The Hope of the Hypocrite

Next Part The Hope of the Hypocrite 2

"For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul? Will God hear his prayer when trouble comes upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?" Job 27:8-10

What was the main subject of controversy between Job and his three friends? It was whether Job was a hypocrite or not. His friends, seeing him afflicted with such heavy calamities, and hearing the passionate and rebellious expressions that came out of his lips, unanimously came to the conclusion in their minds, that a child of God could neither, on the one hand, receive such heavy visitations from the Lord's hand, nor, on the other, make use of such peevish and rebellious language; they set him down therefore to be a hypocrite.

Job, on the contrary, knew he was not that. Why the hand of the Lord had so gone out against him he knew not; and why his soul was permitted to be so harassed and distressed he could not understand. But one thing he was certain of, from God's past dealings with his soul, and from the experience which the Lord had wrought in his heart, that he was not the character his friends believed him to be. He would not yield, nor submit to such a charge; and God himself knew that Job was in the right; and that however harassed he was in his mind, and whatever self-righteousness might lurk in him, yet he was free from that imputation.

By way then of answer to his friends' accusation, Job in the text brings forward certain marks and tests which he knew hypocrites had not, and which he knew he had. He says, "Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?" Job knew well that no hypocrite could ever come up to these two marks; and that with all his craft and subtlety, he never was in possession of these two tests.

But before we come to this part of the subject, it will be desirable to go through the preceding portion of the text. And I do not know a simpler or better way than to take it as it stands, and see what light the blessed Spirit may throw upon it.

I. We will commence then, first, with the CHARACTER pointed out in the expressive word "hypocrite." What is the meaning of the term? It signifies, at least in our acceptation, "a stage-player; one who assumes a part, and wears a character that is foreign to him; one who is not the man he professes to be." This is as simple and as concise a definition as I can give of the character of a hypocrite.

But it appears to me that there are two classes of these characters; one, who knows what he is, and the other, who knows it not. There is one who may deceive others, but does not deceive himself; and there is another who may deceive himself, but does not deceive others. Thus, there are those, I believe, who know they are wrong, and yet never put up a cry to a heart-searching God to make them right; who know that they have taken up religion for wrong ends and base motives, and that they were never led into any portion of truth by the Spirit of God; but in order to gratify some carnal design, have embarked upon a profession without any moving power felt in the heart.

The other, who form the more numerous class, and most abound in the professing church, are people so deceived by Satan, so ignorant of themselves and of the God they have to deal with, and having such a veil of delusion over their hearts, that they are self-deceived, according to that word, and a solemn word it is, "deceiving, and being deceived." (2 Tim. 3:13.) Not merely deceiving others, but being deceived themselves; not base designing hypocrites, but believing they are right, and only learning they are wrong when "trouble comes upon them, and God takes away their soul."

And be it remarked, that neither of these two classes are ever troubled or distressed about their hypocrisy; the first, because their conscience is seared, and the second, because they are fully persuaded they are right. So that I believe we may lay it down pretty well as a general truth, that those who are exercised with distressing doubts and fears about hypocrisy, are not hypocrites; and, on the other hand, that those who, with brows of brass, and necks of iron, would resent with the greatest warmth the imputation of hypocrisy, would, could you look into their hearts, be found really guilty of the charge.

II. But having considered his character, I pass on to consider the hypocrite's HOPE. "For what is the hope of the hypocrite?" He has then a hope. Scripture speaks of two kinds of hope. "There is a hope that makes not ashamed," (Rom. 5:5); "a good hope through grace," (2 Thess. 2:16); "a hope, as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil," (Heb. 6:19); the hope that stands as a sister with faith and love, (1 Cor. 13:13); and the hope whereby the soul is saved. (Rom. 8:24.)

And there is another kind of hope, which the Scripture also speaks of, and which it has stamped with peculiar and indelible marks. It is compared for instance to "a spider's web," (Job 8:14); and this comparison throws a little light on its character. What is the spider's web? It is a filthy thing– spun out of the creature's own bowels– only intended to catch flies– and broken to pieces by the first puff of wind. Now carry these ideas into the spiritual figure. The "hope of the hypocrite" comes from himself; it does not spring out of any testimony of God in his conscience, any dealings of the Spirit upon his soul, any drawings up of his affection towards the Lord Jesus, or any discovery of God's presence or favor– but it is spun, laboriously spun, out of his own filthy heart. As the spider also spreads out its web in order to catch flies for its food and sustenance, so the hypocrite spreads out his hope before the eyes of men, that he may catch the buzzing flies that flit about the religious world, and feed upon their flattery and applause. But, like the spider's web, it will be blown away by the first puff of God's anger; by the first blast of his nostrils it will be swept away, and no trace of it left.

