HYPOCRISY: TEST YOURSELF WITH THESE

• Hypocrisy is a conduct either towards God or man. An hypocrite towards himself, however, is a strange being, too strange to have a definition of him here.

• Hypocrisy is the highest degree of any kind of pride, (for there are many kinds of it). If it were not so, you would not find Jesus calling snakes to suchlike people and call a prostitute “Woman”, even after prostitutes have gone out destroying people’s lives, being guilty of disrupting homes and morals through a practice God meant to be holy alone, I mean, sex.

• The opposite of hypocrisy is humility: to be known for what you are is the whole of humility. These humble see God.

• A hypocrite is a proud man, even if he resembles humility. Don’t, therefore, be driven to think as leads leads you to.

• A hypocrite talks about himself a lot so as to show what people can’t see for themselves. A humble man may talk about himself as well, but his motives are the glory of God and to hit a pin on the mountain rock of holiness he is climbing with a degree of difficulty – it encourages such as well as others to hit a pin at the right spot. Jesus said He was God and He was humble – it helped people to know who saves and who is the way for real.

• The degree of difficulty for a hypocrite to read the Bible will be the same as the one a Christian who is spotless and wishes to keep track when watching a worldly movie.

• To profess one is holy is not holiness; to say one is a sinner isn’t either saving nor condemning.

• Few holy people think not about sin digesting on holiness, just as few unholy ones do not fret or think on holy things digesting sin for their bellies in their daily walk. Unholy people think a lot on virtues living by sin. Holy people manage to live sticking by the opposite of it.

• A hypocrite always thinks a man or woman whose hearts deal honestly in conducting themselves to be the hypocrites there – and if he does not tell it openly, it is because he wants to gain from slumbering sheep. If you condemn any innocent man, you are a hypocrite, surely. Hence, some condemned people are real sheep. Just keep in mind, as well, that the world condemns his own as well, for jealousy, inner and perpetual state of bitterness, lack of knowledge and foolishness, easy talking, wanting to please whoever condemns for selfish reasons, not thinking as one speaks, laziness or haste to make sure of/about facts, denomination cravings, fear to acknowledge to be wrong or in the wrong church, belief or faith, cultural or national pride, clan cravings, family preservation, religiosity, greed, blindness, in fact, for many more reasons may the world point a finger to anyone – as long as it pushes accusations away from its own conscience or realm of consciousness.

• A hypocrite also thinks highly of himself and frets himself about the conduct of a man who preaches well being ungodly. He won’t uphold a man whose heart is upright though, unless such has something a hypocrite may gain from.

• If you believe a sinner is to be praised or in any way comforted on account of his sin or consequences of it so as to gain his trust towards Jesus, you are avoiding a sinner to realize truth and to accept God for what He is. That person will either reject you once his tears dry up, or he will learn to be as great a hypocrite as you have been yourself. “He that rebuketh a man afterward shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue” Prov.28:23. If you love people, choose to tell them the truth in a way that is void of bitterness and void of indirect words or links, but only of direct words and speech, even if it is truth concerning yourself (confession or so). If you don’t, you are a hypocrite by saying you love them for you might save them by sticking to truth of whatever kind. If you care for their souls, you will honour truth before any of them. The best way to be truthful is to be precise and short in a loving manner, without looking away from the eyes of any man when doing so. Angry people do that, I mean, they look straight into the eyes – why shouldn’t loving people be able to do the same the right way?

• If you preach prosperity linked to Jesus, if the thoughts and desires towards inner happiness are able to flood your mind when you pray, you are either mistaken, misled by demons or opinions, or you are just being hypocritical. Bow down and figure it out which of these you are guilty of in the light of God before you start living as if earth were heaven, working for all the treasures down here full time, even during prayer time. If salvation is not from sin or sinning, then there is no good news in the gospel at all; we could just as well have stayed with the law – at least it would deal against sinning in some degree.

• There will be no end to descriptions of hypocritical situations, for there is no end of the virtues found in God to live by – and for every virtue hypocrisy has a resemblance.

• Only a hypocrite does not see another being hypocritical. Nevertheless, I believe all hypocrites are too aware of such as are like them, for they mingle in easily. They just don’t acknowledge it for obvious reasons.

