The Danger Of Hypocrisy And Formality.

Adapted From A Sermon By

George Burder

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

(Matthew 7:21)

Our text this morning is Matthew 7 verse 21: Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And the solemn subject we will consider is the danger of hypocrisy and formality in religion.

We have before us an eternal world, in which there are only two possible states, the one in-expressibly happy, the other inconceivably wretched; and in one of these each one of us must very soon be fixed.—But, in which?—Is it possible that we can be indifferent about knowing in which, when an hour, a moment, may place us in one of them?

Perhaps you will say, How can a person know? The scriptural answer is that it may be known; clearly known by the word of God; for in the Scriptures the characters of saints and sinners are exactly described. It is plainly laid down who will go to heaven, and who will go to hell; and having this rule, we are often exhorted to test ourselves by it; to “examine ourselves, to see whether we are in the faith;” (2 Corinthians 13:5) and thus, “to confirm our calling and election.” (2 Peter 1:10)

The words of the text are of this nature: and you will remember that they are the words of Jesus Christ, who is to be our judge: so that the same lips, which declared this to us, will pronounce upon each of us the sentence of life or death. Would that we may now learn, what all the world will then learn, that true religion does not consist in words, or professions of regard to Christ, or in gifts, or zeal, or usefulness; but in doing the will of God from the heart.

I. We learn from these words, that at the great day there will be an earnest desire in many to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The expression the “kingdom of heaven” sometimes stands for the kingdom of grace in the church of Christ on earth; but here it means the state of glory above, where Jesus will reign in all his divine glory, and all his subjects enjoy perfect bliss. That this is referred to is clear from the next verse—“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord.” (Matthew 7:22) On that day; it is not said in what day: nor was there any need to say what day; for all the disciples of Christ know what is meant by it. They are often thinking of that day, when they will “see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;” (Matthew 24:30) “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7) This is called the great day; a day of the greatest splendor, a day of the greatest joy, and a day of the greatest terror. It is also called the day of the Lord, and the day of Christ.

This present time is man’s day; indeed, the devil’s day; when sinners triumph, and Satan reigns; but the triumph of the wicked is short, and the prince of this world will soon be judged.

Tragically, how careless are most people now about this great day. Scoffers abound in these end times, and say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter 3:4) Now and then, indeed, a just concern has taken hold for a season: as under John’s ministry, “the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12) When a nation has been frightened by an earthquake or a flood, multitudes have been alarmed for a while. Almost three hundred years ago thousands followed George Whitfield into the open fields to hear the word; and we have read of great awakenings since then in this and other countries. Would that we could now see the same! Would that now when the judgments of the Lord are poured out upon the earth, our sinful nation would learn righteousness!

But how will it be when the day comes? How will it be when the trumpet sounds? What terror will seize the heart of the wicked man! Ah, he will say, Is the dreadful day come at last? the day I so often heard of, so often laughed at! O my folly! O my vain and destructive lusts! For what have I lost my soul! For the sake of my business, my pleasures, my companions, I have lost my soul, my heaven, my all. O that I never had been born! But, perhaps, recovering himself a little, he may say—Am I not a Christian; was I not baptized and confirmed, and did I not take the Lord’s Supper? Lord, Lord, open to me...; but it will be too late; the door is shut; many will then seek to enter in, but will not be able. The judge will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. (Matthew 7:23) And this leads us to observe in the next place, that,

II. A mere profession of religion will then be found insufficient.

The judgment of men carries the day now; but it is a small matter to be judged according to man’s judgment. Man looks only at the outward appearance, but the Lord searches the heart; and he will then make the result of his search public. The young man may now rejoice in his youthful lusts and pleasures: he may walk in the way of his heart, and in the sight of his eyes; but let him know, and O that he may consider it, that “for all these things God will bring him into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14) Indeed, God will bring every secret thing into judgment; what is spoken in the ear in private will be proclaimed on the house-top; and then the secrets of all hearts will be made manifest. Then many that were first will be last; and many that were last will be first. Then the hypocrites will be detected and exposed. Then a separation will be made between the weeds and the wheat; between the sheep and the goats; between the foolish and the wise virgins. Then he will say to poor vain formalists, I never knew you. But let us more particularly examine the pretensions of these people.

a) It should seem that they used to pray; they used to say, Lord, Lord! It is certainly a bad sign for anyone that he does not pray; and it is generally a good sign when a person does pray; but it is not certain sign of grace. The wicked sometimes pour out a prayer when under God’s discipline. Afflictions will sometimes extort prayers and vows, and many duties of religion; but when the affliction is over, there is an end of their devotion; and they return to their sins. So there may be transient convictions of sin, and terrific fears of hell, especially in the time of sickness and fear of death; and these may lead not only to a temporary reformation, but to doing many things, as Herod did when he heard John gladly; but there may be all this, and much more, while men remain workers of lawlessness.

b) Again, these people appeared to be zealous in religion, as the repetition of the word, Lord, Lord, seems to imply; and we find in the next verse, that they “prophesied in the name of Christ,” (Matthew 7:22) Most of the prophets, especially the stated prophets, were “holy men;” but some, especially of the occasional ones, as Balaam, Saul, and Caiaphas, were wicked men. So were some of the first preachers of Christianity: and so are many now. This is an awful word for the carnal clergy of any church, and wicked preachers of any denomination; and it shows that zeal for religion is no proof of sincerity in it.

