenty-first century.  If there are any stress-free jobs in our country today I do not know where or what they are.  We cannot herd sheep.  What can we do then? 

We can hang in there.  We can fight the battle as best we can.  We can pray to God for help.  We can do our best.  We can trust God’s grace.  We can follow Moses’ example and not give up.  When God told him of his sin and told him he would not be allowed into the Promised Land he could have given up.  He could have said I have the toughest job in the world leading these people that are continually giving me a hard time and they are bringing me down with them and I quit, I give up. Despite my best efforts, I cannot live faithfully and please God. 

Had Moses done this what then?  Where would he be today?  Would he have met with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?  Would he have been called a faithful man in the book of Hebrews as is the case?  What did Moses do? 

He did not quit.  He accepted his sin for what it was and went on with life.  He continued to trust in God as his hope and salvation.  This is exactly what we need to do today.  Remember Moses when things get tough in your life and follow his example. 

Another man I would like to deal with is David.  You know the story of David, a man the Bible says was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14).  And yet, as great a man of God as David was, his sin with Bathsheba is perhaps the best-known case of adultery that ever occurred.  And one can add murder to his list of sins for having Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed.  The account of this affair can be found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. 

David was a man who had always done God’s will.  If he had lived in the Christian era we would say there was a man who was so strong in the faith that it is impossible to live up to the example he set.  We might well say of him, if he lived near us in our own time, that he is the best Christian man I have ever met.  Of course, David was not a Christian as he lived under the Law of Moses but I say this to emphasize what a man of God he truly was, a super role model in so many ways. 

Yet, he fell mightily.  He lusted with his eyes and heart after Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, and then had her husband Uriah killed to cover his tracks and hide his sin when he discovered Bathsheba was with child, his child.  All this sin began when, because of outside stimulus, his heart ceased to be pure. 

Yet, despite his sin, as horrible as it was, the Bible speaks highly of him.  Here is what it says in comments that are being made about Abijam, a king who came later down the road after David.  “His heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.  Nevertheless, for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:3-5 NKJV)   

When David’s life on earth ended he was found in God’s favor.  The words just quoted above came, obviously, after David’s death.  

What can we learn from what happened to David?  I start with this.  Don’t be deceived, there is no one no matter how spiritual they may appear and may be who is not capable of sin, even grievous sin.  We sometimes tend to think others are strong and not tempted like me.  Don’t be overly sure of that.  No one is struggling like me.  Don’t be sure of that.  No one has to fight temptation like me.  Don’t be sure of that.  It is said that David was around 50 years old at the time of this sin.  It is not just the young who struggle to be faithful. 

Secondly, David’s sin came about as a result of factors external to himself.  He saw, he was tempted, and he lusted.  How many of our sins begin with factors external to us?  We see this or that, we hear this or that, it creates desire within our hearts, and we give in to temptation.  We may not see a naked lady bathing but every day we are exposed to things from the outside that cause lust in our hearts whether it be sexual lust, as was the case with David, or the desire for possessions, or the desire to have position and authority and be praised and honored as we see other men and women being praised and honored, or maybe just the desire to fit in and be accepted as one of the guys.  What we see and hear affects us. 

It is a battle all of us fight.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 10:13 “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man” (NKJV) which tells us not to kid ourselves.  We are not alone in being tempted by the things of this world.  But Paul goes on and says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13 NKJV)  

But you may be saying to yourself as you examine your life that I failed.  I did not take the way of escape.  Well, you have joined vast multitudes of God’s people that have had to confess the same thing at various times in their lives including David, the great man of God.  The point is that it is not hopeless. 

We all believe we are going to see David in heaven.  Why?  The answer is he repented and he did not give up.  It would be easy for a man who has committed adultery and murder to go into the depths of despair so deep as to never come out again.  Imagine the shame, the self-loathing, and the inability to look at one’s self in the mirror--the never-ending regret and sorrow. 

What is the lesson?  Never give up; there is always good reason for hope.  God will forgive you no matter how atrocious your sins may be.  The Bible says God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Jesus did not come to earth to die on the cross just so men could die in sin.  I remind the reader that both Moses and David were men of God at the time of their sins.  God forgave them.  He will forgive you and me if we repent and do not give up.  Nothing most people have done will compare with what David did.  You have never murdered, have you?  God forgave him.  God will forgive you. 

The 51st Psalm was written by David as a result of this sin he had committed and after Nathan had confronted him and David had repented.  First, he asks for forgiveness and acknowledges his transgressions but then he says in verse 10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (NKJV)  Do you think God was capable of doing that with David?  Do you think he is capable of doing that with you or me when we get caught up in sin?  Remember David is speaking or writing but doing so by inspiration of the Holy Spirit who led him to utter these words.  God is able and willing if we like David will repent. 

