Convincing the world you are who you say you are can be easy. Because those on the outside are unable to see what really lays on the inside. Some have even been able to convince themselves that they are someone different. No matter what you do or say though God knows exactly the person you are. Even if you have everyone else tricked.
If you could have asked anyone at the time of Jesus who the good people were. The ones living the righteous life desired by God. They would have pointed to the Pharisees. They were the religious leaders of the time. Devoted to the study of God’s word. And by all accounts, they were seen as living according to that word. At least that was the belief until Jesus came on the scene and exposed who they really were.
Matthew 23:4-7 (ESV)
4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
Matthew 23:13-15 (ESV)
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matthew 23:27-28 (ESV)
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Hearing all that had to be an eye-opening experience for many in attendance. Jesus just pointed out that in reality, the religious leaders were just fake people. That was seeking only to look good. Back in Matthew chapter, six Jesus uses the Pharisees to teach us what not to do.
Matthew 6:2 (ESV)
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:5 (ESV)
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Matthew 6:16 (ESV)
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
While the people were fooled into thinking the religious leaders were doing good because it was what God commanded. God knew the truth and saw past their actions. God was able to see their real motives. That they only did what was good because they wanted the glory that came with being known as religious.
Don’t think that the Pharisees were just not good at hiding their motives. The Bible tells us multiple times that God knows who we really are. He is able to see in our hearts and can decern the reasons why we do certain things. Proving that while we may often think we can hide things from Him that simply is not the case.
1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Hosea 7:2 (ESV)
2 But they do not consider
that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds surround them;
they are before my face.
Psalm 44:21 (ESV)
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Proverbs 15:3 (ESV)
3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
Hebrews 4:13 (ESV)
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
So keep trying to fool people into thinking you are a good person. Even though on the inside you are as corrupt as the Pharisees. If that is really the life you want to lead. Just understand that God knows who you really are all the way down into your heart. So don’t expect to trick your way into heaven. The Bible says we will be judged according to everything including that which we did in secret.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 (ESV)
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Romans 2:16 (ESV)
16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Do you feel as though you have been living like a Pharisees? Attempting to look religious but not truly living right? Then take a moment to pray. Ask God for His forgiveness. You can make the decision to no longer life that way right now. Saving yourself from the impending destruction that awaits all those lost in sin.
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