Hypocritical Leaders
An all-creatures Bible Message

Hypocritical Leaders
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
25 August 2019
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Matthew 7:1-5
Luke 13:10-30

Hypocritical leaders can be found in the business world, in government, and in religion, and they all have something in common; while they know the truth, they deliberately go against the truth to promote another agenda that benefits them is some way, and such behavior is against the heavenly will of God.
 
In today’s world, it is very likely that every leader in government and religion knows about the horrible way that animals are treated on factory farms and in slaughter houses, yet they do nothing to try to end the suffering, and in most cases they actually promote additional suffering because they are also animal product eaters and wearers or they receive some other gain from the industry, and such action is hypocritical.
 
Even though most of the people in this country want some form of gun control, our government leaders refuse to act because they derive support from the powerful gun lobby, and because of this many innocent people suffer and die, and such action is hypocritical.
 
Some hypocritical leaders have personal agenda that counter the knowledge of experts and such actions or inactions bring harm upon the wellbeing of innocent people, animals, and the environment, and such actions can affect the health and safety of other living beings as well as themselves, but they just don’t seem to care.
 
With these things in mind, let’s take a look at Luke 13:10-30, and think about the hypocritical leaders, then, and the ones in the world around us.

10. And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
 
11. And behold, there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.

I know that many people would want to help a person like this, if they could, or would at least pray that God would help in some way, even if it was on the sabbath.

12. And when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness." 

And the Lord did see and help, but not the reaction He received from some of the hypocritical leaders.

13. And He laid His hands upon her; and immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God.

And I can’t believe that God would have wanted anything else, and I believe that this also applies to today.

14. And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, "There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day."

We hope we all see the false religiosity of such religious leaders, and we have similar hypocritical leaders all around us today, and we need to take a stand against them, just as the Lord did then.

15. But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water him?

In other words, to do good on the Sabbath or any other day is what the Lord desires, but that doesn’t mean that we save good works for the Sabbath; we are to do the good things that the Lord wants us to do whenever we encounter them.
 
And, we are not to let anyone tell us that this is wrong, because as we are told that is exactly what the Lord did.

16. "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?" 
 
17. And as He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire multitude was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

And the same thing will happen when we challenge hypocritical leaders in the same way, no matter who they are.
 
So, Jesus gives us some comparisons.

18. Therefore He was saying, "What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?
 
19. "It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree; and the birds of the air nested in its branches."

In other words, our good works expand and multiply beyond the actual things that we do, because what we do encourages others to do the same kind of things. 

20. And again He said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?
 
21. "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened."

The unfortunate things is that evil also multiples in the same way, which is what hypocritical leaders rely upon, and this is the main reason that we need to challenge these things whenever we encounter them. 

22. And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.

Jesus knew that all around Him in places of authority there were hypocritical leaders and the people that followed them blindly, but He never stopped telling the truth to those who were willing to listen, for theirs was the kingdom of heaven, and even to those who turned a deaf ear, for what He said was a witness against them.
 
And this should be a lesson for us who are vegan animal rights activists, for even when we may think that there is no one who will listen, we have to keep telling the truth for we may never know whose heart and soul we touched and how our message may be haunting those who are part of the problem.
 
Jesus never stopped and neither should we.

23. And someone said to Him, "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" And He said to them,
 
24. "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

We believe that many of these people are the hypocritical leaders and those who follow them.

25. "Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know where you are from.'
 
26. "Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets';
 
27. and He will say,' I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.' 

This is what happens to those who reject the word of God in favor of what they are told by their hypocritical leaders.
 
We are not to be like them; we are to be the peacemaking children of God, who live in His heavenly will, and do everything in His power to free creation from it present corruption.

28. "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out.
 
29. "And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

If we think for ourselves and allow ourselves to feel the pain and suffering of the whole of creation, and reject anything or anyone’s message that counters such understanding and the word of God, then we will be in the kingdom of God.

30. "And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." 
NASB

God sees the intent of the heart, theirs and ours, and we need to be cautious that in speaking out we don’t also become a hypocrite.
 
Listen to what we are told in Matthew 7:1-5…

1. "Do not judge lest you be judged.

Judgement can mean to condemn, or to discern, and God judges our intent as well as our actions, because He is perfect without any sin, and we are not.
 
We are always to discern; as an example, we discern good produce from bad produce in the market, and we discern is something is dangerous, and we should discern if someone is doing something that isn’t in the heavenly will of God so that we can avoid it and possibly them, and this is what Jesus is cautioning us about.
 
If we are going to say anything about someone else, either to them or to anyone else about their sins, we must also seriously look at ourselves and our own sins first and if we are setting a good example before others, for if we are not, we are not qualified to judge anyone else.
 
This is what Jesus means when He said…

2. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

So Jesus tells us very plainly…

3. "And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
 
4. "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?
 
5. "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
NASB

So just remember if we are correcting someone else, we have also made ourselves a “leader”, and if we are not qualified we have also become onw of the hypocritical leader.
 
So, as Christian vegan animal rights activists, we need to be very cautious about how we approach someone else; so if we have done something in past that they are doing now, than say so, and tell them why you have changed.
 
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we should be striving to be examples of God’s heavenly will here on earth as witnesses to the world around us, and this should be part of the way we approach others.
 
Therefore, we are only to judge others by the way we judge others, and this includes standing up against hypocritical leaders.
 
We can and should do this.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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