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Do You Deserve an Oscar?

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Do You Deserve an Oscar?

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Do You Deserve an Oscar?

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The Oscar Awards are given to best actors, actors who can put on the best impression of someone or something they are not. Do we want to be actors or real Christians?

Transcript

[Gary Antion] The Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annually gives awards for achievements in music, in movies, and other areas. The latest Oscar winners were Best Actor, Casey Affleck, and for the actress, Emma Stone. Some other these Oscars are given to the actors and actresses who best portray the person in the role that they are assigned in that particular movie. Some other notables you may remember through the years, I tried to pick them through the years, by the way, 1957 who can forget what Moses looks like? What does Moses look like? Charleston Heston, right. He died a few years ago. He did not win an Oscar for that award, but he did two years later for Ben-Hur won an Oscar. Who can forget Julie Andrews? As Mary Poppins, she won an Oscar for doing that movie, Mary Poppins. She did not win an Oscar for doing Sound of Music which I love, seen many times, and it did get the Best Picture Award.

When you think of cowboys, one person comes to mind as the cowboy, John Wayne. John Wayne won in 1968 an Academy Award as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. I watch it every chance I get because he was a man's man standing there standing for something. Skipping ahead, 1994, Tom Hanks played Forrest Gump. When I think of Forrest Gump, I think of Tom Hanks. Forrest Gump, for that particular role in that movie, he won the Academy Award, 1994. 1997, not to be all man-sided, one-sided for men, Helen Hunt won an Oscar for her portrayal as a single mother waitress in the movie As Good as It Gets. Then we go back to 2000 when Russell Crowe played General Maximus in the movie Gladiator, and he won an Oscar for that performance.

Reese Witherspoon in 2005 won an Oscar playing June Carter, who was Johnny Cash's girlfriend in Walk the Line. Skipping ahead to 2009, you remember the performance of Sandra Bullock in The Blindside, she played Leigh Anne Tuohy. In 2011, Meryl Streep played Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. And one of the more recent ones, 2015, Leonardo DiCaprio starred in the movie The Revenant as the frontiersman Hugh Glass, and he won the Academy Award.

And by the way, 43 actors have played Jesus Christ in the movies since 1916. Jim Caviezel in 2004 played Christ in The Passion of the Christ. I saw that movie and it was very, very realistic by Mel Gibson who presented it. Jeffrey Hunter did so in 1961 with his long red hair, and there were others who played Jesus who could give you a look. In fact, one fellow who played Jesus in some of the videos visited Ambassador… this was toward the end when things were beginning to go bad in California. They had this guy come in this guy stood there and he said, "If you want to a Jesus moment, put your head down, close your eyes, and then when I tell you to look, and I'll give you a Jesus moment." And I don't know what that looked like because I wasn't there, nor if I were there would I look, but he gave them a look, okay. And then I think in Ben-Hur, there was a time when whoever was playing Jesus at that movie, he would just look at them they'd all be petrified because of his look.

So those are some of the actors and actresses who've played through the years these different parts. Actors and actresses were considered great by pretending to be someone else. Now, while there are a lot of interesting information about stars, what does it have to do with the Days of Unleavened Bread, particularly this last day? Luke 12:1-3… We've been eating unleavened bread, we've been avoiding leavened bread during this time. And in Luke 12:1-3, we see what Jesus Christ labeled leaven as. Now, we already heard a very wonderful sermonette, by the way, by Mr. Barker, appreciated that, on sins and making sure you get those out of your life. And I certainly thank him for that.

But leavening was labeled by Jesus Christ as more than just general sins. It was also labeled one specific thing in Luke 12. It says, "In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled upon one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, 'Look out.'" No, he didn't say that, they were all trampling on each other. He didn't say that. All right, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Hypocrisy. Jesus Christ said leaven pictures hypocrisy. What about hypocrisy?

Let me ask you a question before I get to the nuts and bolts of the sermon. Are you a good actor as a Christian? Are you really good at acting as a Christian? When you come to church, do you put on your Christian clothes, your Christian hat, your Christian attitude? But what are you like when no one else is around? Are you good as an actor or actress as a Christian? Do you deserve an Oscar for your acting, which is the title of this sermon.

