The Lord was specifically speaking
to his disciples, and he does not say, beware of those hypocrites
out there. He says, you beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees' hypocrisy. You beware of this leaven spreading
in your heart. Now, interestingly, in Matthew's
account, The Lord calls the leaven of the Pharisees, he calls it
their doctrine. In Luke's account, he calls it
hypocrisy, and in Matthew's account, he calls it their doctrine. Now,
the Pharisee is the religion of the natural man. It's not
somebody that just lived way back then. It means separated
one, and the Pharisee believes there's something that he has
done that separates him from other men. the Pharisee in the
temple, you'll remember, God, I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. And he was comparing himself
to other men. He said, I come out on top. Now,
even when he said that, he was practicing hypocrisy because
everything that he said that he didn't do, he did do. There's
no question in my mind about that. The religion of the Pharisee,
hypocrisy, the doctrine of the Pharisee is hypocrisy. Now before we go on, what is
a hypocrite? Well back then they called the
movie stars hypocrites. It's an actor. That's all it
is. It's an actor. It's someone who puts on an act.
It's someone who puts on a front and presents themselves to be
what they really are not. And who in this room has not
been guilty of that? I've got a standard response
and I've heard this many times from people, well I don't go
to the church because there's so many hypocrites there. You'd
fit right in. You'd feel very comfortable there.
You'd be one of them. Now you know that's so. There
is only one man who never practiced hypocrisy. The Lord Jesus Christ never did
this glorious God-man ever practice hypocrisy. Doesn't that make
you admire him? Oh, we admire the character of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I love his holiness. I love his
humility. I love the fact that he never
practiced hypocrisy. I love his love to sinners. I
love his hardness toward Pharisees. Everything about him we love,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ. He never practiced hypocrisy. Now, as I said, hypocrisy is
acting. It is pretense. It is deceit. It is affectation. It is false
virtue. It is posturing. It is spaciousness. It is empty talk. It is insincerity. It's falseness. It's duplicity. It's dishonesty. It is claiming to have something
that my behavior in reality denies. Hypocrisy. Now why does the Lord call the
doctrine of the Pharisees hypocrisy? Because every bit of it is based
on lies. Every bit of it. I love thinking
about what we were talking about this morning when the veil in
the temple was rent, entwined from the top to the bottom. But
you know what was behind that veil? Nothing. There wasn't an
Ark of the Covenant. It had been gone for hundreds
of years. All that they were doing was phony. It was put on. It was makeup. It was hypocrisy. That is the religion of the natural
man. Hypocrisy. Pretending. Trying to present yourself in
a certain way. Now, the reason the doctrine
is hypocrisy is because it's always based on lies. It makes
God smaller than He really is. It makes man bigger than he really
is. And it makes salvation less than
it really is. And when the Lord speaks of the
leaven of the Pharisees, he calls it hypocrisy. And he tells us, beware. Beware, you and I can be carried
away with this so easily. Now I can show you where Peter
was carried away with hypocrisy in Galatians chapter 2. He was
an apostle. And Barnabas also, the scripture
says, was carried away with his dissimulation. Now this is an
apostle who at that time was carried away with hypocrisy. We're going to look at that.
later on. The hypocrite is not honest with
scripture and he's not honest about himself. And let me tell
you who the biggest hypocrite is. The biggest hypocrite of
all is the one who claims he's not one. I'm no hypocrite. You're the
biggest one of the bunch. Your acting has become so adept
that you fooled yourself. You actually don't realize what
you are. Man, you've done a good job of
acting if you can do that and make yourself think that that's
not what I'm guilty of. Turn with me to Psalm 32 for
a moment. We looked at this last week. Verse one. Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
man under whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit. There is no guile, no deceit,
no acting, no hypocrisy. Now how could that be? How could
someone have a spirit like that? Now, that's talking about, all
that can be talking about is the new man. the new heart, the
pure heart, the honest and good heart, as our Lord calls it in
the parable of the sower. It's the heart given in regeneration. It's that clean heart. Now, if
you look at David, I can give you all kinds of examples of
David practicing hypocrisy. David was a hypocrite. And you
look at all those examples of David's hypocrisy. We considered
that last, when he saw, he said, get that fella that took that
man's lamb and kill him, put him to death, get him and kill
him. He didn't realize he was the man. He was practicing hypocrisy
at that time. He went and joined himself up
with the king of Gath in order to save his own skin and acted
like he was serving the king of Gath. He was practicing hypocrisy
at that time. David, the man after God's own
heart and oh how we love and admire David. When I'm saying
this about David, I'm speaking of one that I know I don't deserve
to tie shoes in any respect. But yet David was guilty of this
as every man has been guilty of this. Abraham was guilty of
this in Genesis chapter 20 when he said you to the king of Achish
or whatever his name was, he said to Sarah, he said you tell
her you're my sister and not my wife because it'll get me
in trouble if he finds out that you're my wife or they'll kill
me. And so he allowed his wife to go into the King's harem. He was practicing hypocrisy.