Then note verses 16 and 17 where David says, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16-17 NKJV)  When a man or woman truly from the depths of their heart repents God will forgive them and we are talking here about the children of God.  Remember how the father received back the prodigal son in the New Testament?  The message is God wants us back. 

In closing, I want to touch on a few passages in the New Testament.  The church at Corinth was full of sinning Christians.  The book of First Corinthians was written with a view of getting the brethren to repent.  Just about every sin you can think of was going on in the church there.  This included even a man who had his father’s wife sexually.  

Paul wrote the brethren back sometime later giving us the book of Second Corinthians.  In that book, he makes it clear that even this man was forgiven as he had repented.  He says to the brethren, “You ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.  Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.” (2 Cor. 2:7-8 NKJV) 

In 2 Cor. 2:10-11 Paul says concerning this man and this situation, “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.  For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devises.” (NKJV) 

Barnes in his commentary on this passage says, “And the idea is, that they should at once re-admit the penitent offender to their communion, lest if they did not do it, Satan would take advantage of it to do injury to him and them.  It is a reason given by Paul why they should lose no time in restoring him to the church.” 

Concerning the sins of the brethren at Corinth besides this man’s sin Paul says in 2 Cor. 7:9-10, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance.  For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (NKJV) 

Remember we are talking to and about Christians here.  Their repentance led to their salvation.  They suffered loss in nothing for they repented and God received them again. 

Still, there were some at Corinth that had not repented in contrast to those who had.  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 12:21 that he fears when he comes to them again that there will be some that “have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.” (NKJV)  Yes, Christians can become involved in anything as did David but if we will repent God will forgive.  Paul’s lament here is that he fears some have not repented. 

The very last passage I want to touch on is found in Hebrews 10:35-36.  It seems the brethren were growing weary and about to give up and drift away.  They are admonished, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (NKJV) 

The message--don’t give up.  No matter how weak you may be at times, no matter how many sins you may commit as a Christian, no matter how bad they may be don’t give up.  It is never hopeless until we give up.  We are all in the same boat together.  John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NKJV)  Sin hits us all even as Christians.  The other guy may just do a better job hiding his.  Quitters never win and never can.  Only when we quit is it over.  Jesus came into the world to save us, not condemn us.  Let us do as David did, repent, and then get up and get going again.  You have the road of salvation to travel so get up and get going again. 

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The Prodigal Son--When He Came to Himself

The story of the prodigal son as told by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32 is too long to quote here but is so well known that almost everyone acquainted with the Bible knows the story and the main thrust of the lesson taught there.  However, there is one phrase in the account we do not talk enough about--the phrase “when he came to himself” found in verse 17.

This verse marks the point in the young man’s life where his eyes were opened to the extent he could now see clearly what before had been hidden from his eyes, as the text says, “when he came to himself” (NKJV), and as a result repentance entered his heart. 

When lessons are presented on the prodigal son the phrase, “when he came to himself”, is not talked about much.  It ought to be.  It indicates that while the prodigal son was living in sin there was a sense in which he was not himself.  He was not a person who could see reality; he was not a person who could reason correctly; he was not the person he was meant to be.

One could almost say sin is a form of insanity.  If the Bible is true (as it is) does any man of reason think he can fight against God and win?  How does one fight against God and win?  A sane man reasoning correctly sees there is only one course of action to pursue--a willing submission to the power that is, to the “rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2 NKJV) as the Psalmist puts it. 

Yet, people seemingly do not see that.  Why?  Could it be because they have not yet come to themselves as the prodigal son did?  The life of Jesus offers many examples of people that you and I looking back on cannot understand.  Their actions were unreasonable in light of the things they saw and experienced with Jesus.  They appear to have lost all reason and common sense.  Miracle after miracle, miracles that cannot be denied, are performed before their very eyes and yet they cannot or do not believe.  Jesus raises Lazarus from the tomb, from death to life, after he has been dead four days (John 11:39).  How is that possible? 

When he performs all these miracles it is obvious God is with him.  Nicodemus says, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2 NKJV)  After Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do?  For this man works many signs.” (John 11:47 NKJV)  Yes, he raises a man from the dead and you think he is not from God, you think he needs to be crucified?  Is this kind of thinking sane?  Is it reasonable?  Nicodemus could see the truth but the Pharisees either did not, could not, or would not but as the case may be there was only one reason for that --  sin.  Sin changes a man to the point he does not reason correctly.

Not long ago I learned of a Christian man, extremely well thought of and liked, faithful by every measurement apparent to an observer, married for 39 years, who announces to his fellow Christians he is leaving his wife, divorcing her to marry a divorced Christian woman in the same congregation.  They had been secretly dating for about a year unknown to anyone.  Is this sanity?  Is it Christian?  Does it lead to heaven or hell?  The wife had no idea so I am told.  Here are a couple of prodigals that need to “come to themselves.” 

