Healed From Hypocrisy
Pastor Victor Massey
Part of Recovering from Church Hurt
April 14, 2024

• Recovering from Church Hurt – Week 2 •

Church Hurt:
Pain inflicted by a religious institution or by religious people.

Healed from Hypocrisy

- 1. The Heart of Hypocrisy

Matthew 15:7-8, NIV
You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Matthew 6:1-6, NRSV
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-18, NRSV
“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 23:5, NRSV
They do all their deeds to be seen by others.

Matthew 23:1-3, NRSV
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”

Matthew 23:27-28, NRSV
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

- 2. The History of Hypocrisy

Amos 5:21-24, NLT
“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn
assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”

Acts 4:36-37, NKJV
And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son
of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 5:1-6, NLT
But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

Acts 5:11, NLT
Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

1 Timothy 4:1-2, NLT
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.

- 3. The Hurt of Hypocrisy

• It Dishonors God.
• It Discredits the Church.
• It Disorients People.

- 4. The Healing for Hypocrisy

  • For Those Hurt by Hypocrisy:
    • Recalibrate your expectations.

- Psalm 103:14, NLT
For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.

- Acts 13:51-52, NKJV
But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. And the
disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

• Return to God’s calling for you.
For Those Guilty of Hypocrisy:

• Remember God Sees Everything.

- Hebrews 4:13, NLT
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his
eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

• Take off the Mask.

- James 5:16, NLT
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The
earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

• Refuse to Return to Hiding.

- Acts 2:44-46, NIV
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and
possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.