What is a hypocrite anyway? Let's take a look. Take a look at some quotes. First of all, from the Greek, the word is hypokrites, 5273 if you want to look it up, according to Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Corresponding to the above it says, "One who answers." Because in those times past, actors would not necessarily have all types of garb on them, they would have a big mask over their face, big mask. And then when was their time to speak, they would answer, their part of the line, whatever they were supposed to say, they would answer. So that's where part of this meaning comes from, to answer.

But notice what else Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says. Then another meaning is a stage actor. A stage actor. It was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to speak in large masks, talked about that. It can also… the word came to be used metaphorically as a dissembler or a deceiver, one who would mislead. A hypocrite is found only in the synopsis and always used by the Lord, 15 times in Matthew 23. I'll come back… not 15 times, but many times, 15 times in the Book of Matthew. So I'll come back and look at that in a moment.

Let me read another one. This comes from the vocabulary.com/dictionary/hypocrite, vocabulary.com. “The word hypocrite is rooted in the Greek word hypokrites, which means ‘stage actor, pretender, or a dissembler.’” One who tries to lead you astray. One who tries to deceive you. “So think of a hypocrite as a person who pretends to be a certain way, but really acts and believes the total opposite. Hypocrites usually talk a big talk but fail to follow their own rules— likely…" and it goes on to say, “like an outspoken vegetarian who secretly eats bacon.”

Some synonyms for this are, again, a dissembler, one who deceives, a dissimulator, a phony, a pretender. Which reminds me of a song that the Platters did many years ago and it was called "Oh, yes, I'm the great pretender, do-do-do-do, pretending that you're still around." He was a pretender. He was a great pretender. Are you a great pretender as a Christian? And by the way, when I say you, I include me too. Are we great pretenders? Are we genuine? Are we real? You know, it's not easy to externalize Christianity, but it can be done. You can act like a Christian, you can look like a Christian, you can sound like a Christian, but when the rubber meets the road, are you a Christian? Are you a Christian from the inside out or from the outside in?

Here's another dictionary definition. This is dictionary.com, the other one was vocabulary.com. This is dictionary.com/hypocrite. Number one says… the one number one definition, "A person who pretends to have virtues, morals, or religious beliefs and principles that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie the stated beliefs." Now I'll come back and talk to you about some antonyms in a little while and I'll try to get back to that one in a little bit. But I just wanted you to get an idea of what is a hypocrite so you could have a good understanding of what we're talking about.

So how many times have we been actors and actresses? Most if not all of us have at one time or another put on what we really weren't, said what we really did not believe, made comments in order to please someone else. Now, am I talking about us going out and being brutal to people? No, I'm not talking about that. Do you have to be honest to the point of hurting? No, but you can still be honest. If you didn't like the hat somebody was wearing, you could just say… They say, "What do you think of my hat today?" You can say, "Well, what do you think of it? Do you really like it?" "Yeah." "So if you're happy about it, good for you." You don't have to say, "I wouldn't be caught dead in it," or, "I hate it." That's not necessarily being genuine, that's being brutal, okay. But notice, I didn't lie. I didn't say I love it if I didn't love it. You want to be genuine, you want to be real, you want to be authentic.

That which was not sincere or real have we done. We've acted to belie our real feelings or words. And again, let me say there are times when you suck it up, how you're really feeling when you have to be engaged in something. You know, the person that says the show must go on, they may not be feeling good, but they've got to come out there and project that everything is okay because they're trying to help the audience, they're not trying to hurt people. But they're not doing it to cover up anything. They're not doing it to pretend to be something other than they are.

Am I saying if somebody asks you how you're feeling… and by the way, I think one of the worst offenses is when people say, "I'm okay, I'm fine," but they're not really okay and fine. But on the other hand, when you ask someone, how are you, do you expect them to tell you their life story about what everything is ailing them? They've got a bunion on their foot, they have a sore back, they have sniffles today. You don't want to tell them… So there are times when you say, "Yes, I'm okay," because there's no time. But if you do that to just mask how you genuinely are feeling, are you really being true and genuine?

What about saying to somebody, "How are you feeling today?" "Well, I'm not doing too well but I'd rather not get into discussing that, this is a wonderful day and I want to keep everything happy and light. I don't want to get into discussing that." That's being honest, it's not covering over. Again, how do we learn to be? See, are we pretending to be Christians when other members are around but not being Christ-like in circumstances when we can be real?

