The Hypocrisy of all "Whatabouts".

Your word, O God, I love to read, or hear the Bible read to me. Earth's greatest privilege, indeed, to have the book declared to me. The word is like a fire to melt my heart so cold and make me groan. Its power is like a hammer felt and breaks this stubborn heart of stone. God speaks again, his word reveals the substitute for sinners slain. Forgiveness by his blood, it tells a balm to heal my heart's great pain.

Spirit of God, my teacher be, give eyes of faith always to see the Word's great truth and mystery in every line show Christ to me. Dear Lord, my thanks I give to you for your inspired and holy word. My reverence and allegiance to it claims the mighty word of God. Thank you, Tom.

I want to welcome Selenia, Henry Avalos' wife. There you are. She just moved up here from Dominican Republic. And we're happy you're here, Selenia. I look forward to meeting you after the service this morning. Also, Summer, Jack Bond's daughter, Summer Bond, has had difficulties in being able to come to services, and we're so, she watches all of our services, and just want to say, Summer, it's good to have you here. Let's turn in our Bibles together to the book of John. John. Chapter 12. John chapter 12. Lazarus has been raised from the dead.

And the scripture tells us that the Jews have plotted their intent to have the Lord crucified, lest all men believe on him, and they lose both their place and their nation. That's what they said in chapter 11. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, got together and said, we cannot allow this man to remain. If we do, the Romans are going to come. They're going to take away our authority. and they're going to take away our followers and we'll be left without power.

In John chapter 12, six days before the Passover, when the Lord would go to that cross, not because they plotted his crucifixion, but because the Lord God had purposed it. And this was the whole purpose of his life. This is the whole purpose of history, the sacrifice that Christ would make of himself on Calvary's cross to atone for the sins of his people, to satisfy God's justice, and to establish a righteousness for his church. This was what everything is about. So six days before that day, before the Passover came, the Lord was in Bethany.

That's where Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary, lived. This is Lazarus, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. What a beautiful picture of the new birth, the resurrection of Lazarus was. His body had been in the grave four days, was decomposing. Martha objected, saying, Lord, it stinks. We're going to shame opening the tomb would be shameful. The Lord spoke his name. Lazarus, come forth. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. He calls each of us by name and gives us life.

Verse two, and there they made a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Now the story is going to go on to say that many of those that were there were there not because they were wanting to be around the Lord, but because they wanted to see Lazarus. Here's a man that was dead and now is sitting and eating.

And Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odor. A picture of the gospel being preached and how the sweet smell of sweet aroma of God's grace fills the house. And how, like Mary, his worshipers set aside their glory, that was the hair, Mary's hair is a picture of her glory, setting aside her glory and washing the feet, shedding her tears on the feet of the Lord Jesus.

And here's the point I want us to get to. Verse 4, then said one of his disciples, Jesus Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. This is Simon. This is Judas Iscariot, the one who will go to the Jews and tell them where the Lord is in the garden and sell him, betray him for the price of a slave, 30 pieces of silver. And Judas objects to what Mary did.

Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was therein. Then Jesus said, let her alone. Against the day of my burial has she done this." I've titled this message, The Hypocrisy of All Whatabouts. Judas is objecting to what Mary did. She's objecting to Christ being glorified six days before his crucifixion, being anointed as the Messiah. And he's pretending to be concerned for the poor. And he's saying that this extravagant gift that Mary has given was a waste, we could have sold the ointment and used it to care for the poor. This he said, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a keeper of the bag and wanted the money for himself.

What hypocrisy. What hypocrisy. And yet all objections to the gospel, all objections to the gospel are rooted in hypocrisy. Now, as I mentioned that word, and we're gonna hear it said several times in the course of this message, a hypocrite. That word is actually the same exact word that the Greeks who perfected the play, stage play, would use to describe an actor. They called them hypocrites. And many of the actors in the old Greek plays would wear a mask and would pretend to be someone that they weren't. And that word was the word hypocrite. He's an actor. He's pretending to be somebody that he's not.

Now, the Lord tells us that our hearts are deceitful, and our hearts are desperately wicked, and that a man who follows his own heart is a fool. And that we have to reject the thoughts and the intents of our hearts when they are in contrast with what God's heart is. And there is often conflict between what God says and what we are by nature. We each know our own hearts.

