After Gurnall tells us what the belt of truth means
for us as believers, he goes on to instruct us that it can be damaged, sometimes,
beyond repair. And the culprit behind this is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is defined as: the practice of claiming to have moral
standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; one acting or pretending to hold certain
beliefs. Hypocrisy is always at odds
with truth, and a divided heart is the mark of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is very serious
in God's eyes and He will not tolerate it. And any hypocrisy that separates us
from the truth that is found in God's Word is found despicable in His eyes.
In this section, Gurnall is particularly hard on those
who are evangelists, preachers and others who hold a place of leadership within
the Church. They speak into people's lives, but not out of a heart of concern
and love, but from a heart of hypocrisy. They pretend to be concerned believers
but have selfish motives for all that they do.
Gurnall says of those who hold places of responsibility within the
Church but are hypocrites, people pretending to be something they are not, "
The abomination of hypocrisy lies in the fact that it walks around in spiritual
robes and claims a personal relationship with God...Woe to the man who
dishonors God under the name of honoring Him." Pray that if you are in a position of
leadership and influence that you are not found to be a hypocrite!
However, as the majority of those reading this blog
are not in those types of positions, we will look at how a believer needs to
carefully, and prayerfully, search their own hearts to see whether any
hypocrisy is to be found there. It is important to remember that while
we may fool other people into thinking we are one way, God is not fooled. God looks upon the heart, not the outward
appearance.
The best way to identify hypocrisy is to look at how
it conducts itself. For example, we are being hypocritical when during a
religious service by way of our behavior or words we try to look like we are
more earnest than those around us. Or
maybe we casually tell another how much we donated to the church as our desire
is to impress them. Or we yield to temptation that we can commit in secret,
thinking we are safe from sight. These
are just a few examples, but at the root of it all the hypocrite is driven by
selfish motives, the desire to build a reputation, and enjoy what this world
has to offer. While they profess to know God, by the way they talk and live,
they deny Him. They will be among the ones to which the Lord says, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
you that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:23).
Unfortunately a hypocrite does much more damage to the
Church than he does to himself. It is the accusers of Christianity who are
quick to point out a hypocrite within a church, and then reason that the whole
group of believers are just like him. What the hypocrite doesn't realize is the
damage he is doing is not only to himself and his local Church, but to God's
reputation and Honor, and God will not allow that. When we act the hypocrite,
we are mocking God, but God will not be mocked.
God will unmask those who are hypocrites in order to protect not only
His name, but also His children. There is no hiding from God when hypocrisy
lives in our hearts.
And, sadly, hypocrisy can reside in our hearts and we
may not even realize it. That is why it is so important that we pray and ask
the Holy Spirit to shine His light on any areas within us that are
hypocritical. Thankfully God does not
want us to retain any degree of hypocrisy, so in His mercy He has provided a
remedy. There is an antidote for hypocrisy, and that is sincerity. Sincerity is that quality of being free from
pretense or deceit. We are open to being known for who we truly are, as
humility and honesty are close friends with sincerity. And our motivation for
doing or saying something comes from a transparent heart. Gurnall tells us, "If you wonder whether
or not you are sincere, consider this: do you have a new heart? Has God ever cast you into His furnace? Has
His Word, like fire, taken hold on you and refined your impure spirit so the
unbelief, pride, and hypocrisy have been made visible and been separated like
dross from gold? Only then are you free to sever sin from your soul and confess
what a wretched person you have been, even though your spiritual condition
appeared attractive in man's eye."
A sincere heart is a simple heart. It has no
pretenses, and it takes keeping itself unblemished very seriously. Besides self
searching in a diligent way, the sincere heart, when confronted with clear
evidence, is ready to pronounce judgment upon itself. It forgets self-pity,
lets conscience have free rein, and will not be put off by sentiment. It knows the hypocrisy that has lived there
in the past and has determined that it will not live there again. It sets a
keen eye out for the slightest hint that hypocrisy is trying to return and
sends it swiftly on its way. It will not make excuses so that even a little
hypocrisy is allowed to make its home there again. A sincere heart is a heart
that is honest with itself about what evil it's capable of returning to, and
seeks God's help to keep it ruled by sincerity.
Walk by sincerity and you will surely guard your heart!
It is possible to be a genuinely sincere believer, but
the enemy may try to get us to question ourselves. If he does, remind him that
if there is any hypocrisy in you that your Heavenly Father loves you enough to
show it to you. And as Gurnall reminds us, "Do you think that if your
heart were really deceitful he would bother you like this? He never sends
troops into a territory unless an enemy is there to offend him. Hypocritical prayers do not
bother him any more than no prayer at all. And neither is he kind enough to
tell hypocrites about the insincerity in their hearts."
Know that if you truly desire to be rid of all
hypocrisy, then that itself is a good indicator that you are on the right path.
If you have prayed and examined your conscience and found hypocrisy to be
lurking there, take heart, as there is
an answer. God does not show us things
about ourselves only to leave us to our own devices. This isn't something that can be dealt with at
a later time, or in a lighter manner other than driving a nail straight into
its heart. "Hypocrisy seems like a minor eruption on the surface but is
one of the hardest wounds to heal because it is hard to find the bottom of it.
Your will might promise never to lie or deceive again; but it is an easy thing
to be cheated by your intentions: 'He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool'
(Proverbs 28:26)," warns Gurnall. After all, hypocrisy is a very serious thing
indeed if it can damage our belt of truth and, as such, it needs to be dealt
with sternly if we are to vanquish it.
If you are sincere with God
in your request, He will grant it. Just as hypocrisy has the potential to
destroy a believer's walk, sincerity brings it strength. Our spirits are
strengthened and we are kept safe above all dangers. It is sincere faith which
is strong faith, sincere love which is the mighty love. Sincerity keeps our
soul pure in the face of temptation and lifts us out of sin. The sincere person
doesn't try to hide from God.
We need to come to terms with the fact that we don't
have the ability ourselves to remove deception without the help of The Great
Physican. Only God can cure sin, and if you admit you need His help, He is
quick to come to your side and help. If you are truly sincere in asking for
help, He won't turn you away. The singular thing to ask yourself is simply
this, what is your true motive? If it is to clear your conscience, then The
Great Physician has nothing to offer. But if it is to truly kill this enemy of
truth that resides within your heart, then God has all you need. We must
remember that it is God alone who holds us and gives us the strength to walk in
sincerity. It is His strength that helps us keep our belt of truth strong.
As was brought to our
attention at the very beginning of this blog, the armor is not something we
physically put on, it's something we inwardly become. I'm sure that by now you're beginning to
understand that by walking in sincerity to the best we can, and putting away
hypocrisy as soon as it shows itself in our lives, is how we acquire our belt
of truth.
In the next chapter, we will
look at the breastplate of righteousness, which needs to attach itself to the
belt of truth that we have, the truth that's guarding our minds and spirit
continually.
No comments:
Post a Comment