Romans 13:14, Mr. Myers alluded to this, talked about putting on Jesus Christ. And you know what, when you first become Christians, it's not comfortable. That old man has lived that way for however many years before you were baptized. That old man has been a certain way that you've gotten used to being and put on the new man is not comfortable like, does this new man really fit? And initially, it doesn't. And initially, we do have to put on Christianity until we put in Christianity, that's the big difference. But sometimes people can fake their Christianity. You don't want to be a fake, you don't want to be a phony. You want to be real and genuine.

Look at Matthew 23. Let's look at some examples of hypocrites. Some real examples that are given scripturally, can't beat the Scriptures on this. Let's look at what they say and then let's come back and talk about what we can be, and what we need to be as these Days of Unleavened Bread come to a close. Have we learned one big issue… There have been many of them and many good messages that we've heard. I've heard several of them during this time, very helpful messages. But did we learn the one big one that Jesus Christ said, leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy? Pretending to be what you're not. Not living up to what you believe, pretending.

Look at Matthew 23, Jesus Christ called out the Pharisees and the scribes, and in Matthew 23, let's begin with verse 13. He says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” pretenders, deceivers, not authentic. "For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." So what was he saying here? You lost your focus, you say there's a better future but you never help us get there. You're not going that direction, you're certainly not leading us there by your actions. Verse 14, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you shall receive greater condemnation." Oh, does he say a wonderful prayer, what did he say?

When you pray, do you pray to God or do you pray for others? Now, if others are listening Jesus said, you know, Father, I said this to you because I know others are listening here. But He didn't pray for them, He was praying to God the Father. When we pray, it should be a prayer to God. Not well, what are these people going to think about my prayer? Let me get a thesaurus to make sure all the words I say are the best choice synonyms that I could possibly use. Are we genuine in our prayers? They weren't.

For a pretense, they make long prayers try to show their spirituality, therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Why? Because they tried to make converts and they themselves weren't converted. "For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much the son of hell as yourselves." How can you lead people to the way when you're not going at yourself? Follow me going the wrong way. Follow me. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it's nothing; but whosoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it." You've lost your priorities, you've mixed them all up. "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” Which one is greater, the gold or the temple?

And He said, “Whatever…" sorry, “And whoever swears by the altar, it's nothing." Well, they could swear by God's altar. "But whoever swears by the gift that is on it, the gift that they're giving to us, he's obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?" See, all you care about is what you can get. You don't care about honoring and glorifying God by what you're doing. You care about what you can get, the principle of get versus give again, but again, honoring God.

He says in verse 20, "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it." So your priorities are not straight, you're not looking to the God of heaven, you're looking to things, you're looking to the around, you're not looking to God. "And he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God, and by Him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done, and not to leave the others undone."

“You major in the minors instead of majoring in the majors and the minors, you major in the minors. What about love? What about justice? What about mercy?" I really read a good comparison of grace and mercy. I'll share it with you, probably give a sermon one day on it. You know the difference between grace and mercy? Grace is God giving you what you don't deserve. Mercy, God not giving you what you do deserve. I find that to be very powerful, grace and mercy, difference. Grace, God giving us what we don't deserve. Mercy, God not giving us what we do deserve.

They had forgotten about godly principles, they had forgotten about the grace of God, they had forgotten about the strength of God, they were paying so much attention to only the physical. So He says, "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” You pay so much attention to that little thing. And by the way, I'm not talking about sins. You're trying to pay attention to these little things and you're not paying attention to larger matters of the law. In fact, He says you should pay attention to both. You're putting so much emphasis on one little thing you're not putting enough emphasis on the majors.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside…" See, what was important to them was the external. "You cleanse the outside of the cup, the dish, but inside they're full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, and that the outside of them may be clean also." What would you rather drink out of, a cup or a mug that's beautifully clean on the outside and has all kinds of stains on the inside, or a cup that's clean on the inside and may have a stain or two on the outside? Give me the clean inside. He's saying to them, your insides are not clean. You're only worried about what people see, what people think of you. You're not worried about how you are and what God thinks of you because God does see inside of us. He knows what we're all about.