I heard a preacher say one time, if you knew my heart, you would have no confidence in me and you wouldn't come to listen to what I say. And I can say to that, amen. I feel most like a hypocrite when I stand behind this pulpit and try to preach the gospel. But then that preacher went on to say, if I knew your hearts, I wouldn't waste my time.

Isn't that so true? There is an element of hypocrisy in every one of us. And a man who says, well, I just speak my mind. Well, that's a fool that speaks his mind. Have a filter between what you think and what you say. That's a good thing. I don't want to know what's in your heart. And I don't want to hear your words. Choose your words carefully and wisely when you speak. And don't take pride in the fact that you're just spewing out the wretchedness of your mind and thought and heart. We can't do that, can we? Why? Because there's an element of hypocrisy in every one of us. The hypocrisy that I want us to focus on here is the ability of a man to stand in the presence of God Almighty and be a hypocrite. That's what Judas was doing. That was the Lord Jesus. That was the second person of the triune Godhead. That was the holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, Son of God, sitting there.

And Mary was anointing him for his burial. He wouldn't be anointed when he died on the cross, because it was at the very end of the day, and they had to rush his body to the tomb to get it in before the sun set. And the women, you remember, went back on Sunday morning to anoint the body. This Mary wasn't with him. The other women that went back to anoint the body on resurrection morning were all other than Mary, the mother of Martha, the sister of Martha, because this Mary had already done what she intended to do. She believed that the Lord would raise from the dead.

And here, Judas, an unbeliever, The son of perdition, as the Lord describes him. A rejecter of the gospel and of Christ. One who was protecting his own investment and his own interest to the expense of the glory of Christ. And that's what we're talking about here. And that is the hypocrisy of all whatabouts. Anyone who hears the gospel of God's free grace in the finished work and glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ and responds to it with, yeah, but, and they come up with a whatabout, are doing exactly what Judas did. They're doing exactly what Judas did. They are playing the hypocrite. in the very face of God Almighty in order to protect their own interest and their own investment.

Spiritual hypocrisy. Now we want to be honest people. We don't want to be person that's unfaithful and unreliable and not true to their word, and a person that goes around wearing a mask and being a hypocrite. We want to be honest, sincere, loving one another, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. And sinful hypocrisy is when men look down their self-righteous nose and hold others to a higher standard than they would hold themselves to. What an evil that is.

The Lord tells us in Romans chapter 2, verse 1. Romans chapter 1, Paul's writing to the church in Rome, which would have been made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. And the Jews would have read chapter one with some gratification because the Lord in Romans chapter one is exposing the evils of the Gentile world. Those who have not the law of God, those who are living freely without restraint, according to the passions of their own flesh.

And Romans chapter one is that chapter where the Lord says he's given them over to reprobate mind. He'd let them indulge in these things and do whatever they want to do to please themselves. And the Jews who always had the law of God would be hearing these things. And if they didn't say it, they might think it. Yeah, that's the way the Gentiles are.

And then the Holy Spirit directs the pen of the Apostle Paul to say, in chapter 2, verse 1, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judges another. For you, the judges, are guilty of the very same thing. And then in chapter 2, he turns his attention to the Jews who, yes, have the law, but are just as sinful as the Gentiles. That's what the Lord meant when he said, judge not that you be not judged.

We're to make righteous judgments. We're to judge and discern the difference between that which is true and that which is error, that which is holy and that which is profane, that which is right and that which is wrong. We don't listen to lies about God and say, well, you know, we've got to give them. No, we, you know, it's, I was thinking how the Lord said that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God. One of the things that's highly esteemed among men is being tolerant and open-minded. And we ought to be tolerant and open-minded in most every way toward people.

We don't go around Cracking the whip of the law, looking down our self-righteous nose, holding people in judgment to standards higher than we would hold ourselves. But I'm here to tell you, I'm not tolerant. And I'm closed-minded. I mean, my mind is a steel trap when it comes to the things of God. When it comes to what God has spoken and what God has revealed and what God has taught me, You can't teach me out of it. I don't care what you think or what you believe. I've been taught of God.

And I'd make no apology of being closed-minded when it comes to the gospel. And I'd make no apology of being intolerant when it comes to compromising the truth of the gospel or putting a little leaven in the lump, because I know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. We are to be at peace with all men whenever possible, but it's not possible when it comes to seeking some common ground or seeking some compromise concerning the gospel. This hypocrisy that we all are pruned to, started with Adam in the garden, didn't it?