• Hypocrisy is a state of heart and not a good or bad conduct. If Rahab could lie in the primordials of salvation being credited righteousness unto because she was able to believe the right people, (I mean that only truthful people believe truthful things as she did), how can we believe a hypocrite cannot do good works that will surpass those Christians may do? Every hypocrite will have the strength to do better out of jealousy, conscience drive, or because of being bored or in difficulty to know what God’s will is, differing only in the motivation and power Godly people may decide to do something by.

• If you are able to tell people they have been forgiven without God having done so for real, you must be double hearted yourself. In fact, I doubt it that any person who has been fully forgiven will need to be told about it – he will if there is still one sin from the past, present, in his mind or in future aspiration and expectation in his life still to be confessed or forsaken. You may not pronounce forgiveness by lying nor by convincing such who still doubt, especially if their conscience does not allow them to believe, if faith is blocked and unattainable. Unbelief is the symptom/consequence of any hidden sin. You may take it for granted that they doubt because they can’t believe (Jesus said, “IF you CAN believe” Mk 9:23). It is impossible to stay unbelieving for long near a living God. If they don’t believe, they are either stubborn or God is away for real, (Is.59:1,2). Don’t seek to convince - rather achieve submission to God, even if you have to mention sin. The heart of man is a paradox: it may cry for some heavy unfulfilled selfishness saying it is crying because of sin.

• If you feel bad about people it does not mean you are unloving, in fact, if you feel good about many of them all, it means you are being a hypocrite of some kind. Have in mind, though, that you may also feel either good or bad towards any of them due to yourself and not because of the discernment you may have which easily judges between good and evil situations of any kind.

• If you are able to confess a sin yet you are not able to confess it to one another - among brothers and sisters, or to such you have wronged in any degree whatsoever (even if it was gossip) - or at least have the disposition to do so, it means you are not as you are in front of people. Whatever you are, even if you are the holiest person on earth, you may not hide, not even your light – how much less your sin; in fact, nothing of what you are should be hidden to anyone, nor should you even need to go out to proclaim it: it should be as visible by itself as a city on a mountain. Nevertheless, try to deal with open confession of any kind of sin as you would towards any good deed which glorifies God. 

• If you praise God having one single unconfessed sin hidden in the remotest place of any dark spot of your whole heart, you surely fall into this category of a hypocrite, because there is none hearing your praise and you are talking alone believing wholeheartedly there is nothing better you can do towards God (for any sin separates from God, Is.591,2). Is there anything better to offer God than a heart search, I mean, a genuine one in the light of God and not where you can keep it from the sight of any? Praise can be as much of a covering of sin as good works may be.

• If you don’t accept the fact that God can forgive you for what you are, you will always have a double standard of mixed feelings for and against God due to the love towards self you may still be able to breed. It makes you a hypocrite, therefore, to force yourself either into praise or into bad feelings against God – one or the other – for not all in you thinks bad about God nor does all of it think God as He really is. Your heart is a stone mill: you put stones there it grinds it, if you put corn, it grinds it, if you put corn mixed with stones, it grinds it as well.

• An hypocrite is someone who says "God is wonderful" without having seen or experienced His wonders; or says God is good without having experienced His goodness; or that God is wise and does not walk according to His wisdom and law. There are many forms of hypocrisy you should be aware about.

• If you want to go out and accuse yourself merely, it means you want and wish deeply to carry on as a hypocrite, for accusations are a form of self defence, just as much as praising yourself inwardly would be. To wish you were not as you are, or avoid it due to accusations of any kind, is not accepting God can forgive you for what you are and grant you your place in the sheepfold somehow. Don't run away from conviction because the devil uses it to accuse (for where there is white there will be black, and where conviction is, accusations will also show up somehow. Make sure you distinguish between them, rather than  to throw both of them away from you). You accuse because you love yourself, whether you accuse others or  your own self. God did not excuse Joshua, but rather said he was dirty and needed new clothes to wear, Zec.3:3. To disdain or duck away from conviction because the devil and you accuse your soul at the time conviction is working in you, is a sure way to make a hypocrite out of you, for you will believe in God and your garments have not been changed to white ones at all. "Blessed are those who wash their garments in the blood of the Lamb (still)" - even if they are accused.

José Mateus