We're turning in our Bible again
to Luke chapter 6. Notice, if you will, at verse
39, He spake a parable, a parable unto them. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking as God Almighty. His Word was the Word of authority. His Word was the Word of power. The Lord spake a parable unto
them. As I told you last week, this
is one parable that is given to us in four parts. Last week we had part one, verse
39 and verse 40. We saw in that first part the
danger of the following blind prophets who lead blind people
into the ditch of destruction. But we also saw the blessings
of following the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Chief
Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes us and presents us
faultless before the presence of God's glory with exceeding
joy. Now today, I want to bring part
two of this one parable And we're going to entitle this message,
The Danger of Hypocrisy. The Danger of Hypocrisy. Notice in the middle part of
verse 42 of Luke 6, he says, Thou hypocrite. Hypocrite. If you look the word
up, and get the original meaning of that word as it's used here,
it is a word that can be described as one who is play-acting, one
who is carrying on in a charade or making a show of oneself. the dangers of hypocrisy. Now a parable, as I told you
last week, is an earthly story that presents to us a spiritual
truth. And the Lord often taught this
way. The parable of the sower and
many other parables we're going to have the privilege of looking
at And my prayer for us is this, that the Lord will be our teacher,
that he would take the parables and teach us the gospel and reveal
unto us the gospel of Christ. Why is that so important? All
those who have heard and learned of the Father, they come to Christ. I want to be one that is sitting
at His feet and learning about Him. May the Lord be pleased
to be our teacher this morning. So let's read verse 41 and 42
and consider this Two things here, the danger of
self-righteousness and hypocrisy, and then we'll see the blessing
of self-condemnation and the righteousness that's given in
the gospel. Now, Luke 6 verse 41, Why beholdest
thou the moat? or the sin or the splinter, the
twig that's in your brother's eye, but perceiveth not the beam
or the two-by-four that's stuck in your own eye. That is, you're
critical of others, but you don't think so low of yourself. Verse 42, either how canst thou
say to thy brother, Brother, I know your problem. Brother,
let me Pull out the mote that's in your eye, when thou thyself
beholdest not the beam, the two-by-four that's stuck in your own eye
or your own heart." And he called that hypocrisy. He said, you
judge yourself. Cast out first the beam that's
in your own heart. Then you may be able to help
your brother and encourage your brother. and pull out the twig
that's in your brother's eye. Now, let's look at this second
part of this parable in two, and we'll consider two things,
a danger and a blessing. A danger, a warning, and a promise,
a blessing. First of all is this, the danger
of self-righteousness and hypocrisy, where you find one you find the
other. Self-righteousness and hypocrisy
always go together. They're like the two sides of
the same coin. The Lord Jesus Christ reserved
the harshest and strongest rebukes for those self-righteous Pharisees,
Sadducees, and scribes who appeared to be righteous before men, but
not before God. And he calls that nothing but
pure sham hypocrisy. One who is just acting the part.
One who is putting on a charade. Or as we say, he's putting up
a good front. They do their works to be seen
of men. They say, Lord, Lord, we've done
this, we've done that, we've done many wonderful works. And
he will say to them, I don't know you. You're nothing but
full of iniquity. depart from me." They always
go about to do their works to be seen of men. Turn if you will
to Luke 16 verse 15. Now the Lord had the sharpest
critical rebukes, and we'll read some of them here in just a moment,
for the Pharisees. In Luke 16, Luke verse 14, The
Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things and they
derided on him. He said previously, no man can
serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters.
And he said to them, you are they would justify yourselves
before men. That's what hypocrisy and self-righteousness
does. We justify ourselves before men
and condemn others. But God knoweth your hearts. He looks on the heart. For that
which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the
sight of God. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ had
the sharpest, hardest words for those who were going about to
establish a righteousness based upon what they did or did not
do. We'll read that again in just
a moment. But the Lord Jesus Christ also had the kindest words
of mercy to those who were in desperate need of mercy because
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. If you'll turn
back a page, remember in Luke chapter 5 verse 30, the scribes
and Pharisees they murmured against Him when He called Matthew, you
remember? and went home with him, and they
said, Why do your disciples, he murmured against the disciples,
saying, Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Luke
5 verse 31. And the Lord answered and said
unto them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they
who are sick. He said, I did not come to call
the righteous, I came to call sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ had the
kindest words of mercy to those who were in desperate need of
mercy. As I've said to you many times, I've never read in scripture
where the Lord Jesus Christ turned away a mercy beggar. That's me. I'm a mercy beggar. He said, Come boldly unto the
throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy, find grace to help
in time of need. The Lord Jesus Christ hears the
cry of mercy beggars and comes to their aid. Turn to Mark chapter
10, I'll show you that. Remember the story of blind Bartimaeus? In Mark chapter 10 verse 46, They came to Jericho, and as
they went out of Jericho with his disciples, a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
wayside, begging, begging. He was begging for help. Help
me! And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, saying, Jesus, thou
son of David, The promised Messiah, have mercy on me. And many charged
him that he should hold his peace, but he cried them more, great
deal, a great deal more. Thou son of David, have mercy
on me. Now look at verse 49, and underscore
these words. And Jesus stood still. A cry of mercy stopped the Savior
in his tracks. and commanded him to be called,
and they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good cheer!
