Scriptures: Matthew 34:13-15, 23:23-29, 23:5, 6:2-5, 6:16, 6:3-4, 6, 6:17-18, 6:1-2, John 12:43

Perhaps the greatest criticism of Christians in North America today is that of hypocrisy--believers who say they believe one thing, but do quite another. Even the Lord Jesus Christ had a hot button. There was one thing that would literally make His blood boil. It would set Him on fire. It would turn on His temper in a heart-beat and the one thing that made Jesus angry was hypocrisy. When speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus explained His deep disdain for the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day. In this message, Dr. Merritt examines the sin of hypocrisy, and gives biblical guidance for how to keep clear of it in our own lives.

"There is the person who can quote his Bible from one end to the other, but he never lives it. There is the person who sits in a small group on Sunday morning pretending to be pious and religious, but rents x-rated videos to watch in the privacy of his home on Monday. It is the person who comes to church, never misses and gets all the blessings of the church, but never financially supports the church and helps the church to continue its mission of reaching people for Christ." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: hypocrite, false, lying, games, make-believe, Catch Me If You Can, Frank Abagnale, Jr., actor, Jesus, anger, Pharisees, masks, religion, public, show off, fasting, theater, performance, Deon Sanders, reward, IRS, fake, Christianity, reputation, Robert Redford, Karl Marx, communism, influence, cause