c) These men did more still;—“they cast out demons in Christ’s name.” (Matthew 7:22) When Christ was on earth, and for some ages after, the devil was permitted to physically possess the bodies of men; but Christ and his apostles were able to cast them out; and so did common Christians for a long time after. But this and other extraordinary gifts were not confined to real Christians; wicked professors sometimes did it. And here, we see, boasted of it, and pleaded it; but the plea is rejected. Other “mighty works” (Matthew 7:22) they also did; for so the Lord permitted, in order to promote the spread of Christianity; but what good was all this, while the devil was not cast out of their own hearts, and the wonderful works of God’s grace had never been produced in their own souls? Men may be famous and useful in the church, yet, after all, be “castaways.”

d) These people also professed obedience to Christ; they called him Lord. He is “Lord of all.” He has all power in heaven and earth; and to him every knee shall bow. But it is useless to call him Master and Lord, if we do not do the things which he commands. Christ is not deceived by compliments, and he will reject that false devotion which consists only in words. Saying and doing are two things, often dis-joined in the conversation of men. In the parable, He that said, I go, Sir, never did so. (Matthew 21:30)

Now, notwithstanding all the professions of these people, it appears, from the words of Christ himself, that they were workers of lawlessness. They loved sin, they lived in sin, they made a trade of sin; it was their calling and business, at which they worked daily, as a man at his proper trade. All this they did under the mask of religion, and are therefore rejected and hear the dreadful words: Depart from me, I never knew you.

Carefully consider here the deceitfulness of sin, and the deceitfulness of the heart. Though these formal professors lived in sin, and must know they did so, yet they continued to depend on their outward forms, and to approach the tribunal of God with a lie in their right hands. Tragically! how many deceivers live and die deceived, and their fatal mistake is never detected until it is too late! Just like the Jews of old, to whom the apostle Paul thus speaks, “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.” (Romans 2:17-20) The Jews rested in these outward things, they put their trust in them, and were proud of them; while they were ignorant of the spiritual meaning of their own ceremonies; and many of them were so wicked, that “the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles” (Romans 2:24) by their sins.

They were strangers to that important distinction which the apostle makes, in verses 28 and 29 of that chapter, where he says, “No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29) And so you see, there is a great difference between outward and inward religion; between the religion of form, and the religion of the heart. What circumcision, sacrifices, and the temple, were to the Jews of old, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and public worship, are to professing Christians now; and as the ignorant Jews put their trust in their church privileges, so, many nominal Christians do now; but if this is all, their praise will be, not of God, but of men only.

This is evident from our text, in which a claim on Christ, founded on these things, is rejected. I never knew you; that is, “I never esteemed or approved of you as my true disciples and servants; nor will I own or accept you as such. Depart from me: I now banish you from my blessed and glorious presence to everlasting misery and despair, O all you willful transgressors.” How dreadful will that word Depart be! How did Peter dread the thought of departing from Christ, when, many of his disciples having forsaken him, he said to the Apostles, “Will you also go away?” Peter in the name of the rest, replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

A holy soul dreads the idea of departing from Christ by apostasy; but how terrible will it be, to hear the great Judge command us to depart! God grant that, now, we may depart from all iniquity. If there be any iniquity in us which we are unaware of, merciful Savior, reveal it to us, and deliver us from it; and never let us hear you say, “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

We now move on to the last and most pleasing part of our subject, and observe, in the

IIIrd. place, That all true and obedient believers will be admitted into the heavenly kingdom.

Here is our Lord’s description of them, of every one of them; “the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) The only way that the will of God can be known is by his word. The Scriptures are given us on purpose that we may know his will; and there are two principal things in the Scriptures, namely, what we are to believe concerning God, and the duty which he requires of us; or in other words, Faith and Practice; and both of these are equally necessary; for we can never do the will of God in holy obedience without first believing in God through Jesus Christ; the whole of the Christian religion consisting in this faith, which works by love.

Faith is first necessary for obedience; so Christ taught the people, who asked him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28) “This is the work of God,” said he, “that you believe in him whom he has sent;” (John 6:29) it is as if he had said, “the great and important duty which I have come to point out to you, and which leads the way to all others, and is necessary for you and your obedience to be accepted, and which therefore God commands, approves, and is the author of, is this, that you heartily embrace, and yield yourselves up by faith to me, as the true Messiah, the only Mediator, according to the revelations I make of myself, and of the way of salvation by me.” And the apostle John also says, “This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 3:23)

When people read or hear of the commandments, they think only the ten commandments are meant; but this is a great mistake, for the very first business of a poor guilty helpless sinner is to come to Christ for salvation. We are not to suppose that we must first prepare, or make ourselves worthy, by sorrow for sin, purifying our hearts, or reforming our lives, before we turn to trust in Christ; all these are the proper fruits and effects of faith. We have to first believe in him “who justifies the ungodly,” (Romans 4:5) and not think first to make ourselves godly, and then hope in him.