We could go example after example after example through the scriptures
of men practicing hypocrisy. And yet David says, blessed is
that man in whose spirit there is no guile. No deceit. No hypocrisy. And that's talking
about the new man. Now, the new man is honest before
God. He doesn't come in pretense into
God's presence. He comes one way. He comes owning
his sin. You see, it's the new man that
owns the sin of the old man. And he comes into God's presence
owning his sin. He doesn't come any other way
than that of a sinner. I love what Barnard used to say,
honest people don't go to hell. And they don't! Anyone that comes
into God's presence in honesty as a sinner needing mercy. And
that's what that spirit that has no guile. You know, a natural
man doesn't have a spirit. He's got a body. He's got a soul.
But the spirit given in regeneration, that new man, that new spirit,
it has no guile. It has no deceit. And it's only
the honest man that sees his need of grace. He's honest about
his, quote, total depravity, and he sees his need of God's
grace to save him. That's the only hope he has. Now that's what honesty is. The
closest you and I are ever going to come to honesty is when we
come into God's presence as sinners absolutely needing His sovereign
grace. Don't you know that's so? You
know it's so. Now, there are hundreds of examples
in the Bible where people practiced hypocrisy, where the word hypocrite
is not used, so I'm going to avoid those. I'm only going to
be looking at the places in the scripture where hypocrisy is
actually warned against. But I'd like to say something
first. Some people, under the guise
of being truthful and non-hypocritical, they say what they think. I'm
just going to be honest. I'm just going to be honest.
I'm going to tell the truth. Truth without love is brutality
and cruelty. If you're just going to be honest
and tell the truth, what you mean by that is I'm going to
be a jerk. That's exactly what that means. without truth is hypocrisy. Now quite often it's better to
act what you do not feel. When you come into this place
to hear the gospel, don't come in acting sour, acting mad, acting
upset, acting distant because somebody, and I've seen it happen
so many times, somebody is going to take from that, they're mad
at me. I've offended them. And they're not going to hear
the rest of the message because they're wondering, what did I do to offend
that person? Don't come in like that. I mean, if you feel bad,
it's not, you say, well, I'm not going to be a hypocrite.
I'm going to, I'm going to, that's not being a hypocrite. That's
being thoughtful. That's exactly what that's being. It's being
thoughtful. May the Lord deliver us from being anything but thoughtful. I don't want any of us to come
in and, well, I'm just going to be honest with you. I'm going
to tell you, no, don't do that. Don't do that. Don't come in
with a sour attitude because somebody is going to think, what
have I done to offend them? May the Lord enable us always
to present a good front. And that's not a bad thing. That's
thoughtfulness. That's thoughtfulness. Like I said, what I want to do
is look at the scriptures where this word is used. And sometimes
it refers to an unbeliever and sometimes it even refers to a
believer. You know, the Lord was talking to his disciples
when he said regarding judging, for instance, he said, thou hypocrite.
He said that to his people. Now, if the Lord called you a
hypocrite, would you be offended or would you say, Right on. That's the truth. So, let's see
what the Lord had to say about this. First, the chapter in Matthew,
chapter 23, I'm not going to say much about this. I'm just
going to read it. This is a chapter where he mentions
hypocrisy eight different times, and he's talking about the religion
of the natural man. He says, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, verse 13. Hypocrites! You know, the Lord
hates hypocrisy. He hates it in unbelievers. He
hates it in His children. And He says, Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men. For you neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses,
and for pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the
greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you compass sea and land
to make one proselyte. When he's made, you make him
twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you,
you blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the
temple, it's nothing. You're not obligated to keep
your promise. But whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple,
he's a debtor. They're always making loopholes.