Comfort arise! He calleth for thee! And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a blind man that came
to Christ, casting everything aside, and the Lord answered
and said to him, What wilt thou that I should do to thee? What
should I do to thee? Salvation is of the Lord, isn't
it? The blind man said, Lord, Lord, that I might receive my
sight. And the Lord said to him, Go
thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Or as the marginal
reference has, thy faith hath saved thee. It was the object
of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Go thy way, thy faith may be
whole." And immediately he received his sight and followed the Lord
Jesus Christ in the way. The point I'm making is this,
turn to Luke chapter 18. The Lord had the kindest words
for those who sought mercy in their need as mercy beggars,
and He had the sharpest words of rebuke for those hypocrites
and the Pharisees. Now in Luke 18, we have this
parable here. Verse 9, He spake a parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
they despised others. That's the hypocrisy of self-righteousness. Two men went up to the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are, extortioner, unjust, adulterer, even as this
publican. I fast twice in a week, I get
tithes of all that possess. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I
am, I am. The publican, standing afar off,
would not lift up so much his eyes to heaven, but smote upon
his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. See, the one
justified himself and was condemned. The other condemned himself and
was justified. I tell you, the Lord said, this
man went down to his house justified. Rather than the other, the other
bragged on himself and was condemned. And the one who condemned himself
was justified, for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased.
He that is humbled, or has humbled himself, has condemned himself,
shall be exalted. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner."
Can you pray that way? Can you approach God that way,
as a mercy beggar? The self-righteous always justify
themselves, and when they do that, they condemn others. The
Lord had the sharpest rebukes. In Matthew 23, verse 15, down
through verse 33, I won't turn and read this to you, but let
me just read this one verse, Matthew 23, 28. He said, You also outwardly appear righteous
unto men, but within you're full of hypocrisy and iniquity. He called them nothing but whited
walls, didn't he? Full of like a gravestone. It looks so nice and white on
the outside, the sepulcher, but within, what is it? Full of dead
men's bones. Now those who are self-righteous
sinners, now think about this. I know this is so because I've
experienced this. Those who are self-righteous
sinners, those who are self-righteous sinners always think themselves
to be righteous by what they do, right? Lord, we preached
in your name. Lord, we've done this. We've
given this. I fast. I do this. When in reality, all
they're bragging on is their sin. He said, depart from Me,
you workers of iniquity. He says, all of your righteousnesses
are as filthy rags in My sight, Isaiah 64. And then in Isaiah
65, when He talks about those that are holier than thou, He
said, that is nothing but smoke in My nose. It just stinks. in the presence of God. You see,
these Pharisees and the hypocrites and the self-righteous are always
going about to establish their righteousness by their deeds,
by their doings, before men. And here's their problem. Turn
to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. And this is
what we are by nature. Here's our problem by nature.
We're all self-righteous by nature. Did you know that? We're sinful
by nature, but we also are very self-righteous. We justify ourselves
and condemn others. Romans 10, verse 1, brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Now, Israel is a religious nation
in that day who are going about to establish a righteousness
by their deeds. For I bear them record, they
have a zeal of God But not according to knowledge. They were zealous
in their ignorance, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
that is true essential character, and going about to establish
a righteousness of their own, and have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. Now there's two different righteousnesses
mentioned there. In verse 3, they were ignorant
of the essential holy character of God, and they were also ignorant
of the righteousness of God that's revealed and given in the gospel.
God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made to righteousness of God in Him. I had on the radio program
this morning, if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Those who are self-righteous
sinners always think themselves righteous before God based upon
what they do. Right? Think about this. Those who are
truly taught of God, who know themselves to be sinners, and
by the free grace of God are truly made righteous in Christ. So we can sum it up this way.