But the Scripture (Job 8:11, 12, the same chapter that compares it to the "spider's web'") gives us another description of this hope, and illustrates it by another figure. "Can the papyrus grow up without mire? can the reed grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, it withers before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish." The "hope of the hypocrite" is here compared to "the papyrus" and "the reed." What is their location? Not the flowing stream, but the miry, sluggish ditch. Out of the mud they grow, and by the mud they are supported; let the muddy water be dried up, and "they perish before any other herb." Thus the "hope of the hypocrite" is not a tree that rests on a rock; it has no solid foundation on the work, blood, love, grace, and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, but grows up as a perishing reed out of the mud and mire of his own corrupt nature. It is not "a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river, whose leaf is ever green," (Jer. 17:8); but a wretched reed that stands in a sluggish pool, and fades and dies while yet in its greenness, as soon as the ditch dries up.

III. But we pass on to consider the GAIN of the hypocrite. "What is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained?" He has then a certain object in view, which he is often allowed to gain. Now this gain is not necessarily, nor perhaps in the majority of cases, money, or filthy lucre. It may indeed happen that a man may put on a profession of religion for the sake of filthy lucre; but we cannot confine the gain here spoken of to that one thing. If he has obtained his purpose in any way, it is gain; and Job seems to intimate this, by not mentioning any specific object, but leaving the nature of the gain ambiguous. But "what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained?"

God then allows him to gain his ends. And if this be money, perhaps while he is thwarting every plan that his people set their hand to, and blighting every prospect that rises up before their eyes; while he is bringing them continually to poverty, and never allowing them to prosper in anything; every project that the hypocrite puts his hand to flourishes; and, like the fabled Midas, everything becomes gold under his touch. Let him, for instance, commence business under the most unpromising circumstances, let him set up a shop in the most unlikely neighborhood, everything succeeds, customers come in, and all things are prosperous.

But I have hinted that we should err, if we limited this gain to filthy lucre. Each man has a peculiar object, and in the attainment of that object his gain consists. Thus, the approbation of others may be an object of gain with many; to have the good opinion of his fellow-creatures, and to be highly thought of may be his darling aim. Perhaps such a one may have a strong memory, and being well versed in the Scriptures, and very fluent in quoting them, may draw a certain degree of approbation from those before whom the gift is exercised; and this is his gain.

Or he may be well informed in his judgment upon Scriptural truth, may compare passages together with great clarity, and so cast light upon the word; and may derive much pleasure from being "confident that he is a guide to the blind, a light of those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes;" when all the time he has but "the form of knowledge and of the truth" in the letter. (Rom. 2:19, 20.) Or he may have a gift in prayer, and this gift may so shine in the eyes of professors as to draw their approbation; and thus this wretched creature may gain his ends, in having the applause of others bestowed upon his gift.

Or it may be, and this perhaps is the most common case of all, that his gain is his own good opinion. The good of opinion of others is only now and then given, and that perhaps rather grudgingly– but our own good opinion, what a constant companion is that! It gets up with us, and it lies down with us; there is no one to contradict it, and it is always present to whisper its sweet flattery into our ears. If a man only gets his own good opinion and his own approbation, he has a constant source of pleasure opened up in his own mind. There are a great many people, therefore, who become hypocrites merely to gain a good opinion of themselves, and will adopt any mode of compassing this end.

Is it then to be gained by a profession? By a profession it shall be gained. Is it to be obtained by receiving the doctrines? By the doctrines it shall be obtained. By talking about experience? By talking of experience it shall be attained. By humble looks? By humble looks it shall be had. By acts of liberality? By such actions it shall be gained. Whenever a hypocrite is fully bent upon gaining a certain object, he will put in practice every artifice in order to get it. And God lets him gain it. He does not deal with him as with his own children; he will not let them do anything that is not for their welfare; but he deals with him spiritually, as you do with yours naturally. If you have children, and see them playing in the streets, and quarreling or acting wrong, you rush out, or call them in doors, and chastise them if you know it is necessary.

