Why are all Christians hypocrites? Are all Christians hypocrites?

I have purposely left this point until last because people generally take it for granted it will be the first passage used in taking up this subject. In John 10:27 we are told, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Notice these three things. It matters not what profession a man makes, if he does not hear the voice of the Son of God he is not a Christian, and therefore the Savior does not know him as His own. No matter what profession he may make, if he does not follow the Lord Jesus Christ, he is only a sham and a fraud and a hypocrite. He may follow for a little while outwardly, like those of whom the apostle Peter speaks, who walk in the way of righteousness and then turn from it. “But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:22). If that dog had ever been regenerated and become a sheep, if that sow had ever been changed and become a lamb, neither would have gone back to the filth; but, you see, the dog was always a dog, and the sow was always a sow. They were just whitewashed, not washed white, they were never regenerated, and so went back to the old things. But the sheep of Christ are different. “They follow Me,” Jesus says. Be careful. Do not profess to be one of His sheep if you do not follow Him, It is the test of reality. There are many people who tell us, “At such and such a time I was converted, I went forward, I signed a card.” You can do all of these things and be lost forever. What you need is a new birth; and when you are born again, you get a new life; and when you receive a new life, you love to follow Jesus; and if you do not, you are not a Christian. Think about it; examine your own foundations a bit.

Mr. P.: I speak more particularly of those whose general manner of life is such. The Christian whose deep desire is to please Christ cannot be said to be a hypocrite, even though he should fail at times. Very few of us, alas! walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. However, let each strive to be more pure and consistent in future. Now, in turning to the word of God, we shall not find it to be a mere fashion book, laying down rules as to the cut of our garments; but, better than that, it gives us broad and general principles, which, if we are willing to learn and to obey, will guide us plainly enough in the matter before us. Take that very comprehensive verse (1 Cor. 10:31), “Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God”; and again, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). Here, in the first of these passages, we have what should be the object of each action, viz., “the glory of God; and, in the second, what should be the character of each action, viz., “done in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Nothing can be more dishonouring to the pure grace of the gospel than the supposition that a man may belong to God, while his conduct and character exhibit not the fair traces of practical holiness. "Known to God are all his works," no doubt; but He has given us, in His holy word, those evidences by which we can discern those that belong to Him. "The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His: and, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." (2 Tim. 2:19) We have no right to suppose that an evildoer belongs to God. The holy instincts of the divine nature are shocked by the mention of such a thing. People sometimes express much difficulty in accounting for such and such evil practices on the part of those whom they cannot help regarding in the light of Christians. The word of God settles the matter so clearly and so authoritatively, as to leave no possible ground for any such difficulty. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother." It is well to remember this, in this day of laxity and self-indulgence. There is a fearful amount of easy, uninfluential profession abroad, against which the genuine Christian is called upon to make a firm stand, and bear a severe testimony — a testimony resulting from the steady exhibition of "the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." It is most deplorable to see so many going along the beaten path — the well-trodden highway of religious profession, and yet manifesting not a trace of love or holiness in their conduct. Christian reader, let us be faithful. Let us rebuke, by a life of self-denial and genuine benevolence, the self-indulgence and culpable inactivity of evangelical yet worldly profession. May God grant to all His true-hearted people abundant grace for these things!

{The meaning which is generally attached to hypocrisy is a false profession of religion. It assuredly means this; but it means much more. A tacit assent to principles which do not govern the conduct deserves the appellation of hypocrisy. Looking at the subject in this point of view, we may all find occasion of deep humiliation before the Lord. How often do we hearken to truth, and give an apparently full assent thereto, and yet there is no exhibition of the power of it in the life; it does not govern the conduct. If this be not morally connected with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, it is, at least, a serious evil, and entirely hostile to our progress in the divine life. "If ye know these things, happy arc ye if ye do them."}

It is well, however, to remember that this hypocrisy arose from the natural tendencies of the human heart, and for this reason all religious persons are liable to fall into the same unreality in their devotional exercises. And what at first may be no more than an occasional lapse, becomes eventually a settled habit. We are therefore to regard the exposure here made of the inward evil of these religious professors as a serious warning for the present day.