Sinners think themselves to be righteous by their deeds. Those
who are truly made righteous in Christ know themselves to
be nothing but sinners whose only hope is in Christ. That's
so, isn't it? That's so. We have a good hope
through grace. Christ is our righteousness.
You see, my self-righteousness will always condemn me And Christ's
righteousness will always justify me before God. You see, because
that's the righteousness of God that's freely imputed unto His
people. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without works. justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is a very great danger in self-righteousness because
if you trust yourself, now think about this, if you trust yourself
to be righteous, you'll never trust Him as all your righteousness,
never. You keep looking right here.
Well, I'm, you know, I'm, you always condemn others and justify
yourself. You always want to pick out that
twig in someone else's eye and forget the two-by-four that's
stuck in your own heart, your own eye. There's a great danger
in self-righteousness because that man at his best state is
nothing but vanity. And think about this, there is
no point, is there? There's no point in play-acting
before God. There's no point in play-acting
before God. You know why? Turn to Hebrews
chapter 4. I'll show you why. You see, the
Lord knows our heart because He looks on the heart. Now, you
may fool other men. You may fool other people in
your so-called piety, your self-righteousness, but you're not going to fool
God. Hebrews chapter 4, look at verse
12. For the Word of God is quick, it's alive, it's living, it's
powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword, it's piercing,
piercing, piercing, even to dividing of sunder of soul and spirit
and the joints and mire. and is a discerner of the thoughts
and the intents of the heart, neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." God knows our heart. Oh, may
God strip any hypocrisy and self-righteousness that we have. And this old sinful
nature that we drag around, we're still plagued with that. We're
still plagued with that. We have to be aware of it and
be done with it and ask God to give us grace. Now, here's the
great blessing. that we find here. He said, cast
out first the beam that's in your own eye. Now what's he saying
here? What's he teaching here? Let's
look right here. Let's start right here. Let's
start with us. Let's start with our own sinful,
sinful heart. You see, the publican who said,
God be merciful to me, a sinner, the publican condemned himself
and was justified. The Pharisee justified himself
and was condemned. The publican condemned himself
and was justified. I want to condemn myself, don't
you? Lord, You know all things. You know I'm a sinner. Through and through. Through
and through. You see, that is a lesson the Lord teaches us.
That is a lesson the Lord teaches when He wisely saves us by His
grace. Now I'm going to turn and read
some examples to you. I want you to follow me in the
Scripture. Turn to Isaiah. chapter 5 first. You remember
the story of Isaiah when he saw the Lord high and lifted up?
But I want to begin with Isaiah chapter 5. Turn there. Isaiah chapter 5, page 877 in
the New Cambridge you have. Look at verse 20. Woe unto them
that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light
and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet
for bitter. Woe unto them They are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight. Woe unto them that are mighty
to drink wine, and men of strong drink to mingle strong drink,
which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness
of the righteous for him. He says, woe unto them, woe unto
them, woe unto them. Now, turn to chapter 6. Let me
show you this. And here's what the Lord teaches
us. Let's start right here in our own heart, in our own life.
Isaiah 6 verse 1, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train
filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings, with two he covered his face with
two, he covered his feet with two, he did fly. And one cried
to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the
whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then I said, now look at verse 5, Woe is me. It's no longer woe unto them,
woe unto them. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high
and lifted up. He's holy. Woe is me. Woe is me. I'm undone because
I'm a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of the people
of unclean lips. Mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. Woe is unto me." You see, that's
the lesson the Lord teaches us when He reveals the gospel unto
us, that we are most sinful. That is a lesson that Job found
out as well. Find the book of Psalms, and
then right before the book of Psalms, we have the book of Job. Turn to Job 42, it's page 734,
if you have the New Cambridge. Job said this, you find Job 42
verse 5 and 6. Job said this in verse 20 of
chapter 9, If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me.
If I say I'm perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. And then
he said this, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now my eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself, I
repent in dust and ashes. Woe is me. Mine eye seeth thee, I abhor
myself, I repent in dust and ashes. That is a lesson turned
to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, that the Lord taught
David. You see, this is the same lesson
the Lord teaches all of His people, is to condemn ourselves and to
justify God. If He justified me and gives
me exactly what I deserve, He'd be right. If He sent me to hell,
He'd be doing right. Psalm 51, look at verse 1, Have
mercy upon me, O God, I'm 51. According to thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercy, blot out my
transgression. Have mercy upon me. Wash me throughly
from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. What's
he doing here? Condemning self, isn't he? Justifying
God, for I acknowledge my transgression and my sin as ever before me.
Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight. Now look at this carefully. That
thou mightest be justified when you speak and clear when you
judge. If you sent me to eternal condemnation,
that's exactly what I deserve. He justified God in His own condemnation. That's what a true repentant
heart does. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward part and in the hidden part. Thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, hyssop,
and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than
the snow. Create in me, he says in verse
10, a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. You see, we justify God and condemn
ourselves. And that puts us before His throne
as mercy beggars. You remember, and this is probably
the most familiar story, the conversion story of the Apostle
Paul. You remember the story, he was
originally known as Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus was one turned
to Philippians chapter 3. Saul of Tarsus was one who was
a Pharisee. He was a very successful Pharisee. Zealous, he said, of the traditions
of my fathers. In Philippians chapter 3, he
says in verse 4, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh,
if any other man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust
in the flesh, He said, I would have more. Circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews, touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. Remember, He arrested those who
called upon the name of Christ, and He hauled them off to jail,
and when they were executed for believing the gospel, He said,
Amen. Amen, that's right. touching
the righteousness which is in the law, he said, I was blameless.
Boy, that's self-righteousness, isn't it? But what things were
gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Now, after the
Lord has taught him the gospel, yea, doubtless, he said, I count
all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count
them but dung that I may win Christ. You see, he said, all
my self-righteousness is nothing but dung, that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, by the faithfulness
of thee, Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn to Romans 7. This is the way the Lord brings
us when He teaches us the gospel. He teaches us that we're sinners,
that we're guilty. If God condemned me, He'd be
doing right. The wages of sin is death. We
justify God in our own condemnation. Romans 7, look at verse 18. For
I know that in me that is in my flesh Romans 7, 18, dwelleth
no good thing. For the will is present with
me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. The good that I would, I don't
do, I do not. The evil which I would not, that's
what I do. Now, if I do that, I would not,
is no more I that doeth it, but sin that dwells in me. I find
in the law a principle that when I would do good, evil is present
with me. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members, in my body. And then
he says, O wretched man that I am. Oh, Paul, wait a minute,
you're an apostle. You're the servant of the Lord.
Surely you're not a wretched man. Surely you can't say, in
my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Surely you would say, I used
to be a wretched man. Oh, no, that's not what he says.
Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with my mind, I serve
the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Oh, wretched man that I am. Now let me show you something
very interesting here. As we grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, turn to 1 Corinthians 15 9. 1
Corinthians 15 9. 1 Corinthians 15, 9. He says here,
1 Corinthians 15, 9, I want you to see this. He said, For I am
the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an
apostle. I'm not fit to be called an apostle,
because I've persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God,
I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God." The grace of God. By the grace of God I am what
I am. Now as he grows in grace, turn
and read this with me. Find Ephesians chapter 3 verse
8. You see a growth in grace is
not growing up. A growth in grace is growing
down. Brother Donny Bell, Pastor Donny
Bell has a quaint saying. He says, growing in grace is
like a cow's tail. You remember? The longer it grows,
the closer it gets to the ground. And that's what growing in grace
is. The more we grow in grace, The less and less we think of
self, and the more and more we think of Him. Now, as the Apostle
Paul later grows in grace, look what he says here in Ephesians
chapter 3, verse 8, verse 7, "...Wherefore, I was made a minister
according to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by
the effectual working of His power, unto me who am less than
the least." of all the saints. Is this grace given that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ?"
He says, I'm the least, I'm less than the least among the saints. And then, turn over to 1 Timothy
chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 13, who was before a blasphemer,
a persecutor, injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did
it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." He said,
now I'm the chief one. You see how he progresses? He
said, I'm least of the apostles. I'm less than the least of all
the saints. I'm the chief of sinners. Oh,
wretched man that I am. Oh, my prayer for us this morning
that God would teach us this valuable and important lesson
to condemn ourselves and to justify God in how and why He saves sinners. He saves sinners by His grace. By His grace alone. Our works
have nothing to do with salvation. It's by His grace. For by grace
are you saved. Through faith and that not of
yourself, it is a gift of God. Why does He save sinners? By
His grace. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. It's all about His glory, isn't
it? Let us always act in mercy toward
others as the Lord has been merciful to us. You see, this man receiveth
sinners, turn over here to Luke 15. Luke 15 verse 1, Then drew near
unto him all publicans and sinners, for to hear him. And the Pharisees
and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and
eateth with them. Let us always act in mercy toward
others as the Lord has been merciful to us. Let us always condemn
ourselves and think the best of others. And may we do likewise
as the Lord received sinners, and each with them, may we do
likewise to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I know this,
he is worthy of all honor, glory, and blessing, both now and forever.