Hypocrisy, Part 3 Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Hypocrisy, Part 3 ------------------- Date: 12/16/2001 Keyword: "hypocrisy" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Matthew 23:16-22* 16. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17. "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18. And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19. "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20. "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21. "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22. "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. Questions 1. When something doesn’t go your way, do you sometimes want to change the rules?   2. Have you "justified" your porn habit by saying that you are somehow exempt from a certain standard of behavior?   Practical help A good hypocrite can weasel out of feeling guilty. One way to do this is to create rules for yourself and others to live by. Then, when you are "successful" at living by our own "standards," you can then justify bending God’s rules. He’s too demanding, and it’s impossible to please Him anyway. Besides, you can always ask for forgiveness later, right? Jesus’ words to the scribes and Pharisees in this chapter should tell us what God thinks about living the life of hypocrisy. You are a fool and a blind guide for others. In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly." He goes on to say he is the Good Shepherd and then compares himself with a "hired hand." The hired hand looks like a true and good shepherd, but he’s a hypocrite. Jesus goes on to say, He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. — John 10:10b-15 You can live your own life and teach others your ways, but you will never love people the way Jesus calls you to until you are willing to lay down your life, your ambitions, and your addictions at the Good Shepherd’s feet. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2001 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission." -