9 “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’--safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.”
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
“Some of Jesus’ strongest words were reserved for hypocrites – for people who claimed to believe in God and follow His laws, but in reality lived only for themselves. He compared them to ‘whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean’ (Matthew 23:27). None of us is perfect; even the most dedicated Christian falls short. When we do, we need to confess it and seek God’s help to live more consistently. But hypocrisy – living a deliberate lie – is another matter. Be on guard; don’t let hypocrisy take root in your soul. Instead, make sure of your commitment to Christ, and walk close to Him every day.” Billy Graham
“The popular image of Christ as ‘gentle Jesus meek and mild’ simply will not do. To be sure, He was full of love, compassion and tenderness. But He was also uninhibited in exposing error and denouncing hypocrisy. Christ was a controversialist.” John Stott
“It is the prerogative of him who searches the heart, and knows what is in man, to pronounce who are hypocrites. The eye of man can perceive open profaneness, but it is only the eye of Christ that can discern hypocrisy. And as it is a sin which his eye discovers, so it is a sin which of all others his soul hates.” Matthew Henry
“Here is the divine antidote against the pride and restless ambition of the men of this world. Nothing is more sad than to witness a pushing, bustling, forward, self-confident spirit and style in those who profess to be followers of Him who was meek and lowly in heart. It is such a flagrant contradiction of the spirit and precepts of Christianity, and is a sure accompaniment of an unbroken condition of the soul. It is utterly impossible for any one to indulge in a boastful, pretentious, self-confident spirit, if ever he has really measured himself in the presence of God. To be much alone with God is the sovereign remedy for pride and self-complacency. May we know the reality of this in the secret of our own souls. May the good Lord keep us truly humble, in all our ways, simply leaning on Himself and his grace...” C H Macintosh
“Any thought or activity is to be eschewed or cut down if it does not bring the Christian towards their goal of heaven but serves rather to retard and impede them on their good course. For this simple reason, every action, thought or word - that is not one of piety and goodness - one must lift up their axe against.” BHY