We all know what a godly man David was.  I probably enjoy reading the Psalms as much as any book in the Bible.  They reveal the heart of David at his best.  Yet, perhaps no one is a better example to us of how sin changes a person.  I refer to his encounter with Bathsheba, the adultery, the murder of her husband, and the intent to do nothing about it other than hide the facts as best as he could.  David was a prodigal who “came to himself” with the help of Nathan the prophet of God. 

I think one can see both in the life of the prodigal son and the life of David that it often takes the course of events to bring a man to himself.  We know the poverty and want the prodigal son fell into and we know that Nathan the prophet confronted David to his face.  Sin gets such a grip on a man or woman it often takes some kind of outside force to get a man to see his situation and repent and turn away from it.

I once read a sermon where a preacher shocked me as he recalled an encounter that he had as a college professor in a Bible college with a young man who was either an atheist or maybe just rebellious against the faith.  I do not remember that detail but the young man was not about to be a faithful child of God, totally against it.  Here is a paraphrase of what the preacher/Bible professor told him.  He says words to the effect I will pray for you that such events (meaning negative things) will come into your life that will open your eyes and heart.  I have thought about that statement for years.  It was a prayer for adversity.

I have come to believe the Bible professor was right in making a statement of that kind and offering that kind of prayer.  No, he was not praying for the young man to be in a car wreck and paralyzed for life but only a prayer that enough adversity come into his life to get his eyes opened.  No man can come to God who does not first repent.  Those least likely to repent are those whose lives seem to be nothing other than one winning hand after another (a worldly phrase that is applicable here).

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” (1 Cor. 1:26 NKJV)  All men are called by the gospel so what does this verse mean?  It means that those who are living this kind of life where everything is seemingly going right and nothing going wrong, a life they can brag about for its worldly success, are seldom going to repent and answer the gospel call.  It often takes some real adversity in life to see a need for God.

A man must feel a need for God before he will seek God and salvation.  The prodigal was forced into a situation where his need became overwhelming.  David was confronted with a prophet sent from God.  David did not doubt that. 

What is wrong with today’s preaching--that is a large percentage of it?  It fails at this very point where there is an unwillingness to confront people with the problem of sin in their lives.  Sin has disappeared from the American vocabulary.  How are people ever going to come to themselves if the whole world seems to be condoning their sin?  How do you sin when there is no such thing as sin such as has come to be the standard of thought in America today?

There was a time in my life (I am 62) where if a couple moved in together not being married it was looked down upon by just about the whole community.  I now know of those who not only move in together, but buy a house, and have children and it is thought to be a wonderful thing even though they remain unmarried.  There is celebration rather than embarrassment, joy rather than sorrow.

Do you think the couple I mentioned above where the man is leaving his wife of 39 years will have a problem finding a place to worship?  I hope you are not that naïve.  It ought to be that way until repentance takes place which means you quit the sin you are committing (you can live in adultery--see Col. 3:5-7).  It ought to be but it won’t be.  Some religious body will welcome them in and rejoice that they have such a loving couple with them now--a couple that wants to be affiliated with them.  Many churches no longer worry about sin in their presence.  (Since writing this article this has now come to pass, the couple are members in good standing with their membership in another congregation despite practicing adultery.)

The words of Isaiah which Jesus said were fulfilled in Matt. 13:14-15 seem applicable in many ways yet today.  “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them.” (NKJV)

Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (Matt. 3:19-20 NKJV)

People can be “slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:17 NKJV).  Some seem to think they can change their life on a moment’s notice, repent any time they want to.  Do you ever notice how it is they never seem to want to?  It is not that easy to do.  It is not easy to do as the prodigal son did and come to yourself.  It is hard to get the want to as long as life is going along pleasingly and pleasantly.

However, God did not make us to be the worst we can be but the best.  Deep down inside I think we all want to be good, do we not?  It is possible.  We can repent.  Like the prodigal son and David, we can face up to facts about ourselves and repent.

The real shame is not in being a prodigal “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV)  I am not saying there is glory in being a prodigal but only that is where we all either are now or once were.  But the real shame of it all, the deep everlasting shame is in not going home.  The prodigal went home.  That is where he belonged.  That is where you belong when you are at the best you can be, at home with God.  When he came to himself the prodigal son went home.  If you are living in sin when are you going home?

The world may overlook sin and remove it from the American vocabulary but it is not going anywhere with God.  He knows where it is and who is holding onto it, who will not repent, who is living in sin even while the whole world thinks nothing of it.  That being the case we can only pray that men might come to themselves, casting off the blinders from their eyes, that they might see the reality of the self they have become instead of the person God made them to be.

We would have no one to despair, upon coming to such a realization about himself, thinking all is lost; God has given up on me and will never have me.  As the old hymn goes God is calling the prodigal son, come without delay.  The prodigal can go home if he will.  God awaits him there.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  (Matt. 11:28 NKJV)

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(While this was posted under today's date it was originally written approximately 15 years ago.)