Always making loopholes. You swear by the temple, you
don't have to keep your promise. But if you swear by the gold
that's in the temple, the gift that you give, then you've got
to keep your promise. That's called hypocrisy. Always looking
for loopholes, looking for ways out, using the scriptures in
a wrong way. He goes on to say, you fools
and blind, for whether it is greater the gold or the temple
that sanctifies the gold, and whosoever shall swear by the
altar, it is nothing. But whosoever swears by the gift
that is upon the altar, he is guilty. He has got to keep his
promise. You fools and blind, for whether it is greater the
gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift, Whosoever therefore
shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and all things thereon,
and whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by
him that dwelleth therein, and he that shall swear by heaven,
sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that setteth thereon.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe
of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted, have left out
the weightier matters of the law, judgment, how God can be
just and justify the ungodly, mercy, salvation by the mercy
of God, and faith in Christ. You use the terms. But you don't
give the meaning. You've omitted the weightier
matters of the law. Now these ought you to have done
and not let the other undone. You blind gods would strain at
an ant and swallow a camel. You major on minors and you minor
on majors. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of
the platter. You get your life all straightened out before men,
but within you're full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee,
cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter, that
the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unto wadded
sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within
full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you
also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are
full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of
the prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous and
say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not
have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore you be witnesses unto yourselves that you are the children
of them which kill the prophets. You brag on dead preachers and
you won't identify with living. Fill you up in the measure of
your fathers, you serpents, you generation of vipers. How can
you escape the damnation of hell? Now this is the sermon that led
to the Lord's crucifixion. They said, we've had it with
this man. We're not gonna listen to this anymore. In Matthew chapter six, would
you turn with me there? Are you afraid of hypocrisy?
I am. I'm scared to death of it because
I see how easily and how quickly I can be led into it. Hypocrisy,
acting, it scares me. And I think of these warnings.
Look at what the Lord said in verse 1 of chapter 6. Take heed
that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise,
you had no reward of your father, which is in heaven. Therefore,
when thou doest thine alms, giving. Do not sound the trumpet before
thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets.
They're going to let everybody know how much they give, when
they give, and what they gave. that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. And in verse five,
he says, when you pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites,
all for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues in the corners
of the street, that they may be seen of men. Down in verse 16. Moreover, when
you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they
disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. Look in Matthew chapter seven,
verse one. Now the Lord is speaking to his
people here, and he says, Judge not that you be not judged. For worth what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. What did that make you scared
to judge? And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured to you again. Well, behold, it's out of the
mote that's in thy brother's eye, but consider it's not the
beam that is in thine own eye. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam
is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite." Now, that doesn't
mean we do not have opinions about things, what's right and
what's wrong. Doesn't mean that at all. And if somebody's doing
something that's wrong, it doesn't mean we think, well, I'm not
going to judge him. Or if somebody is not preaching the gospel,
I don't want to judge him. I don't want to. You better judge
him. You better judge him. But that's not talking about
this attitude that our Lord is talking about, about moral superiority.
Because anytime I look at something you're doing and I sit in judgment
of you, I'm not saying I'm saying it's okay, but I am saying this.
Anytime I do that, I am practicing hypocrisy because I do the same
thing you're doing that I'm judging you for. That's what Paul said
in Romans 2.1. He said, Wherefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For thou that judgest
doest the same things. And anything that you judge or
I judge anybody about, They're worse things than I have done. Worse things. So me and you have
no reason to judge anybody. And the Lord says, thou hypocrite,
first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's
eye. Turn to Matthew chapter 15. Verse 7, the Lord says, you hypocrites,
you actors, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, this people draw
nigh unto me with their mouth, and they honor me with their
lips. They say all the right things. They have the right words. But their heart is far from me. And their worship is vain worship. vain worship, empty, useless
worship. Look at Mark chapter 12, beginning in verse 12. And they send unto him certain
of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch him in his words. Listen to find something they
can twist and find fault with. And when they were come, they
said unto him, Master, listen to this flattery. Hypocrites
love to practice flattery. And when they were come, they
said unto him, Master, we know that thou art true and carest
for no man. For thou regardest not the person
of men, but teachest the way of God in truth. I didn't believe
that. I didn't believe that for a second. But look at how they're flattered
in trying to build him up. Is it lawful to give tribute
to Caesar or not? Shall we give or shall we not
give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said, Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny, that I may
see it. A hypocrite, when he's hearing,
is looking for something to criticize every time. and he is using flattery. Turn to Luke chapter 12, verse
56. The Lord said, you hypocrites,
You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth. You can
tell when it's going to rain. You can look up in the sky and
see it's going to have dark clouds and the rain's going to come,
or you can see when a south wind is going to come. You can discern
the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you
could not discern this time? this time. Now, the hypocrite
has lost the ability to discern because of his acting. It makes
him to where he can't discern what's going on because his life
is an act. And that's what the Lord accuses
these people of. Look in Luke chapter 13. Beginning in verse 11, And behold,
there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years,
and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself. And
when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said unto him,
Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands
on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified
God. And the ruler of the synagogue
answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the
Sabbath day. And he said unto the people,
there are six days in which men ought to work, and then therefore
come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. Oh, we have
such respect for the Sabbath day. He was using the scriptures.