Faith is the first work. Look to Jesus. Come to Jesus, Trust in Jesus; and then a good hope of pardoning mercy will incline the heart to love him, and hate every evil way. We cannot do good works until we are in Christ by faith, any more than the branch of a tree can produce fruit when separate from the root. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches; and by virtue of union to him, we become fruitful in every good word and work.

This also is the will of God, even our sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 4:3) God is holy: therefore we must be holy. We are chosen in Christ for sanctification and obedience. The Lord gives his people a new heart, upon which he writes his laws, and which, through his grace, become pleasant to them. Being crucified with Christ, the old man of sin is crucified. They count themselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The daily inquiry of a new-born soul is, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.” (Psalm 143:10) “I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:32) And this disposition will show itself in all the relations and circumstances of life; in the family, the workshop, and in all common actions, as well as in the house of God. Whether we are husbands, wives, children, subjects, filling up our places to God’s glory will be our constant aim. Particularly, we will want to fulfill the royal law of love to our brethren, on which great stress is laid in the New Testament; for the law, as far as it relates to our neighbor, is fulfilled in one word, Love.

Now persons of this character will enjoy a wonderful entrance into the kingdom and glory of Jesus Christ. While formalists and hypocrites are shut out, the blessed Redeemer will smile upon you, and say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;” (Matthew 25:34) and he will mention, as the evidence of their election and fruit of their faith, the acts of Christian love which they performed to their hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or imprisoned brethren; taking them as kindly as if they had been done to himself; for “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Application

And now having heard how awful the fate of mere formalists and hypocrites will be at the great day, it is surely appropriate for us to seriously examine of what kind our religion is. It plainly appears, from what has been said, that “the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20) And as they are many who have the form of godliness, but who deny the power of it, it is most necessary, as we value the salvation of our souls, to determine whether our religion is form or power, that so we may know whether the great Judge will own or disown us in the end.

Consider, therefore, what your religion consists in, and what you depend upon.

Is it that you were born and bred a Christian; that you were baptized; that you have gone to church, or meetings; that you can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; that you have taken the Sacrament, been sorry for your sins, and do to others as you would be done by? Or that you have done your best, and put your trust in God! Are these your pleas? Is this your religion? Then, forgive me, if I echo George Burder’s words speaking the truth in love, and tell you, plainly, this will not do.

These empty boasts prove that you are a stranger to true heart religion. All these things you may imagine you have done; but if this is all, it is only crying, Lord, Lord. Had you gone much farther than this, and equaled the Pharisees in their zeal and devotion, that would still not be enough, without a conviction of your sin and misery; a heart humbled for your iniquities; a view of the only way of salvation through Jesus Christ; and that faith in him which purifies the heart, works by love, and overcomes the world.

Do not be deceived then. Satisfy yourselves with nothing short of that which Christ will accept and approve at last. This is doing the will of God: which will, as you have now heard, requires, in the first place, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ; coming to him as a guilty, helpless sinner, and receiving him as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Come, then, to Jesus. Beg of him to teach you. Beg of him to wash you in his blood. Beg of him to give you his Spirit, and enable you, from a principle of love, to forsake the world and every evil way, and cleave to him with purpose of heart. Then will you know that the “kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking” forms and ceremonies, “but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

And here is a word of caution to those who perhaps may boast that they are no hypocrites, for they do not pretend to any religion. Can you think that this will be admitted as an excuse? Will you dare to approach the awful tribunal of God, and plead, “Lord, I never pretended to serve you! I never thought it worth my while to know or worship you. I loved the world and my sins so well, that I lived like an Atheist.” May no one deceive themselves in this way. Answer that question if you can, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) Formalists and hypocrites pay some compliment to religion, by counterfeiting it, and imitating it; yet they will perish: but you despise it. You treat the blessed God and the gracious Savior as unworthy of your notice. How then can you expect but to have your portion with hypocrites and unbelievers, and to be turned into hell with all those who forget God?

These words may be very alarming to the tender spirits of some who truly fear God. Some of the sincere and humble followers of the Lamb may be ready to fear, lest he should be angry with them at last, and say, “Depart, I never knew you.” But, actually, is it not your heart’s desire to know and do the will of God, particularly in those two grand points, faith and holiness? Is not Jesus high in your esteem; the chief of ten thousand, and altogether lovely; and would you not gladly be conformed to him, in cheerfully doing and patiently suffering the will of God? Take courage, then. These words are as full of comfort for you, as they are full of terror to formalists and hypocrites. The Friend of sinners will say to his dear people, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you,” (Matthew 25:34) and for which my grace prepared your souls on earth. Enter into the joys of your Lord.

And now are any of you beginning to say, I fear I have been deceived. I fear my religion will not stand the test. I have mistaken the shadow for the substance; the shell for the kernel. What shall I do? In answer: it is an infinite mercy that you have discovered your mistake. You might have died deceived, and have been rejected by Christ.

But it may be hoped that it is a token for good, and the beginning of mercy to your soul. Let your fears bring you to your knees, and at the throne of grace implore God’s help say, with the Psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23)