"Woe to you…" Verse 27, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Notice how many times he labels them this. He calls them out for it “…hypocrites! For you're like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." I used to clean the cemetery, not clean it, I used to clean it too but I used to mow the lawn, cemetery. You know, those gravely tractors, not really easy to control sometimes, we bumped the tomb, bump the grave marker back up, set it up again. We weren't saying, "Oh, this is so pristine." What's underneath it? A person's dead bones. Now, I'm not trying to do dishonor to that person's memory or life, nobody's trying to do that. But really, if you pay so much attention to how beautiful this is and you forget about the living. He said, "You indeed appear beautiful outwardly but inside are full of dead men's bones." Again, what was important to them, the external. "Even so, also outwardly you appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." So His whole calling out of them, you could read on down through verse 33 where He calls them serpents and brood of vipers, just waiting to trap you.

How were they? Were they genuine? Were they real? Let me show you another example where they also… Mark 12:14-15 is another example where he called them out. Mark 12, is He calling us out by the way we live in these pages of your Bible and mine? Mark 12:14-15, "When they had come, they said to Him, 'Teacher, we know that You are true…’" These were his opponents, individuals set up to try to trip him up by the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees. So these are learned professional deceivers, professional tripper-uppers. Professionals are trying to catch somebody. "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; You don't show any preference or bias. You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth." Really? Why didn't they listen to Him? "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

Verse 15, "Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?" Listen to what it says about what Jesus Christ picked up. "But He, knowing their hypocrisy…" They said to Him… He was a man, a teacher of God, He was the truth of God, why didn't they listen to Him? He was a teacher, why weren't they like students? If they recognized Him as a teacher, why weren't they? So he said, "Knowing their hypocrisy, He said to them, ‘Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.’" Then, of course, He said, “'Whose inscription is on here?’ ‘Caesar’s.' ‘Give to Caesar what's his, give to God what is God’s.’" They marveled at this, says verse 17, "They marveled at Him." He was a teacher come from God. But notice what it says about Him, He was true. Jesus Christ was true in this case.

Mark 7:6-9, they were good at saying one thing and doing another. Mark 7:6-9 real quickly. Mark 7:6, "He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophecy of you hypocrites, as it is written.'" Remember, hypocrite is a pretender, a hypocrite is a deceiver, a hypocrite is a dissembler, one who tries to lead people astray. “Well did he prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honor Me with their lips,’” boy, could they talk their Christianity. Boy, could they talk their godliness. But are they godly? Are they Christ-like? He said, “but their heart is far from Me. In vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men?" Verse 8, "For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold to the tradition of men— such as the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other things you do." Is it wrong to wash pitchers and cups? No, but it is wrong if that's where you lay your emphasis of life on all the external. How do I look? How does my car look? Will people notice this about me? Is it all about us?

Are you a great pretender? There's a great pretender on… let's see if I can find it here. I do have it. In even animal world has great pretenders, you know. “When approached or captured by a man, many kinds of animals feign, it's another word, pretend death, but none do it as well as convincingly as the opossum of America. The opossum is the greater master of artifice because it plays possum, we even use that expression, they're playing possum, so realistically that a person cannot tell whether the animal is dead or alive. Even when shot at in a tree at night, the opossum will fall to the ground as though hit and assume its famous pose, which is the lie motionless and limp, with its tongue hanging out of its mouth and its eyes open and rolled back.” So there are even hypocrites among the animal world. But you know, God loves the animal world and He made them so to protect themselves. But they're not converted and they're not talking about eternal life. You are, and I am.

Matthew 24:23-24, is coming a time there'll be great pretense made. Proverbs 24:23-24… Here's what Jesus Christ warned us about. Matthew 24. When a minister repeats himself, it's because he hasn't come to that place yet. Verse 23, "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here's Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect." There's coming a time when people will want you to believe in their hypocrisy, will want you to believe their pretense. We must be very careful and cautious, not only about what we do personally, but what we let others do to us.

Matthew 26:34-35. Don't think that we as Christians can't be hypocritical because after all, here were some disciples who had been with Jesus Christ for three-and-a-half years. They had seen him walk on water, they had walked on water. They saw him heal all manner of sickness and disease. They saw him feed 4,000 and 5,000 with just a few pieces of bread and a few fish. They saw him heal, raise the dead. And yet, notice Matthew 26:34, "Jesus said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you shall deny Me three times.’ Told Peter. And Peter said to Him, 'Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’" Now, it wasn't only Peter who bought into this. "And so said all the disciples."