I think the modern day term for it is projection or transference. Isn't that what we hear the psychologists tell us? Well, they're projecting off on someone else that which they're guilty of. Or they're transferring their guilt to someone else. We hear it, we see it all the time.

God's word for it is hypocrisy. It's just hypocrisy, but it started all the way back in the garden. When Adam heard the voice of God in the garden and he was afraid and he hid himself for he was naked and God said, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of the fruit that I told you not to eat of? And Adam, projection, transference, hypocrisy. Points his finger away from himself and says, the woman that you gave me, she did give me an idea that I had to eat it. Blaming his wife, but really, in fact, blaming God. Blaming God. The woman you gave me. She's at fault, not me. Not me. May the Lord spare us from such hypocrisy.

The Lord in Matthew chapter seven said, why do you seek to pluck the moat? And that word moat is the word chaff, a little dry piece of straw. Why do you seek to pluck the moat out of your brother's eye when you have a beam? And that word for beam is the word pillar. a huge pillar holding up a building. Why would you seek to pluck the speck of dust out of your brother's eye when you've got a pillar in your own eye? Remove first the pillar from your own eye, and then you'll be able to help your brother. But that, you know, the blame game and the hypocritical spirit goes way, way back, doesn't it?

May the Lord enable us to be honest about ourselves and to not hold others to a higher standard than we would hold ourselves or want others to hold us. If the Lord is pleased to show us something of our sinfulness, we'll not be that way. Now, all of that being said, I want to get to my point. And that point is being a hypocrite in the presence of God Almighty for the purpose of protecting your own investment. And I'd like to ask you to turn with me to the book of Job, Job chapter 27. Job chapter 27.

Now, Job's friends, he calls them miserable comforters, they kept saying to Job, Job, we know that you would not be going through what you're going through, that God would not have allowed this to happen unto you unless You had some secret sin, some evil that you were practicing in your life, a double life that you haven't come clean with on.

And if you'll just come clean, if you'll quit being a hypocrite and admit your sin, then maybe God's hand of judgment will come off of you. Now, as we're going to see, that wasn't true of Job. Job was not being a hypocrite in that he was living a double life. Job was not being a hypocrite in that he had something, some evil thing going on in his life that God was punishing him for. But Job, in response to the accusations that are being made against him to his friends, says this in Job chapter 27.

Verse six, my righteousness I hold fast and I will not let it go. My heart shall not reprove me so long as I live. I know that I'm innocent of what you're accusing me of. And what you're accusing me of is no explanation for why what's happening to me. Job was not being a hypocrite in regards to what, how he was living his outward life.

But something changes in Job's heart, because he's going to find himself under the sound of the gospel, which is where we are right now. And a man by the name of Elihu is going to preach the gospel to him. And if you'll turn over just a few pages to Job chapter 35, you'll see what Elihu says about Job, and we'll begin reading in verse 1. Elihu spake moreover and said, thinkest thou this to be right, that thou should sayest my righteousness is more than God's? Now in Job defending his own righteousness, he finds himself not a hypocrite in the presence of his friends as they were accusing him, but he finds himself under the voice of this gospel preacher being a hypocrite in the presence of God. What's Elihu saying, Job?

Your insistence in defending your righteousness is nothing less than accusing God of wrongdoing. Are you going to insist to that? For thou saidest, what advantage will it be unto thee and what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin? I will answer thee and thy companions with thee. In other words, if this is what I'm gonna suffer, why am I trying to live a right life?

And Elihu's gonna tell me the answer to that question. Verse 5, and he's speaking not only to Job, but to his three miserable comforters, his three friends. He's speaking to all of them who were justifying themselves to God. They were playing the hypocrite. They were saying with Judas, what about in the very presence of God? And so Elihu says, to Job and his friends, look unto the heavens and see, and behold the clouds which are higher than you.

I mentioned this last Sunday, the Bible speaks to the first, second, and third heaven. First heaven is the atmosphere around the world. The second heaven is the universe that God created that we observe. And the stronger our telescopes get, the bigger the universe gets. The third heaven where Paul said he heard words that were unlawful for a man to utter. He saw things he couldn't communicate in any language. That's eternity. That's where God is.

And so what Elihu's saying is, you don't have to look into the universe. You don't have to look into the galaxies. You don't have to look into the third heaven. Just look to the clouds. Just look at that which your natural eye can see. And you'll get just a little smidgen of how God reigns over you. Just look to the heavens and see, and behold the clouds which are higher than you. If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him? Look to heaven. There is a God who is in no way diminished or lessened by your sin. He's complete in himself. Your sin may hurt you. Well, let's read the rest of it. Or if thy trespasses be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? What have you done to damage God? What have you done to injure God? God doesn't need you. You haven't hurt God.