Hypocrites do that. They use the scriptures to justify
their position. And the Lord then answered him
and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath
loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to
watering. Turn to Galatians 2. I've already
mentioned this. Verse 11, but when Peter was
come to Antioch, I was stood him to his face, because he was
to be blamed. Now remember, this is the apostle
Peter. This is one of the chosen 12 apostles that Paul is dealing
with at this time. And this makes this very special,
doesn't it? I want to know what it is he's going to say to him.
Verse 12, for before the certain came from James, the church at
Jerusalem, he did eat with the Gentiles. He was having a good
time with the Gentiles, eating with them. fellowshipping in
the gospel, but when they will come, these Jewish believers,
he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which are of the
circumcision. He was afraid that they would
condemn him for eating with these Gentiles and not making a difference
between the Jews and Gentiles. So what did Peter do? Verse 13,
All he did, he didn't say anything, he just got up and moved tables.
He left the Gentiles and went over with the Jews. And the other
Jews dissembled. That word dissembled is the same
as hypocrite. Played the hypocrite likewise
with him. In so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their
hypocrisy, their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, If thou being a Jew livest after the
manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelst thou
the Jews? or the Gentiles to live as do
the Jews. This is pure hypocrisy saying. Now, all Peter did, he was eating with the Gentiles.
And when the Jews come, he gets up and moves table and eats with
the Gentiles. I mean, with the Jews. And by
that action, he's saying, you're a little bit more saved under
the Jewish economy. You're a little bit more pleasing
to God. Now, these Gentiles are saved, but these Jews are more
saved. They're more pleasing by what
they did. And Paul publicly reprimanded
him for his hypocrisy. And I'm sure there were all kinds
of people who thought, Paul, you're taking this too far. I
mean, but was he? No, he did this under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. Turn to 1 Timothy 4. Verse 1, Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,
speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with
a hot iron. Forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." Now, what
is behind hypocrisy? A seared conscience. A conscience
seared with a hot iron. That is what makes people speak
lies in hypocrisy. Those are the scriptures in the
New Testament that actually deal with this word, hypocrisy. I've looked at every one of them.
The hypocrites' speech and actions do not line up, do they? The
Lord said concerning the hypocrite, they say and they do not. When the hypocrite does do right,
he has a bad, vain, or selfish motive. It's to be seen of men. Hypocrites love human recognition. They love titles. They love respect. They love greetings in the markets.
men saying to them, Rabbi, Rabbi, and they don't really care anything
about that honor that comes from God only. Hypocrites strain at gnats, but
they'll swallow Campbell's whole. They'll major on things that
don't even matter, and they won't even deal with what truly matters. And the hypocrite's conduct always
depends on where he is and who he's around. That's going to
determine what he's going to say about something, not any
true conviction from his own heart. What he says, how he acts,
is going to be dependent on where he's at and who he's around. And the hypocrite always neglects
the inside and gives attention to the outside. He's not concerned
so much about what God sees, but what men see. He's controlled
by the fear of man. And a hypocrite, this is a dead
giveaway, he's always severe with others. and very lenient
with himself every time. Job compared the hypocrite to
a rush growing in the moss. It grows rapidly, it's hollow,
it bends easily, it hangs its head down, and there's no fruit. That would be the example of
the hypocrite. Now, one thing about this acting,
while we can fool men, we can't fool the Lord. Turn back to our
text in Luke chapter 12. He says in the last line of verse
12, beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy
for there is nothing covered. And that's what the hypocrite
is always doing. He's trying to cover something.
It will be revealed. And that's what the hypocrite
is doing. He's hiding something that shall
not be known. Therefore, whatsoever you've
spoken in darkness, that you thought others could not hear,
shall be heard in the light. And that which you have spoken
in the air, in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetop."