Here were men who had followed Jesus Christ, who had slept beside Him, who'd eaten with Him, who sang around the campfire, maybe playing songs and singing together when they were on their moments break. They helped Him do His ministry, three-and-a-half years. They said, "I'll never leave You, even if I have to die." And the other disciples said, "Yeah, we'll do the same thing. But notice in verse 56, as soon as Jesus Christ was taken and arrested, verse 56, “'When all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled." They said they wouldn't do it and they did it. They talked a good fight, but they didn't, no. Let's grant them they did not have God's Holy Spirit, but they were baptized. They did not have God's Holy Spirit so we'll give them that out. But here are people who had God's way of life, who knew God's way of life, and they could be hypocritical too.

And then verses 69 to 75 is where Peter denied Jesus Christ three times. Notice what he said, here's a man who was a follower of Christ, the follower of a man of truth, who came bringing grace and truth into the world. “Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard…” at least I'll give this for Peter, at least he got near. The others ran, they weren't anywhere around. “Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, ‘Didn't I see you with Jesus of Galilee?’ And he denied it before them all, saying, 'I do not know what you're saying, you're wrong.'" Lie. Verse 71, "And when he had gone out to the gateway…" Figure I'll change spots so I'm not seen in the same location. Another girl saw him and said to those who are with you… who were there rather, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. I think I've listened to one of Jesus's sermons I think this guy was with him too." And what did he reply? “But again he denied with an oath, he said, ‘I do not know the man.’" Talk about hypocrisy.

What must Jesus Christ, if He were anywhere within earshot, thought about His disciple? And then again, after a little while, those who stood by came to him and said to Peter, "Surely you're also one of them because your speech betrays you. You sound like a Galilean to us," that Galilean twang. "Then he began to curse and swear, and saying, ‘I'll prove to you I'm not that way.’ He began to curse and swear, ‘I do not know the Man!’ And immediately the rooster crowed.” Another concept that has happened twice. "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ And then he went out and wept bitterly." So it's possible even for us. Now, it's interesting that the apostle Paul called out Peter, again, Peter getting called out, looks like he hadn't completely learned after the Holy Spirit had come to him.

But Galatians 2, this is why we have to be on guard, we're not perfect yet. We're not perfect yet, we're not out of the woods even though we may have been perfect. And by the way, I wasn't perfect. We had some Eggos in our freezer that my wife said to me when she was cleaning it, "We need to get rid of those." And I said, "You're right, so let's get rid of them." So I thought she had thrown them in the garbage. She thought she threw them out in the garbage too. I'm confessing. Two days ago, she reached into the freezer for something else and, lo and behold, Eggos. Now, one year, I found some things in my home that were leavened, but there was nobody beside me so I quickly threw it over the fence off of my property. Unfortunately, I have neighbors on all my sides now so I didn't know what to do, so we put it out in the garbage can and the garbage truck came and took it away the next morning. It was leavening. So we're not all perfect even in the physical side of it. Certainly spiritual side probably even more difficult.

But in Galatians 2, and notice verse 11, "But when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face," Paul says “because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James,” coming from Jerusalem who were more into the Jewish practicing of Christianity. He would eat with the Gentiles before they came he was sitting there eating, enjoying whatever, they served at Gentile feast there. "And when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision." Big mistake. Why?

What was he doing? Was he doing it because it was godly? Was he doing it because it was right? Was he doing it because he cared about people, or was he doing it to protect himself? Verse 13, "And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite…” They also decided to be hypocritical. How one person going down a certain path can also have influence on others, as we heard, “…played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisies. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?’" The apostle Paul was authentic. And in this case, he called out a fellow apostle.

Again, can we do it? Yes, we certainly can. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 we had it read to us. Let me go there just as a starting point again for the second half of this message. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you are truly unleavened." Were they really unleavened? Not really, but they were supposed to be spiritually. "For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And do you know that sincerity and truth are antonyms for hypocrisy? You want to stamp out hypocrisy? Here are antonyms from the same dictionary.com: forthright, frank, genuine, honest, humble, open, real, truthful, actual, just, reliable, righteous, sincere, upright, and authentic.

Are you authentic? That's the opposite. Being authentic, being real, being you, you with God in you, not you without Him. It's not pretending, it's not playing a game. Christianity is not a game. If we lose, there's no hope for us, there's no more turning, there's no more hope. Once you made that commitment, if it were genuine at baptism, if it were genuine, God gave you His Holy Spirit, you're on the road to eternal life. If we veer off that road and stay off that road, there's nothing left for us. Christ will not die again for us.