And if you be righteous, God is rebuking Job for this thought. that I'm not worthy of these things. This is not right. Job has this works mentality. If I do good, God will bless me. If I do evil, God will judge me. And Job's friends were saying the same thing. And Job's saying, this doesn't make sense to me because I know that I live my life like I should live it. I've done right. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I try to live an honest, moral life. And yet, look what's happened to me. It doesn't seem fair. And Job is saying to God, what about? Job is trying to obligate God with his good life. Job is doing in a sense what Judas did He's accusing God of wrongdoing. He's playing the hypocrite to protect his own investment.

And if thou be righteous, what givest thou unto him? What receiveth he of thy hand? Job, if you do right, have you Have you given God something that's going to, that's going to force Him to reward you for it? Have you added anything to God? Now does this mean that the way we live should not have any, that doing right or wrong should not have any bearing on how we live? Absolutely not. Look at the next verse. Thy wickedness may hurt a man, as thou art, and thy righteousness may profit the Son of man. And oh, how it does. Oh, how it does. How our sin impacts others. And how If we do something good, it's a blessing to others. And what is Elihu, this gospel preacher, saying?

Job, you can't add to God and you can't take away from God. God doesn't owe you anything. God's not obligated by you. And God's not hurt by you. He's God. Look up into the clouds. That's who he is. You're completely dependent upon him. But that's our thought about God, isn't it? If we would think that somehow we could help God out or add to God. Job's gonna find himself, after hearing the gospel, in the presence of God Almighty. He's gonna find himself under the sound of the voice of God himself.

And God's gonna say to Job, who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself, Job, like a man, and I'll ask you a few things. And God begins to reveal himself to Job, and Job confesses his hypocrisy. He wasn't a hypocrite in the sense that his friends were accusing him of being a hypocrite, living a double life. But he was a hypocrite in the sense that he was accusing God of wrongdoing. And the first words out of Job's mouth are, behold, I see now that I am vile. I spoke of things I didn't know of.

Isaiah, rightly so, in the first five chapters of Isaiah, is faithful to deliver the message that God gave him to the children of Israel. And six times in the first five chapters, that's the number of man, Isaiah says, woe is you. And he pronounces judgment. against the disobedience, the wickedness, the unbelief of the children of Israel.

And then Isaiah chapter six, in the year that King Uzziah died, I also, also saw the Lord. And he was high and lifted up. And his train filled the temple, and the seraphim hovered over his throne, and they cried, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. All of heaven and all of earth is filled with his glory. What was the first words out of Isaiah's mouth? Not woe unto you, like he said six times, but the seventh time, woe is me. Woe is me. I'm undone.

All the what about objections to the gospel are nothing more than nothing less than hypocrites who are bold enough and foolish enough to stand in the presence of a holy God and accuse him of wrongdoing. Stand in the presence of a holy God and say, yeah, but what about?

What about my works? What about your works? You obligated God? Have you added anything to God? Well, what about what this preacher says, or what about what this denomination says, or what about my deceased loved ones, that what about this and what about, what about it? What about it? What sayeth the scriptures? That settles all controversy. What does God say? And faith just bows to what God says. And all the, all the whatabouts. Pharisees in the temple, just like Judas.

God, I thank Thee that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not a thief. I tithe twice a week. I thank You especially I'm not like that publican over there. What about me? What about me? Don't I deserve something from You? The publican didn't have any whatabouts. He could not play the hypocrite in the presence of God. He was forced to not so much as even look up, smote himself upon the breast and said, God, have mercy upon me. Just have mercy upon me. I'm a sinner. I can't add to you. I can't take away from you. I can't obligate you. I'm a sinful man.

Turn with me to Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. Our Almighty Almighty, omnipotent, possesses all power. All power is being given unto me in heaven and earth. Therefore you go. He's immutable. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am the Lord. I change not. The only reason your sons of Jacob are not consumed is because I am faithful to my promises. I'm faithful to myself. Nothing has changed me.