It is profession, and there might be hypocrites. I have no objection to putting them all on their responsibility. Take anybody who says he is a Christian, and ask him, Are you dead to sin? I affirm the responsibility distinctly, and the professing body will be judged according to its profession as the house of God.

Go into the heart of Africa where every step has been gained by the laying down of the lives of those, who went before, whom do you find labouring for the good, temporal and spiritual of the poor negroes? Are they not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not the same all over the world? Are not the believers those, who are in the forefront in caring for the burdened, the sorrowful and the afflicted, the downtrodden and the ignorant? They make many mistakes, they may often quarrel when they should not, and they have many defects, yet will they not readily acknowledge that the failures and the defects are their own, while everything good in them is due to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour, and to the Scriptures, which tell of Him.

In 2 Timothy 2:19, we are told, so great will be the deadness and coldness of the Christian profession in the last days, that it will be difficult to know, who are Christians, and who are not. The test given to the Christian is that all those who profess the Lord’s name should be marked by departing from iniquity (2 Tim. 2:19). But with the Lord, who can read every heart, no mistakes are made. His eyes pierce the thin veneer of a false profession. His eyes infallibly recognize those who trust in Him. In this Scripture it is a question between the real and the false, between real believers and empty professors. It assures us that the names of true believers will never be blotted out of the Book of Life, for we read,

Someone will say, "Is not this intended to teach us the way in which the Lord will differentiate between the faithful of His people, and those who are less faithful? Is not this a picture of the devoted Christian on the one hand, and the unspiritual and worldly on the other?" My answer to that unhesitatingly is "No." My reason for so saying is the answer the Lord Himself makes to the foolish virgins in verse 12. They come afterwards, and say, "Lord, Lord, open to us." What does He say? "I used to know you, but now I have forgotten you"? "I do know you, but I am not going to own that I know you until you reform your ways, and behave rather better"? That would suit some theories, but He said, "I know you not." There is another verse that says, "The Lord knows them that are His," so that they represent those who are not His. There is a vast amount of mere pretension, without any corresponding reality. There are lots of people who claim the Christian name nominally, but the root of the matter is not in them. At this point, let us challenge our own hearts. Where do we stand as to this? Who is there here tonight that would say, "I am a church member, I am a deacon; I am a Sunday-school worker"? You may appeal to certain external things, but nothing that is merely external is going to stand in the presence of God. Inward reality and fidelity are the two things which the Lord Jesus is going to own when He comes again.

(V. 24). In the case of the woman the Lord distinguishes between true faith and mere outward profession. Seeing that "much people followed Him and thronged Him," it might appear that the Lord was surrounded by a number of believing followers. Even so today it might seem as we see religious buildings crowded with professed worshippers of Christ, as we hear the Name of Christ taken upon the lips of men and women of the world in hymns and prayers, and as we hear the Name of Christ attached to the works of men, that there are a vast host of believers in Christ. Indeed, men do so judge, for they speak of themselves as Christians, call their lands Christian countries, and speak of their governments as Christian governments. But does this imply that all are true believers in the Lord Jesus? That all have personal faith in Christ? Alas, no! There is still the great throng of outward profession; and still the Lord distinguishes those who have personal faith in Himself, for we read, "The Lord knows them that are His." The crowd may have been sincere, for they saw the miracles and enjoyed the benefits that they received from Christ, but with no sense of their need of Christ they had no personal faith in Christ. Even so today, people may be quite sincere when they adopt, as they say, the Christian religion. But this outward profession of Christianity — this joining the throng to follow Jesus — will not save the soul, will not settle the question of sins, and death and judgment: will not break the power of sin, or deliver from the corruptions of the flesh and the world and the fear of death.