We're on the way, it's not a game. It's not something we just, "Let's play." "Well, I'll try it." Whoops, slips. We used to play marbles, we used to play… probably don't do that anymore. Kids don't play marbles, they play video games. We played marbles, okay, we'd draw a circle, we'd put our marbles in the middle, some of us… and then we'd sit outside and your turn, you had a chance to shoot your best shooter, you know, with your fingers, shoot it in there and try to knock it out. You could knock it out and stick in there then you could keep on knocking other ones out. But you had to make sure you could spin it so it stay in that circle and you could win everybody else's marbles. So that's the way tended to play, but you can't say, "Slips." Sometimes people say it when it slipped off there, "Slips," they didn't get a good shot. No slips. You made a commitment to walk with God, I made a commitment to walk with God for the rest of my life. With God's help, I'll try to do it honorably and honestly, and truly. How about you?

Romans 12:9. The love that we profess for one another has to be genuine. Romans 12:9, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to that which is good." Do you love others to their face but not to their back? Do you love others genuinely, sincerely? And let's face it, there are some people, they're easier to be kind and nice to than others, but we still have to have that overall love for them. There's some people that socially we would get along with better than others, that's understandable, they're more likable. But they all deserve our love. They all deserve our love whether they're likable or not.

Is your love genuine when you tell somebody you love them? I always tell young people, don't tell somebody you love them if you don't. Don't tell them that, don't give that away too soon. Don't tell people you love them and then don't even know them after that. When you love somebody, you better mean it. And of course, the agape love is a godly love, a deeper type of love. So God's love has to be sincere. And it's the word anupokritos, it means not offensive, not pretending, or sincere. In 2 Corinthians 6:6, Paul said he had sincere love. Do you have sincere love? 2 Corinthians 6:6.

I'm doing good on time, I'll get you out of here soon as I can. Anybody need Starbucks? At least this will remind you of it. There's coffee over here, by the way, if I see a flood of people going. One Seventh Day Adventist preacher said… no, it was Salvation Army, said, "Now, I'm going to go overtime today, anybody needs to leave, please do so." And our students were there watching, observing as a part of their assignment several years back. About half the congregation got up and walked out. Here's our chance for freedom, they left.

Another guy read his entire sermon, he just read it. His head was done the whole time, this is Seventh Day Adventist Church. Head was down the whole time he was reading whatever his lectionary was and he was reading it the whole time. And our students were trying to take notes and everything all of a sudden they heard a sound, bam, they looked around, somebody's Bible had fallen off his or her lap. And they looked at the congregation, almost everybody was asleep. The preacher didn't even know it, he was reading the whole time. So if I see you sleeping, I'll just recommend some coffee for you or give you some Starbuck napkins to give you some hope for afterward, okay.

But 2 Corinthians 6:6, "By purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,” the apostle Paul said, "Here's how we've tried to serve you, here's how we've tried to take care of you with sincere love, we mean it." Do you mean it? Don't tell people you love them if you don't. If you love them, tell them. And if you love them with an agape love, you always make it clear you're not trying to have a romantic love, eros, "I love you. You're a great person. I love you." If you mean it. Don't mean it, don't say it. Don't say it. Sincere love.

Nathaniel and Jesus Christ were real and authentic. You know, it says about Nathaniel… Jesus Christ said about him, "There is an Israelite in whom is no guile." This guy has no craftiness about him, this guy is not sly or deceitful, not a bone in him is deceitful. But it also says about Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1:22, "Who had no guile." Jesus Christ was authentic, Jesus Christ was real.

Let's take a look at 2 Timothy 1:5. Our faith has to be real too. Our faith has to be real, don't fake our faith. And believe me, faith is trusting God for what he says. 2 Timothy 1:5, "When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt…" sorry, I said Peter. Yeah, this is 2 Timothy 1:5, "When I recall to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also." A genuine love for people.