But if you look through a window, and see others fighting and quarreling who are not your children, you leave them alone and take no notice of them. The reason is, because they are not yours; if they were, you would punish them severely, rather than they should be doing those things which you know to be wrong. Thus it is with those who are God's children, and those who are not. The Lord lets the hypocrite fill up the measure of his iniquities; he allows "his eyes to stand out with fatness, and lets him have more than heart could wish" (Psalm 82:7); but he sets his feet in slippery places, and he is brought into desolation in a moment. Be not surprised then that ungodly men and hypocrites flourish in the world, and are at ease in Zion, while you, on the contrary, are poor in circumstances, and are tried and exercised in your mind. Be not surprised, if you see every dishonest plan and scheme of theirs flourish, while every honest plan of yours is marred and blighted. God has reserved some better things for you; therefore he chastises you with affliction as a child; but he has reserved eternal wrath for them, and therefore they have their portion in this life.

IV. But we pass on to consider the hypocrite's TROUBLE. "Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?" It seems then there is a period when troubles comes upon him. And what is that period? The blessed Spirit has marked it out in the text. "What is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul?" That is his time of trouble, "when God takes away his soul;" when he stands before the eyes of an angry God on his deathbed, and his soul is about to pass into eternity. Now it is very sweet to my mind, that the time of the hypocrite's trouble in thus distinctly marked out, because it shows that he has no soul-trouble until he comes to die. If you and I, then, have known something of soul trouble before now, we have not this mark against us. He embarked smoothly on a profession; his religion never began nor went on with trouble; his was an easy, comfortable, flesh-pleasing path from first to last. He never knew sighs, groans, tears, and cries; he never rolled upon his bed, full of anguish, and bitterness of soul; his conscience never bled under wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores. In all his profession of religion, all his life long, he had been cheerful, easy, and comfortable. But now, when God is going to "take away his soul;" when the wrath of the Almighty, the foretaste and prelude of wrath to come, flashes into his conscience, then for the first time he begins to be in trouble.

V. But with this trouble we read of the hypocrite's CRY. "Will God hear his cry?" No; he will not. But why should not God hear his cry? Has he not promised to hear cries and groans? He has. But not the cries of hypocrites; he has never promised to hear them. When a man has mocked God all his life-time, insulted him to his face, done everything to provoke him, and to deceive and distress his people; when it comes to the last, and he stands upon the brink of eternity, should natural convictions at last press a cry from his carnal mind– will God hear that? No– I say, God will not hear that cry; because it is not the cry of a child, not the cry which the blessed Spirit raises up in the soul, not the breathings forth of a broken and contrite heart into the ears of a listening God. It is nothing but the cry of a natural conviction; and God has never promised to hear and answer that.

Nor after all, is it so much a cry to God for mercy, as a howl of fear and anguish as the Lord says (Hos. 7:14), "They have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds." But whether so or not, he never cried to God before– it was with him all assurance and confidence. I dare say, had he been here he would have sung at the top of his voice every hymn given out that spoke of assurance. I cannot doubt but his voice would have been heard swelling among the throng; and the higher the assurance, the louder would the note have swelled. But there was no cry when alone in his room; when he sat by his fire-side, and hung his head upon his hand, there was no groaning prayer going out of his soul unto God; when he was engaged in his daily business, there was no secret sigh that the Lord would look upon him and bless him. His religion never consisted in sighs and cries unto the Lord; but was a web of deceit and hypocrisy from beginning to end.

VI. But having seen what he is, we will now proceed to see what the hypocrite is not. The Holy Spirit by Job speaks in the text of certain marks and tests which this wretched character, with all his gains, never attained to, and which Job knew his soul was in possession of. He says, "Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?" As though he had said, "You have charged me with hypocrisy; and though you have known me many years, and have seen how God has dealt with me in time past; yet now, because this trouble has come upon me, you accuse me of the blackest of crimes, you charge me with being a hypocrite. Now I ask you," said the Patriarch "this question– answer me as honest men. Call to mind all the hypocrites you ever knew; look at them in their various classes– gauge and measure them in their different bearings; and then tell me, if you can find these two marks in any one of them, 'Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?'" Depend upon it they were speechless. Not one of them could say, that of all the hypocrites they had known in the course of a long life, they had ever found one with these two marks on him.

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