As the saying goes, “You can fool some people, all the time, you can fool some people sometimes, but you cannot fool all the people, all the time.” No matter how good someone is in deceiving people, that double-faced masked hypocrite certainly cannot fool God as He is all knowing, and those who lie to the Holy Spirit, bring God’s judgement upon themselves.

A hypocrite or a counterfeit Christian is the one who pretends to be a Christian, talks like a Christian, act like a Christian, even quotes scriptures like a Christian, but is an associate of the devil. Counterfeit Christians are Satan’s instrument within the church. They are dangerous, conniving, and their purpose is to interrupt the revival, to spoil the spiritual harvest. They are like the leech that suck your blood and weaken you. They are like weeds growing among the crops that draw out the nutrition from the soil and choke the harvest and stop the crops from growing. They distract people from worshipping God with their idolatry. Their one purpose is to sow discord and disunity. They twist the word of God to suit their own purposes and lead people astray from the truth of the gospel. They are like the wolf in sheep’s clothing, ready to devour those that are unsuspecting.

The root of hypocrisy is pride and the fruit is falsehood. A hypocrite does what he does because he wants to be noticed, he wants the attention, he wants to be glorified, and he will get it at any cost. He will lie, he will condemn others, he will scheme, and he will not hesitate to put others down. If he wants to get on top, he will even step on people to get ahead. He will never apologise for his mistakes and if you correct him, he will find fault with you instead. If you are not at fault, he will make one up and lie about it too.

How to detect a hypocrite? They will talk the talk but fail to walk the walk. They will lie and scheme. If you find a habitual liar, you have found a hypocrite and he works for the devil. They will twist the word of God to suit their purposes. I heard some hypocrites say things like, “You don’t need to pray for hours. If in faith, you pray for five minutes, that should be enough.” The word of God says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:17) which means pray continually, everything you do, may it be a prayer to the Lord. Live your life in such a way that it’s a prayer, you become the prayer. Jesus, when he found his disciples in the garden asleep, said to them, “Couldn’t you keen a watch with me for one hour”, (Mt 26:40) which means Jesus wanted his disciples to keep awake and pray with him for an hour. It’s important to note here, Jesus said an hour, not five minutes. Does anyone think they have more faith than Jesus? If Jesus needed an hour to pray, so do we.  The devil is against prayer because prayer fulfils the will of God in our lives. Prayer helps us fight the devil. Prayer is spiritual warfare; therefore, the devil is against prayer. The devil knows there is power in prayer. If he can stop us from praying, he can make us powerless.  

The hypocrite will teach people against the word of God. Therefore, beware of the hypocrite and when you find one, be quick to weed them out before their yeast of corruption destroys the innocent. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! (Gal 1: 6-9 NRSV). The word of God says, Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness (Jam 3: 1 NRSV). A person needs wisdom to teach the word of God. If you are not careful and teach something that is contrary to the word of God, just because you think it is right, you end up becoming a mouthpiece for the devil and leading people astray. Teaching the word of God, should not be taken lightly. We need to be sure that we teach the sound doctrines. Otherwise, people end up becoming a cult, who twists the truth of the gospel with lies.

God despises hypocrites, and we see an example of God’s judgment upon these hypocrites, how God, strikes the hypocrites dead, in (Acts 4:32 – 5:11 NRSV) Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!” Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.

Ananias and Sapphira, saw how Barnabas was praised by all people because he generously sold his property and gave it all away. They wanted the attention and praises from people. So, they too sold their property, but did not give everything away, but lied that they gave everything away. It was not obligatory for them to sell their property, nor was it required for them to give everything away, but they wanted to be noticed and praised just like Barnabas. The reason they fell down dead was because of their hypocrisy, they pretended to have a devotion to Jesus that was not real. They were not seeking to glorify God, but themselves. They were deceitful, and they lied not to men but to Almighty God. God despises hypocrites. Now Ananias and Sapphira were an example of God’s disapproval of hypocrisy. We don’t see liars and hypocrites falling dead these days and that’s because God is giving them some time to repent and turn away from their wickedness. God is warning all hypocrites that justice delayed is not justice denied. A hypocrite will usually twist the word of God to suit their purposes and to escape or avoid correction. They will say things like, “You should not judge” and “You must be merciful”. The truth is they have brought God’s judgement upon themselves, when they lied, when they deceived. They ask for mercy from God and his people, however they refuse to even acknowledge the wrong or repent and turn away from their wickedness. God is all merciful, but they fail to receive that mercy because they continue in their iniquities. When you see a hypocrite, weed them out from amongst you as they are satan’s instruments. That way satan does not have a ground to plunder and destroy. The word of God commands us not to give place to the devil.

The cure for hypocrisy is humility. God wants us to be clothed with humility, to watch out for ourselves and others against hypocrisy. David prayed and said, Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps 139:23 NRSV). Once God had asked me to write about something, but I hesitated because I could sense that if I did that, a lot of people will get offended. And so, I contemplated on it for a while and thought of ways to say that was pleasing to everyone, trying to sugar coat a bit here and there, but I was not getting it right, so I just ignored the message. I try to blog once a month and it was the end of the month and I had nothing to write, no inspiration, no anointing. I couldn’t even type a single word. I told my husband, something is wrong and unusual, I cannot write a single word. My husband asked me to pray about it and he said it will come back to me, so I did. I said, “Jesus have mercy on me, please show me what’s wrong, I am not able to write a single word”. That moment the Lord said to me, “I already told you what I want you to write, but you have ignored my message”. I replied saying, “I am sorry, I just didn’t want to offend anyone, so I was trying to say it in a way that it does not upset anyone”. The Lord said to me, “You are only a messenger. Your job is to deliver the message, not alter it. You cannot do my works if you focus on being a people pleaser. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also (John 15: 20 NRSV).” I asked God to forgive me for being a people pleaser, repented of my sins and said, “Lord Jesus, henceforth, I will do it as You say.” When we try to please people at the cost of disobeying God, we become hypocrites. When we are right with God, we are also right with people. Sometimes people may not think it that way. They may feel you are in opposition to them and that happens when people are in opposition to God. For instance, if you stand up against abortion and euthanasia because you believe in the sanctity of life and the right of a person to live, those who do not consider life sacred or think they can choose, who lives and dies, will find that you are in opposition to them. But do not worry about such oppositions. The important thing is do what is right in the eyes of God. If a person does not face any persecutions in life, it’s because he is walking in collusion with the devil. Try walking the opposite way and you will be persecuted. The truth is you cannot make everyone happy. Focus on pleasing God and doing what is right.

Hypocrisy is a sin which God does not tolerate. Therefore, get rid of all pretence and get real with God. Do not let satan fill your heart with a lie, just like how he filled the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira. Sometimes hypocrites get in partnership with other hypocrites and obstruct the work of God, just like how Ananias and Sapphira were in partnership. Watch out for hypocrisy within your own heart. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life (Pro 4:23 NRSV). If your heart is clean, you will find God. If your heart is corrupt, the devil will find you. Clothe yourself with humility every day and you will keep the devil away.

God has a severe judgment for those who practice hypocrisy. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes (Ps 101:7 ESV). Watch out for hypocrites, they are very deceiving. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords (Ps 55:21 ESV). Do not seek approval of people but seek to glorify God in everything you do. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God (Lk 16:15 ESV). Hypocrisy is a deceiving spirit. Sometimes it is not obvious. Therefore, ask God to give you the spirit of discernment that you may know the true nature of people. Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly (Proverb 26: 23-26 ESV).

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