September 27, 2012 Hypocrites Die

Hypocrites Die Zephaniah 1:5 “I will cut off them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham.” DO YOU ever want to be on both sides at once? You know, sometimes you want to please both sides at once so you’re always on the “winners” side. But in actuality you always lose, don’t you? Yes, you lose because you fail to take a stand. You lack courage and conviction, preferring to stay in the middle because you’re afraid of committing to anyone, even to the God, who has fully committed himself to you. Zephaniah is speaking God’s words here to people who claimed they worshiped God, and then at the same time they worshiped the idol Malcham. Clearly this violates God’s commands and character. Duplicity is abominable in God’s sight as it really is hypocrisy. Jesus often passionately condemned the hypocrites of his day and spoke against the church of Laodicea for being lukewarm (Rev 3:16). Hypocrisy greatly angers your Lord. You don’t like hypocrites, either do you? A double- minded person is despised by all, cut off from all as people despise disloyalty and unfaithfulness. You can’t trust them. You don’t know what they think or what they will say. They seem to be full of evil, even a mirror of Satan, the Liar. Yes, God is very clear about hypocrisy. It will cut you off from worship of your Lord. Cut off from worship, you are cut from a loving relationship with him. Cut from a loving relationship, you are cut off from life with God. God is truth, and he can never accommodate anything false. He warns you, teaches you and compels you to the truth. Focus only on Him. Worship the Truth. It’s True! Hypocrisy is a deadly lie. Commit to God and live.