How to Practice Religion Without Being A Hypocrite

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>How to Practice Religion Without Being A Hypocrite</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id389.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Be (Super) Natural: Relationships"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id392.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Investing In Kingdom Currency"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"How To Practice Religion Without Being A Hypocrite" Matthew 6:1-18</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, June 29, 2003am</B></div> <bR> <div>      In May of 1996, Boston's new Transportation Commissioner was driven from office after revelations that he failed to tell City Hall about two recent parking tickets, including one for blocking a ramp for the handicapped while in town for his job interview. / The Commissioner, William Luster, resigned after only eight days on the job. Mr. Luster job as Commissioner put him in charge of traffic safety and parking, but he already had at least five speeding tickets and three accidents on his record before the latest violations. / In his resignation letter he said, 'I believe that my future effectiveness in the job has been damaged beyond repair,'. Mayor Thomas, who learned of his appointee's driving record only after Mr. Luster took office, had defended him until recently. In accepting the resignation, the Mayor said, 'It's about judgment. It's about being forthright. It's about credibility. This isn't a standard I want a department head to be.'" (AP May 11, 1996). You cannot be the transportation commissioner if you willfully and regularly break transportation laws you are supposed to enforce. That is being a hypocrite. Jesus dealt with religious hypocrites all the time.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. How to practice religion (live out your faith) without being a hypocrite.</B></div> <div> A. Principle: When you perform "acts of righteousness" (live out your faith) to please yourself or others, you cannot please God (<A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+6:1" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Matthew 6:1</U></A>).</div> <div>      A hypocrite is an "`actor,' one who performs in front of others, pretending to be something he or she is not" (TDNT). You are a hypocrite when your so-called principles change based on who you are with or what you will get.      Here, the issue of motivation. Are you seeking accolades from people or reward from God? Seeking rewards from God has to do with the desire to please him above all else. Being a Christian is not about impressing other Christians, or other non-Christians. The only person impressed by a hypocrite is the hypocrite himself. In <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:20" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Matthew 5:20</U></A>, Jesus was calling us to a different <I>kind</I> of righteousness, not more of the same, like the Pharisees. </div> <div> B. Three examples (<A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+6:2-18" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Matthew 6:2-18</U></A>):</div> <div> 1. Matthew 6:2-4: Giving to the needy. Be generous, but quietly, not looking for attention.</div> <div> 2. Matthew 6:5-15: Prayer. Pray, but quietly, not looking for attention.</div> <div> a. Vss. 5-8: Jesus discusses the manner of prayer.</div> <div> Vss. 7-8, They prayed, trying to use just the right words, just the right number of times, like a formula or a mantra. The issue in prayer is <I>faith</I>, not a formula. We pray recognizing God's holiness, we pray for his will to be done, we pray for our daily provisions, we pray for forgiveness of our sins, and we pray for deliverance from evil and temptation.</div> <div> b. Vss. 9-15: Jesus gives a model prayer.</div> <div> 3. Matthew 6:16-18: Fasting. Fasting is withholding from food or some kind of food for a period of time, to draw your attention and focus to God. It involves self-denial and self-discipline. Fast, but fast quietly, not looking for attention.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Do what is right (your obedience, your practice), from the heart (your motivation).</B></div> <div>      Jesus brings both together. Both <I>what you do</I> and <I>what is in your heart</I> matters to God. <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:17-48" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Matthew 5:17-48</U></A> dealt with sin and the heart (<I>sin begins in the heart</I>). Matthew 6:1-18 deals with righteousness and the heart (conversely, <I>righteousness also begins in the heart</I>). In both cases, it is "do the <B>right</B> thing, from the <B>heart</B>."</div> <div> 1. It is appropriate to do the right thing, whether you feel like or not. That is not hypocrisy ("if I do the right thing when I don't feel like it, I'm just being a hypocrite"). Don't use "anti-hypocrisy" thinking to justify wrong behavior. Don't assume that all rules and guidelines in the NT are optional (as though having any standard of behavior is legalistic).</div> <div> 2. We are to be accountable to one another for right behavior. <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Heb+10:24-25" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Hebrews 10:24-25</U></A> says that we are to keep meeting together and encouraging one another, spurring one another on to love and good deeds.</div> <div> 3. The opposite of hypocrisy is not perfection; the opposite is authenticity (being real). Admit your sins and mistakes and weaknesses. Don't kid yourself, because you won't be kidding others.</div> <div> 4. Doing the right thing will be evident to others, and God will get the glory (<A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:16" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Matt 5:16</U></A>). It is OK to be seen doing the right thing. It's not OK to do the right thing for the purpose of being seen.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2003, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>