He also shall be my Salvation; for an hypocrite shall not come before Him. Job 13:16
Hypocrites take a lot of blame for turning people against God. We have all heard people say they don’t want to have anything to do with God or ‘religion’ because there are so many hypocrites in the churches. It’s true that many of the denominations, and even our Assemblies, have far too many hypocrites in them. There are so many people who pretend to be sweet and holy when they gather on a Sunday but who are vicious, cold, profane, and crooked the other six days of the week. There are always far too many hypocrites around us, that’s true. And sometimes, we can’t tell the difference. But don’t you think that God can always tell the difference?
Our text tells us that hypocrites have no standing before God. The seemingly pious bishop who helped negotiate compensation for victims of abuse was able to hide for years that his computer was filled with pornography and filth, but he was eventually caught. What about those others who have not been caught? They may never face justice here on earth, but there is a Judge Whose knowledge is perfect and Whose judgments are right. What about the pleasant-faced gentleman who collects funds to help supply his church’s soup kitchen but slips half of the collection into his own pocket? There are so many who are not what they seem to be when it comes to goodness and Godliness! Surely we are not among them!
If we examine ourselves carefully, we will see that we harbour little hypocricies in our own lives. We speak against those who have made grave mistakes without mentioning that we too have erred in the same way. We encourage generous donations to help Christians recover from natural disasters, but find ways to avoid contributing from our own pocketbooks. We misrepresent all sorts of things in our lives, to make other Christians think we are in better spiritual condition, more devoted to the work of the Gospel, more involved in Assembly activities, better prayer warriors, or otherwise doing better than we actually are. In many cases, the other Christians will never know any different. But God knows. And He has little room or time for hypocrites.
The God Who has given us His Salvation expects us to be as honest and as sincere as He is. Otherwise, we can’t come before Him. -Jim MacIntosh