There was one lady in Toronto, I think she became a deaconess finally, her husband was a deacon, she was a wonderful woman. And you know, for her to tell me, you know, "I pray for you all the time." I said, "You don't know how much good that does me. Sometimes I have to get up in the middle of the night and go help somebody who's sick or emergency situation and I don't have time to sit there and get a lot of prayer and study before I take off. I'm counting on your prayers for me." And boy, if I had her tell me, "I'm praying for you," that really meant the world because I knew of her genuineness. She was real. Are you real? Are you genuine in your faith toward God and your belief system?

1 Peter 2:1-3. We read what we're supposed to not be. 1 Peter 2:1, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." Lay aside hypocrisy, don't become a hypocrite. Do you ever get that feeling… I should say it this way. No, if it's not true, don't say it. You don't have to be brutal and hurt somebody. Use your mind to think of how you can say something that's not hurtful but still true, God expects that of us.

On the other side, James 3:17 talks about the pure wisdom that's from above. The pure wisdom that God dishes out to us that's available to us through His Holy Spirit does not have room for hypocrisy. James 3:17, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,” it's not adulterated, it's unadulterated, “then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." The godly wisdom that we can receive from Him does not have room for being a hypocrite. Does not have room for being a pretender of how we might want to be or how we should be. Hypocrisy doesn't fool Jesus Christ and God the Father. God knows those who are His. God knows those who are His. You can't fake your way into the Kingdom of God. You can't pretend to be a Christian.

We don't want God saying to us, "I never knew you who are you anyway? I don't know you, which one are you? Are you this one or are you that one? Which one am I supposed to believe you are?" God does not want hypocrites. He wants those who deal truly and righteously. The apostle Paul learned how to be unleavened spiritually. You know what he said in 2 Corinthians 1:12? He said one of the traits that he had as he served God's people was “godly sincerity… simplicity, and godly sincerity.” That's what we need to have that godly sincerity, and we can have it. We can have that godly sincerity so that we can stand fast, without wavering, without giving in, without pretending.

Hebrews 10:21-23, "And having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," not fake assurance. "Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." God wants us to stay with him. "Let us hold fast the confession," verse 23, "of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." But what God wants to find out about us is are we faithful? Are we true? When Christ came into the world, you know what was said of Him? He's full of grace and truth, full of it. How can we not be pretenders? How can we not be hypocrites? By having Christ living His life in us, and we've heard that several times during these Days of Unleavened Bread.

We really need to put on Christ, it might be uncomfortable when you're a new Christian, and you got to put Him in. As Paul said, "Christ lives in me." Philippians talks about, "I can do all things," 4 verse 13, "through Christ who strengthens me." How can we make sure we're not hypocritical? By dwelling in the truth. And you know, God wants us to be truthful, God wants us to be authentic, He wants us to be genuine In fact, we must be if we're going to worship Him.

John 4:23-24, we read what Jesus Christ said about how we worship God. John 4:23. The right place here? Yes. "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." God does not want pretenders He does not want hypocrites. Verse 24, "God is Spirit." And we can have that Spirit. We have God's Spirit. What is God's Spirit a Spirit of? Truth. What will God's Spirit lead you into? Truth. So we've got to let go and say, God, give me Your help, give me Your strength, and let You, God, lead my life. Certainly, we've got to exercise our own efforts.

I remember one famous statement years ago, I think Mr. Armstrong said it whether he originated it was, "I've got to do as if it all depended on me, but I've got to believe as if it all depended on Him." We still have to put forth the effort but it's God's Spirit in us that will give us the truth, lead us in the truth, guide us in the truth, and help us to be truthful. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.”

I'll read you one quote from Gandhi, seems crazy that I will end, this is not the final note but right close to the end now, in conclusion. I have one more scripture to give and you, a brief statement at the end. But here's Mahatma Gandhi from 15,000 Quotes Paul Lee Tan… here's what he said on hypocrisy.

Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to independence, once received a group of Christian ministers. They asked Mahatma about conversion. He replied, "I believe in Christian conversion if it is genuine. On the other hand, there's nothing worse than being something on the outside that you are not on the inside. If a man has found God through Jesus Christ, that he must show the world that he is a follower of Jesus, or else be living a lie." Powerful words from a Hindu, powerful words from a Hindu.

1 Corinthians 5:8, my last scripture, my last couple comments. 1 Corinthians 5:8, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread or unleavened of sincerity and truth." At sunset, we may resume eating physical leavened products but let's not allow one crumb of the spiritual leaven of hypocrisy to go past our lips and enter our lives but rather, let's live daily with sincerity and truth.