Now on Judgment Day, men will be seen for what they really
are. Everything will be brought to
light. The man who is nothing more than a hypocrite, he'll
be exposed and condemned. He tried to get into heaven without
a wedding garment? and he spotted out. You know,
that's what a hypocrite will do. He'll have a substitute wedding
garment. He doesn't see the necessity
of Christ's wedding garment. He thinks he can come into heaven
with this substitute wedding garment that looked like the
real thing, but it wasn't the real thing. And then the kings
will say, friend, how came you in here without a wedding garment?
And the scripture says he was speechless. Probably first time
in his life he'd ever been speechless. He was speechless. He couldn't
answer. And he was cast into outer darkness. And the believer, I've been talking
about hypocrites, and I know every believer is ashamed of
their hypocrisy. Ashamed. But you know what? The believer will be presented
holy and unblameable. unreproofable in God's sight. Now this is the scripture I thought
of. Would you turn with me to John chapter 4? Now this is the woman at the
well. I love this story about this woman. The Lord had told
her he was going to give her living water, and she didn't
understand what he was saying. Verse 16, Jesus saith unto her,
Go call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and
said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast
well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands.
And he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, and that saidst
thou truly. So we see what kind of woman
this was. She'd been married five times. She was living with
another man. And the Lord brings this up to
her, and the Lord ends up saving her. He reveals himself to her.
I love the way he says in verse 26 or verse 25, the woman, she
was confused after all the things the Lord said to her. And she
said, I know the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When
he has come, he'll tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her,
I that speak unto thee, am he. Now look in verse 39. She had
told everybody in town about the Lord Jesus Christ and many
of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying
of the woman which testified, He told me all that ever I did. Now this was her testimony. He
told me all that ever I did. Now this is true in two senses. He knew about my sin. And he didn't hide it. I've been
married five times, and the man I was with, I wasn't married
to. But you know what else he told
me? All I ever did was perfect. All I ever did was sin, and all
I ever did was perfect. Because all Christ ever did is
what I have done. And that's the believer's hope,
isn't it? All I ever did was sin. All I ever did was perfectly
obey God's law because of the Christ. What he did for me as
my prophet, my priest, and my king. Now, do you honestly believe
both of those things? Do you believe that all you've
ever done is sin? Do you believe that all you've
ever done is keep the law perfectly in Christ? Do you believe both
those things? You know what that's called? That's called faith.
That's called faith in Christ. You know, there are two things
in the Scripture we read of in the New Testament that Paul calls
unfeigned. And that word unfeigned is literally
Unhypocritical. Unhypocritical. The word hypocrite
is in there. Non-hypocritical. We read of
unfeigned faith. And we read of unfeigned love. And this is what every believer
possesses. Now in all of his awareness of
his hypocrisy and his sinfulness and his need of the Redeemer,
he has unfeigned, unfaked faith. He really does believe that Christ
is all he has. He really does believe that the
only righteousness He has is the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And He really is resting in Him and trusting Him
only. It's not a put-on. He really
is a sinner needing a Savior. You know, when we take the Lord's
table tonight, I need His broken body and shed blood to make me
clean before God. We're really doing this in remembrance
of Him. Faith isn't a fake. He really
believes Christ is His only way to the Father, and He's hanging
on to that. We read of unfeigned faith. And
we also read in the scripture several times of unfeigned love. Or even as Paul said in Romans
12, let love be without dissimulation, without hypocrisy. This is not
an act. He really does love the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, I was reading John
chapter 21 yesterday. And the Lord said
to Peter, Peter, do you love me? Do you love my person? He asked him that three times.
And the last time, Peter was grieved. And he said, Lord, thou
knowest all things. He appealed to the omniscience
of Christ. Him who could not be fooled. He said, you know all things.
You know me all the way through. And you know that I love you. And Lord, you know me. I can't fool you. You know how
sinful I am. You know how hypocritical I am.
You know what an actor I can be. You know that. But you know
that I love and adore your person. I see you as altogether lovely. That is the statement of every
believer. You know all things. You know
that I love you. Now, that's not fake. That's
not fake. We really love the Lord as he
is, don't we? We love every one of his attributes. We wouldn't
change him if it were in our power. And we love the way he
saves by his grace. Lord, you know all things. You
know that I love you. Now, may that be the summary
of me and you. unfeigned faith and unfeigned love. And as we gather ourselves together
as we're doing to observe the Lord's table together, we are celebrating. That's not
just an empty speech. We're celebrating. That's all
that's needed to make us perfect before God is the broken body
and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a blessing that
is to do that. Let's pray together.