Devotion October 3, 2006
"A Hypocrite's Heart "

When Pastor Pat asked me to do the devotional for today I had been sent an email with a partial devotion from the Works of Thomas Brooks entitled "Touchstone of Sincerity". I felt it is a fitting devotion for those of us who are sincerely seeking God's complete will for our life.

I read the whole devotion (from the page where I got the partial devotion) and saw my own hypocrital heart in some of his illustrations. I'm going to be praying for God to clean my heart up.

Sometimes I need to check my walk with a Spiritual gage and when I read something like this and God reveals to me my shortcomings I take it to Him and ask Him to help me overcome.

How wonderful and mighty is His love and work in me! I marvel at His grace and stubborn love for me. Only He could have made me into who I am today! Not by my power or through my will... only through His mercy and love can I ever be what He wants me to be. I will never be able to say I did anything worthy to be saved or worthy to be kept saved, or even worthy to be called His.

God is so precious... so wonderful... so mighty in His mercy and grace!

The end of the partial devotion below gave me hope and I pray it will give you hope also.

Blessings,
Dot McEntire

A Hypocrite's Heart
by Thomas Brooks

The definitive edition of the Works of Thomas Brooks was first published by James Nichol in 1866.

As a hypocrite's heart is never thoroughly subdued to a willingness to part with every lust, so neither is his heart thoroughly subdued to a willingness to perform all known duties.

Sometimes he is all for public duties —but makes no conscience of closet-duties, or of family-duties; sometimes he is all for the duties of the first table —but makes no conscience of the duties of the second table; and sometimes he is all for the duties of the second table —but makes no conscience of the duties of the first table.

If he obeys one command, he willingly lives in the neglect of another; if he does one duty, he will be sure to cast off another; as he is not willing to fall out with every sin, so he is not willing to fall in with every duty. A hypocrite's obedience is always partial, it is never universal; he still baulks or boggles with those commands which cross his lusts.

The Pharisees fasted, prayed, gave alms, and paid tithes —but they omitted "the weightier matters of the law —judgment, mercy, and faith," Matt 6; and they were unnatural to parents; and under a pretense of praying, they made a prey of widows' houses; under a pretense of piety, they exercised the greatest covetousness; unrighteousness, and cruelty, and that upon widows, who are usually the greatest objects of pity and charity; they made no bones of robbing the widow, under a pretense of honoring God.

So Judas, under a pretense of laying up for the poor, robbed the poor; he pretended to lay up for the poor —but he intended only to lay up for himself, and to provide against a rainy day. It is probable that he had no great mind to stay long with his Lord, and therefore he was resolved to make the best market he could for himself. Judas being willing to set up for himself, under a cloak of holiness, he practices the greatest unfaithfulness.

Though the eagle soars high, yet still her eye is upon her prey; so though Judas did soar high in profession; yet his eye was still upon his prey, upon his bags; and so that he might have it, he cared not who went without it; so that he might be rich, he did not care though his Lord and his retinue grew ever so poor. Judas under all his shows and sanctity, had not so much as common honesty in him.

Counterfeit holiness is often made a stalking-horse to much righteousness; but certainly it were better to have honesty without religion, than to have religion without honesty. A hypocrite may exercise himself in some outward, easy, ordinary duties of religion; but when shall you see a hypocrite laying the axe to the root of the tree, or searching and trying his own heart, or severely judging his bosom sins, or humbly mourning and lamenting over secret corruptions, or doubling his guards about his own soul, or rejoicing in the graces, services, or excellencies of others, or striving or pressing after the highest pitches of grace, holiness, and communion with God, or endeavoring more to cast out the beam out of his own eye, than the mote out of his brother's eye, or to be more severe against his own sins than against the sins of others? Alas! a hypocrite is so far from practicing these duties, that he thinks them either superfluous or impossible.

A hypocrite's obedience is always a limited and stinted obedience. It is either limited to such commands which are most suitable to his ease, safety, honor, profit, pleasure, etc., or else it is limited to the outward part of the command, and never extends itself to the inward and spiritual part of the command; as you may see in the scribes and Pharisees. Their obedience was all outward; they had no regard at all to the inward and spiritual part of any command. They did not murder, they did not commit adultery, they had an eye to the outward part of the command; but Christ charges them with unjust and adulterous thoughts, unchaste glances, contemplative wickedness, speculative uncleanness, etc., they having no regard at all to the inward and spiritual part of any command.

Common grace looks only to some particular duties —but saving grace looks to all. Renewing grace comes off to positives as well as negatives; it teaches us to cease to do evil, and it teaches us also to do good. It "teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and also to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." These words contain the sum of a Christian's duty. To live soberly toward ourselves, righteously toward our neighbors, and godly toward God, is true godliness indeed, and the whole duty of man.

There is never a hypocrite in the world that can sincerely appeal to God, and say, "Lord! you know that my heart is subdued to a willingness to perform all known duties; I would willingly do the best I can to observe all your royal laws; Lord! I sincerely desire, and really endeavor to have an eye upon every command of yours, and to live up to every command of yours; and it is the real grief of my heart, and the daily burden of my soul when I violate any of your blessed laws." He who can sincerely thus appeal to God, shall never miscarry in the eternal world.
 

To read the whole devotion click on the link below:

http://www.gracegems.org/Brooks/touchstone_of_sincerity.htm


 

"When you become a Christian God begins to mold you into what He wants you to be.

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