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Song: More Holiness Give Me
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-18
Religion without sincerity is religion without heart. It’s a hollow religion, a performance, a sham. Religion in this form is recognizable in others and detestable to all. It’s not so easily detected in ourselves and requires vigilance to prevent its appearance.
Beware of hypocrisy in your benevolent deeds. The priest and the Levite might have helped their injured countryman had he fallen prey to bandits in downtown Jerusalem. But it was the Samaritan who stopped when no was looking. Do good not because of who sees, but because He sees and because you’ve seen the need.
Watch out for hypocrisy in your worship. It’s easily done. Songs are not addressed to God when your mind has left the building. Prayers have not the benefit of your Amen when they’ve not had the benefit of your attention. Your neighbor is not helped when you apply the sermon to him; even worse - you're not helped. Worship is between you and God. Funny how often God gets left out of it.
Guard against hypocrisy in your sacrifices. If you must tell how strong you are, how much you’ve lost, how much you’ve given up, what glory does God get in that? Self-righteousness, intentional or unintentional, sours others on religion. Certainly they have no right to be sour, but you have no right to make them that way. If you’re doing this for the Lord, do it for the Lord, not for the applause of men.
Jason Moore
