“Woes of Hypocrisy” by Dr. Simon Huang on 15th Dec 2019

We can be seen as holy and righteous in church, but when we are in the marketplace, sometimes we can change to be a different person. Is that what we as Christians, supposed to be? In Matthew 23, the Pharisees were seen to be well versed in the law, but they do not practice what they preach (v3). The preacher Dr. Simon Huang observed that the Pharisees had put heavy burden on the people but unwilling to lift a finger to help them (v4). “They were supposed to set an example to the people to follow, being the guardian of God’s law, but they failed miserably. Jesus in Matthew 5:20 say, ‘For I tell you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of heaven,” he said. Besides that, the preacher shared about the seven woes of hypocrisy.  Firstly, he outlined that our behaviour and life can become a stumbling block sometimes especially to pre-believers. He noted in Luke 17:2, Jesus says, ‘It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied round their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So it is better not to do anything that causes a brother to stumble. Secondly, he pointed out that it is due to misguidance (Romans 14:21). He observed that some Christians, instead of nurturing and teaching, new converts were made worse than the Pharisees after considerable effort and time were done to guide and turn them to become a Christian. Thirdly, he noted that it is wrong to emphasis on technicality for instance not trustworthy and the different values placed on the types of vows. Fourthly, he believed is the way we look at things legalistic.  “It can be about how much we give. We can give over and above what the tithing law requires, but we forget the reason for giving,” he stressed. Another example, Dr. Simon Huang observed is in Mark 2:27, in which Jesus says, ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. The fifth one is deceptive appearance. He observed that sometimes, we as human being has put much effort in maintaining the image of respectability, but the inner self is exactly the opposite. Additionally, he revealed that the sixth woe is contaminating with deceptive external beauty (v27b-28). “We can look beautiful on the outside, but inside we are contaminated with hypocrisy and wickedness,” he claimed. Furthermore, he shared that the seventh woe is self-righteousness. “Beware of ‘Holier than thou’ attitude. Do not pray like the self-righteous Pharisees, but pray like how the humble tax collector prayed as in Luke 18:13,” he said. Therefore, let us act righteously, love mercy and walk humbly with God all the time.