He's sovereign. He does what he wants, when he wants, with whomever he wants, however he wants to do it. And because he did it, it's right. He's holy. He's completely other than we are. He is God. He sovereignly, according to his own will and his own Purpose. His own sovereign, holy, immutable purpose. Before man was ever created, chose a particular people. He elected. You hear people say, well, what about? Doesn't God love everybody? What about? God is God. What about you calling God into question? What about your whatabout saying with Judas? This could have been, yeah, well, that's fine, but what was Judas doing? He was protecting his own investment. He was protecting his own wealth.

And that's what all the hypocritical whatabouts do. Men are trying to protect what they think they have invested for the salvation of their souls. not knowing that the only thing that will put away their sin is what Mary was doing, anointing the Lord Jesus for his burial. That was the only hope that they had. Judas objecting, not because he cared for the poor, but because he held the bag. He had an investment. And every time you hear a what about to the sovereignty of God in salvation, to the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation, men are trying to protect their own investment. They're trying to protect their own interest. Yeah, but I decided, and I did this, and I did that.

No. Look to the heavens. Look to the heavens. You find yourself with nothing to offer. You'll find yourself completely naked before God. You can't accuse him, can't accuse the woman. Romans chapter nine, verse 13. As it is written, this is what God's word says. Jacob, I loved. Esau, I hated. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I thought God loved everybody, but that's not what God says. He loves righteousness. He hates iniquity. His eyes are too pure to look upon sin. He elected Jacob. He chose Jacob. But that's not fair.

What shall you say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? You're gonna stand in judgment of God? You're gonna say, well, wait a minute, God's gotta do it my way. You think that God is altogether such a one as yourself. He's not. He's God. For God said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that willeth, it's not a man's free will, nor is it of him that runneth. Job had been running all his life, thinking that God was being obligated to bless him, and not understanding the pain and sorrow that he was experiencing in life, because he thought, what about? What about?

It's of God that shewed mercy. Lord, I just need mercy. That publican, have mercy upon me. I'm the sinner. Which one went home justified? The sinner, the mercy beggar. He's the one who went home justified, not the one who argued with God or presented something to God or held to his own righteousness.

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. That great nation of Egypt, that great powerful King Pharaoh, that great army, God raised them up. God drowned them in the sea. Why? Well, he's going to tell us. Therefore, he have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Somebody's gonna say, well, what about? That's what the next verse says. You will say unto me, how can he find fault with me then?

How can God hold me responsible for my unbelief if my salvation is completely up to him? For who has resisted the will of God? If what you're saying is true, and God is God, then how can God hold me accountable for that? Nay, but, O man, who art thou to replyest against God? You see, that objection is nothing more than self-justification. God, this is your fault then. If I don't go to heaven, it's all God's fault. It's the woman that you gave me. I'm not responsible. God's responsible. Nay, but who art thou, O man, to reply us against God? Shall the thing form, say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?

Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel of honor and another to dishonor? What if God? The lump of humanity God makes one vessel of honor, another of dishonor. What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath, footed to destruction, that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had before prepared for glory, even us whom he hath called not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also.

We look at the unbelieving world. We look at our own hypocritical hearts and we cry, Lord, have mercy upon me, the sinner. Lord, don't leave me to myself. Lord, I can't do anything. I can't obligate you. I can't take anything away from you. Lord, I believe that salvation is of the Lord, and I've got to have Christ to save me. And he gets all the glory. He gets all the glory.

We don't look down our self-righteous nose at people who are doing things that we would not do and say, but for the grace of God, there go I. I suppose there is some truth in that statement, because if it wasn't for the grace of God, we would do those things. But we're so convicted by our own sin that we might look at somebody like that and say, well, they're just doing what comes natural to me.

My sin is in the face of love. My sin is against light. My sin is against the truth that God's revealed. And there's a very real sense in which my sin's worse than theirs. But we do look at the unbelieving world. regardless of their moral standing and habits and life, whether they be the most upright, moral person or the most degenerate, and we say because of their unbelief, but for the grace of God, there go I. If God did not have grace upon me, God, if you don't have mercy upon me, I won't believe. I won't believe. And I'll live my life in my proud, self-righteous arrogance, raising my fist to heaven, objecting to the gospel, doing what Judas did.

Yeah, but what about? What about? Tom, let's close the service. 23. 23? In the spiral hymnal, number 23. Let's stand together. Okay.

The Hypocrisy of all "Whatabouts".

Sermon Transcript

About Greg Elmquist

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Hypocrisy of all "Whatabouts".

Sermon Transcript

About Greg Elmquist

Comments

More from Greg Elmquist

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Greg Elmquist

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book